What do you love/hate most about being an INTJ?

[Learning]

That's the question.

[Zilal]

Hm, well. It is hard to know what to say. This is a bit like "what do I love/hate most about being me," but not exactly.

I most like being generally competent... I seem to be able to be good at everything, or almost everything.

I least like having a hard time relaxing.

[Richard0612]

I like being able to grasp new concepts quickly and being able to analyse things to within an inch of existence.

I'm not so keen on having the 'analysis engine' running all the time, analysing even the simplest thing [I'm a bit of a hypochondriac!]

I don't really care about not having a relationship; all the more time for thinking!

[Lei Yang]

I'm still not sure I'm an intj, but as a strong nt, I have problems with crashing into stuff, NEVER remembering what I'm supposed to remember. Relationship stuff - definitely there. I like the "analysis engine", and especially the flashes of insights. Some months ago I even had a dream that solved a difficult (well, NOW it seems obvious, but I had trouble then) calculus problem.

[Caramel]

Love: Original, creative ideas and outlooks and being able to put them into the real world. Innovation!
Hate: Being surrounded by people that have a hard time understanding you.

[lordrrr]

Love: Knowing that I can accomplish so much more than any of the others around me.
Hate: Being persecuted for the above :blank:

[dandylion]

You know the saying "You can do anything if you put your mind to it?" I don't think it applies to everyone, but to INTJs it certainly does. We can be successful in anything we do. :D

The downsides are that other people rarely understand me and I have trouble going to sleep because I think too much.

[BadMojo]

Well, I'm not entirely INTJ... but here's mine:

Love : Self Reliance. I'm able to cope with almost any situation. When I'm down, I'm very good at picking myself up...

Hate: Never to be able to put my mind at ease. I'm analysing everything all the time. It's pretty damn annoying and a hindrance sometimes.

[MNRon]

I love being a gifted problem solver; I hate it when I have to be part of a "team" of problem solvers.

I have always disliked being told that I "make others feel dumb."

[nickasummers]

I love being able to understand things easily but it really sucks when, for example, you get a perfect score on a test without studying, and someone else who studied for hours gets a C and asks you how long you studied... you honestly say "I didn't" and they get mad...

[Jerry]

I kind of hate the fact that I have to do everything myself because I would feel shameful otherwise.

I don't really hate it, its just tiring.

[INTJoe]

I hate that people aren't willing to admit we're more capable than they (because we're "different" or "weird"), yet they are quick to point out our lack of social skills. Hello!! Trade-off....dumbass. We admit we suck at being social, but I wish people would recognize that we've been blessed with abilities in other venues.

Why can't we just walk around and be like "You have more friends than me, but I'm more competent, so please, step aside and let me do the 'heavy lifting'. It's better for all of us."?

I hope that makes sense. It would make the world so much better!!! :)

What I love about being INTJ is pretty endless. I love how I can be walking down the street and stumble upon this great understanding of some concept which just sort of...comes to me. I love being logical. I love that I'm good at math, and didn't struggle like the other kids, in school. I love that I rarely had to study. I love that I can teach my friends complex ideas to where they can understand. I love that I'm often asked by my friends for advice, because they can count on me to cut through the BS and get to the real issue. I love that people view me as "a rock". I love that I'm dependable, and that I have ambition. I love that I'm self-sufficient. I love that people think I'm cold, and uncaring, but those who are close to me know otherwise. I love this forum! I love that we are united here, as sharers of ideas...and that we cover all corners of the globe, and we are made up of Asians, African-Americans, Euro's, Hispanics, and blue-eyed white boys (hehe...that would be me). I don't think I'm quick to recognize INTJ's irl, and I don't have a very diverse group of confidants, so it is nice to get both on this forum. I also love when my ISTJ gf says "You're such an N" :)

[Antares]

Loves

-The ability to reason relatively objectively
-To be able to beat many of my peers in debates
-Can lead intelligent conversations with peers and adults alike
-Putting projects in order and being a leader. Yes. I get cheap thrills from that. It's just so satisfying to see a bunch of raw material transform into a beautifully crafted project :D
-Being fairly detached granted me some sort of invulnerability to personal attacks, emotional guilt cards etc etc

Hates

-Being emotionally detached. Yes. It's still one of my favorite part of being INTJ, but seeing people enjoying themselves so freely and happily makes me wish I would be able to experience happiness less rationally. I think bliss is what I'm looking for, but being INTJ prevents that.
-Constantly self-questioning and self-criticism. I don't enjoy this, really. It's a rational thing to do, but I think my Fi is repulsed by it.
-Think too much. Often times, I can't go to sleep because of it. Overanalytical too.

[vkut79]

Love: what people have already mentioned.

Hate: Emotional detachment. I just feel like we miss out there.

[E148]

Pro: Personally I consider the emotional detachment one the best attributes.
Con: Others not seeing that and assuming I have some emotional reason for my actions or words.

Also, most all of the pros and cons already mentioned.

[Trivani]

I hate that people aren't willing to admit we're more capable than they (because we're "different" or "weird"), yet they are quick to point out our lack of social skills. Hello!! Trade-off....dumbass. We admit we suck at being social, but I wish people would recognize that we've been blessed with abilities in other venues.

Why can't we just walk around and be like "You have more friends than me, but I'm more competent, so please, step aside and let me do the 'heavy lifting'. It's better for all of us."?

I hope that makes sense. It would make the world so much better!!! :)

What I love about being INTJ is pretty endless. I love how I can be walking down the street and stumble upon this great understanding of some concept which just sort of...comes to me. I love being logical. I love that I'm good at math, and didn't struggle like the other kids, in school. I love that I rarely had to study. I love that I can teach my friends complex ideas to where they can understand. I love that I'm often asked by my friends for advice, because they can count on me to cut through the BS and get to the real issue. I love that people view me as "a rock". I love that I'm dependable, and that I have ambition. I love that I'm self-sufficient. I love that people think I'm cold, and uncaring, but those who are close to me know otherwise. I love this forum! I love that we are united here, as sharers of ideas...and that we cover all corners of the globe, and we are made up of Asians, African-Americans, Euro's, Hispanics, and blue-eyed white boys (hehe...that would be me). I don't think I'm quick to recognize INTJ's irl, and I don't have a very diverse group of confidants, so it is nice to get both on this forum. I also love when my ISTJ gf says "You're such an N" :)

People are so illogical for not recognizing that there are trade-offs! What's that? You want MY help with solving YOUR problem with my INTJ abilities? AND you want me to be nice while I'm doing it?

[cielo market]

Love: Original, creative ideas and outlooks and being able to put them into the real world. Innovation!
Hate: Being surrounded by people that have a hard time understanding you.

Definitely.

My own-
Pro: Always thinking towards the future helps me see things from the best perspectives.
Con: Always thinking towards the future sometimes makes me impatient. Especially when certain goals have a long road ahead of them.

[Firelie]

Love: Being competent at almost everything I do
Hate: The inability to get close to people without trying to push them away

[ssfanatic]

Love: Being able to ask questions and actually care about what goes on around me and my beliefs. So many people just jump to conclusions about things, how obnoxious.

Hate: The social awkwardness is a huge handicap, but its a minor sacrifice for other things. If i could change what i was, i wouldnt, but if i had to, i would be an ENTJ.

[PRBori]

Hmm... kind of hard.

Love:
The ability to see the future and plan
The ability to simplify and extreamline processes
The ability to analyze and be able to provide a vision of issues
The ability to grow in my career
The ability to grasp complicated processes

Hate:
The inability to relax my mind when ideas are forming
The inability to not be able to let others know how I feel
The inability to meet people that understand where I come from or my personality type

[BlackHawk]

What I love about being INTJ is pretty endless. I love how I can be walking down the street and stumble upon this great understanding of some concept which just sort of...comes to me. I love being logical. I love that I'm good at math, and didn't struggle like the other kids, in school. I love that I rarely had to study. I love that I can teach my friends complex ideas to where they can understand. I love that I'm often asked by my friends for advice, because they can count on me to cut through the BS and get to the real issue. I love that people view me as "a rock". I love that I'm dependable, and that I have ambition. I love that I'm self-sufficient. I love that people think I'm cold, and uncaring, but those who are close to me know otherwise. I love this forum! I love that we are united here, as sharers of ideas...and that we cover all corners of the globe, and we are made up of Asians, African-Americans, Euro's, Hispanics, and blue-eyed white boys (hehe...that would be me). I don't think I'm quick to recognize INTJ's irl, and I don't have a very diverse group of confidants, so it is nice to get both on this forum.

Perfect.

I love that we can entertain any idea so long as it has basis in reason.
I love that we can accept other people that are different because of their ideas.
I love living in a world of ideas.

I hate . . . well, not much.
All the cons to INTJ-ness are offset a hundred times by the pros. A minor quibble would definitely be relationship issues. But we can over that!

:thumbsup:

[iamnotspock]

Love -- Being smart enough to figure everyone out

Hate -- Being lonely b/c I don't connect with anyone

[Colette]

Love -- Being smart enough to figure everyone out

Hate -- Being lonely b/c I don't connect with anyone

Same list for me (roughly).

[DeadSpace]

Love -- Being smart enough to figure everyone out

Hate -- Being lonely b/c I don't connect with anyone
Connecting...just requires a willingness to take a chance usually. it happens naturally. Can't be faked either, you'll both share it when you find that one, shared smiles, shared thoughts. etc, quite wonderful

Nothing i really hate except being misunderstood in my humor, text is usually the worst. I think something with a certain nuance...and it sometimes does not get across.

[Antares]

Hate -- Being lonely b/c I don't connect with anyone

It's always like this: "Hey! Have you heard of the latest-" "- political development? Yes." My friends would always roll their eyes. They would talk about the newest artists and songs which I know nothing about, and I would want to talk to them about science, politics and philosophy; and my peers couldn't give less.

[Hudsucker]

I hate being misunderstood.
I love being competent at almost everything.

[ArchonAlarion]

INTx

Pros: Being able to see beneath the surface of an issue and connect ideas. I love being able to discard useless information and to locate contradictions in ideas. I can apply principles to almost every issue. I am a dreamer at heart and I feel like I'm always examining life from the clouds.

Neutral: I don't know if you guys do this, but when I'm alone my P totally kicks in and I will pace for hours planning out arguments and possible discussions in my head. Pretty much all of my alone time is spent contemplating the best ways to share information with someone. In fact I planned this very paragraph a week or so ago. Its almost involuntary. Its especially scary when I mind plan discussing how I mind plan.
I am neither a leader nor follower.

Cons: When I climb into the clouds in my head, I sometimes look down and realize that the ladder to other people and actuality is vanishing. I can be very sociable, but than I will crash and burn and turn into a scowling, miserable, morass of self pity. I am unfortunately in that state now.
Because I'm 100%N and 89%T I have no capacity to flirt, pick up small things like street names, or notice details. I am not a detail person when it comes to things outside of my head and cloud world. I become severly aggravated when people are irrational. For me a relationship is either nothing or everything. I can't have a meaningless relationship just to impress my peers. Lastly, I'm a contradictarian.

[Universe]

I like being more intelligent, talented, and tasteful than most people.
I don't like being misunderstood, and being so bother by other's personality flaws.

[Colette]

I notice that a lot of posters have mentioned being 'misunderstood' as the thing they enjoy least about being an INTJ.

In what way/s do you think you are most often misunderstood by others? Is there a correlation with particular types who seem to 'misunderstand' you more often or more profoundly than other types?

[DeadSpace]

I notice that a lot of posters have mentioned being 'misunderstood' as the thing they enjoy least about being an INTJ.

In what way/s do you think you are most often misunderstood by others? Is there a correlation with particular types who seem to 'misunderstand' you more often or more profoundly than other types?

In text, vocal nuance is lost in translation...as is any facial expression, second would be voice only, though nuance, tone, makes that a very low chance, almost nil. In person, impossible, expression, body language, vocal tones, never misunderstood

[Killua]

Like:
Self awareness, analytic, trust worthyness and last but not least well voiced.

Dislike:
The fact that other people just do not understand your reasoning because they can only see a limited thing. They see the obvious but they do not see the down sides.

[paradanmellow]

Hate -- Being lonely b/c I don't connect with anyone

why am I here? I'm doing you a service guys, don't miss the opportunity ;D

[Avenger]

why am I here? I'm doing you a service guys, don't miss the opportunity ;D

We don't trust strangers. ;)

[JohnF]

Love: Being able to see the whole picture
Love: Seeing the intricacy’s in the plan or the way a machine works without effort


Hate: When non INTJ’s don’t make sense [You try to explain a point or detail but they just can’t get it]. F-ing frustrating to the max.
Hate: Work because I tend to get board so fast. We take in info so fast and as soon as I have all the info; I then need more of a challenge.

Also can someone please explain what my wife is trying to say when she says [You’re a man and you just wouldn’t understand!]

[vaguely dissatisfied]

I hate not being able to communicate effectively with most other people. I hate that they don't understand me and that they sound so irrational to me. I hate feeling like an alien most of the time.

I like being able to examine myself and the things around me. I like being able to rely on intuition. I like thinking.

[cRyPT]

Neutral: I don't know if you guys do this, but when I'm alone my P totally kicks in and I will pace for hours planning out arguments and possible discussions in my head. Pretty much all of my alone time is spent contemplating the best ways to share information with someone.

How do you think a J would act in that situation?

[errrzarrr]

Happy when: I notice I can see wider and deeper future consecuences of any action idea than other people and many times faster.

Not so Happy when: I see other people get happy and enjoy any simple stuff. More when I am supposed to be happy because I have achieved something.

[Beery Swine]

I love that I can understand almost any intellectual concept but hate that I'm not stupid enough to get laid more often by more women. I also hate being an INTJ because so few seem to understand a lot of what I say, which leads me to the idea that they're not even human for not being able to understand so simple a concept, whatever that concept may be. It gives me the feeling like I'm a lone human in a world of aliens pretending to be human and not fully understanding what being a human is all about. Did you ever see the 80s movie They Live by John Carpenter? It's like I'm wearing an invisible, intangible pair of those sunglasses, and eventually it disorients me just like those sg.

[Mercury]

Love: Ability to grasp intellectual concepts quickly, abstract thought. Confidence in abilities. Having multiple talents.
Hate: Being shy. Social weirdness. Not knowing how to act or behave like everyone seems to.

[hozer]

Things I love about it have already been covered by others. The one thing I dislike, at times, is how self aware I am. Being able to see all my strengths and weaknesses is sometimes depressing.

[azelismia]

This topic is silly. Why not ask what do you hate or love most about yourself. I don't love or hate ANYTHING about my INTJ'ness. it just is. there are personality quirks i'd get rid of or keep, but I wouldn't say they are INTJ related necessarily. Not all parts of my personality are INTJ. The majority is but not all of it. I'd like to be more extraverted but I don't hate that I am not and I do not love my introversion. I just am introverted.

[augustus]

Maybe the biggest thing I hate is to see people wandering around through life without specific goals and accomplishments. I wish I could smell the roses and relax like them.

But I can't. I constantly have things I need to complete daily, weekly,monthly and yearly in the back of my head.

[Incendiarism]

I hate thinking so damn much.

[Diamond8INTJ]

Love: Knowing that I can accomplish so much more than any of the others around me.
Hate: Being persecuted for the above :blank:

I love being a gifted problem solver; I hate it when I have to be part of a "team" of problem solvers.

I have always disliked being told that I "make others feel dumb."

sooooo true :rolleyes: ... i love being so abstract and cross disciplined when imagining, i love seeing things other people seem to fail noticing, i love being able to intuitively grasp whats happening around me and see what its future going to be like ( and mostly i get it right ), hence i love acting like an oracle in my head sometimes ...

i hate being misunderstood alot because " you don't talk on peoples level of understanding ... stop being so abstract and complex ! ", i hate being seen as sad and lonely when i am simply introspecting and thinking all of the time, i hate being told i am missing life experience when i am so young, although really life where i am from is really not mentally challenging nor stimulating enough as my books or interests or daydreaming ...

but most of all, i love being an INTJ and being, seeing, doing and creating things other people will never do, because they lack our perspective on things ;D:cool:

[sriv]

The lack of social skills. DEFINITELY. I hate being unable to connect with others in ways that my NF friends can. It's depressing almost. I'm isolated in a way.

Lack of social skills also hurts my reputation. When one recieves praise from an instructor in a classroom situation there are two things that can happen. The collective love the individual who recieves praise and look at him like a role model. Or the collective resent the individual for raising their expectations and showing-off/recieving favoritism. Because of my asocial first impression upon people, I'm automatically put in the second category. Bah.

What I like about being IxTJ is the depth of thinking that I can go into. It's fun predicting events and observing things other's usually would miss.

[WiredBrain]

Likes: Most of what have been already mentioned.

Dislike: Thinking in ways to blend in socially, just to avoid people start getting curious about my private life. I really hate my personal space being invaded.

[Alpha Prime]

I find it amusing how people here blame their "INTJ-ness" for the lack of a skill they haven't developed. It is as if they have limited their own potential. :/

[sriv]

I find it amusing how people here blame their "INTJ-ness" for the lack of a skill they haven't developed. It is as if they have limited their own potential. :/

That's sucks for old me because new me is all good. :cheesy:

[Lupin]

Love: being autonomous and creative simultaneously, almost with a self-sufficient intelligence which allows me to go into my own private 'lab' to test ideas before putting them into practice. Projects are my lifeblood which shows (to me) that I am employing all my INTJ-ness towards productive effect - a phenomenon which satisfies itself.

Really love: this forum, which is new to me. It's been a long time in the wilderness and, having just taken the test once again, the IN levels are stupidly high so I clearly need to get out of the 'lab' for a bit :)

Hate: being misunderstood, working in groups, working with peers and juniors needing my help all the time - I find the relationship issue a major sticking point and get anxious far more quickly than others of my age and experience. Distractions on a people level are time-consuming when I could be doing something more constructive to move on.

Really hate: being humilitated into speaking up on subjects in front of an audience as I rarely have the right words to express the issue spontaneously. That really bothers me. Hence, would abhor being famous on tv or similar - would make gaffes all the time :(

[Marcus]

What I like is that I can tell interesting things to people, and that I can trust myself.

I sometimes don't like being far ahead in thinking compared to my workmates. We usually end up starting a project with inherent faults, about which they cannot be convinced. When the shortcomings start to show I've little motivation to fix them.

Also I don't like that I do very minimal effort to maintain friendships and to stay in contact with acquaintances.

[elsdfr]

The things I dislike are also same things I like, they just seem to happen at the wrong times.

[szaxazs]

Well the one thing I would choose as the trait I like the most is definitely the Abstract Reasoning skills part of all my thinking processes. I seem to be able to link lots of concepts together and I really like this type of thinking.
I also enjoy my Mechanical/Visualization thinking skills, because it's fun being able to manipulate and create anything visually in your head, force it to interact with the real world in a way that the reality in your head merges with the reality that "actually is", and thus viewing real life augmented. When I played lots of CS I remember manipulating a visual bullpup or AK-47 or M4A1 when walking in the streets, shooting people, and living in a completely distorted the reality, as long as I wanted it that way of course. It was more entertaining than the game itself. Same goes with Lineage and practically any game I really liked. Damn I had more casting speed in my visual world than any fully buffed Spellsinger in the game would:cool:.

Now about the negative parts, I think that the best thing would be to accept ourselves as we really are instead of complaining to ourselves about what we are not. If you can and really want to change something about yourself so badly, then ok, do it. Otherwise if you focus so much on what you are not, instead of what you could be, then there's no way to change. The result will be frustration with yourself, or others, or both .

I become no longer frustrated when people seem to not be able to follow my train of thought, and this is because I stopped focusing all my attention in the fact that people can't understand me. I said to myself that if you can understand me, fine. If you can't, fine again. I'm not going to become frustrated, not with myself, not with you, not with anybody.

This thing applies to everything. This is because what you think actually becomes reality. If all the time you think that you can't connect with people or be more social, then at the end of course you will not become more social or connect with anyone. Hey, this is what you were thinking about all the time, how do you want to change something if you don't change your thought?

[Marcus]

There was a time when I was actively investing in my social life. The problem is that it took too much investment (compared to other activities) for a modest return. But having no social life sucks as well. Still have to find a good balance.

[ElstonGunn]

I find it amusing how people here blame their "INTJ-ness" for the lack of a skill they haven't developed. It is as if they have limited their own potential. :/

That might be one of the things that I like about being an INTJ. If I suck at something, I can blame my natural personality, which I have no control over, so it's not my fault. If I'm good at something, it's because of my natural personality, so I get the credit for naturally kicking so much ass.

[szaxazs]

There was a time when I was actively investing in my social life. The problem is that it took too much investment (compared to other activities) for a modest return. But having no social life sucks as well. Still have to find a good balance.

I too have been in the same phase where I was investing in my social life and I too had modest returns.

Right now I'm testing whether having no social life sucks at all, and up to now I can't say it actually sucks at all but, who knows, I might change my opinion in the future and then try to find some balance as well.

[Alpha Prime]

That might be one of the things that I like about being an INTJ. If I suck at something, I can blame my natural personality, which I have no control over, so it's not my fault. If I'm good at something, it's because of my natural personality, so I get the credit for naturally kicking so much ass.

C'mon man, you're kidding, right? If not..

"Natural personality" is what you have at birth, after that, a substantial part of a personality becomes affected by the environment. Beliefs and behaviours (which are only programs running in the subconscious mind) are part of a personality, which can, and do change, especially when something of importance is learnt.

Seeking someone, or something to blame is immature. The other side of the coin is to take full responsibility for your (in-)actions and find ways to compensate for what you are lacking.

Compartmentalizing oneself to a type (from a model, which is inherently faulty) is limiting yourself like using a quantum-super-duper-badabing-badaboom-computer to play Donkey Kong, 8-bit only (or possibly scratching my back too).


That's sucks for old me because new me is all good. :cheesy:

* Gives your ENFP-ness a cuddly hug, and then sprays you with chick donkey pheromones (To view links or images in this forum your post count must be 2 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.).* :P