Heart Notes #4 A Mirror Into Your Inner Nature

Today I want to offer you something light… something curious and fun. There is a wonderful personality test inspired by Carl Jung, who believed we each have our own natural ways of seeing the world. It looks at where your energy flows… how you take in information… how you make decisions… and how you move through life. Tune in and enjoy. 

Transcript

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Welcome to Heart Notes Number Four, A Mirror Into Your Inner Nature. Today I want to offer you something light, something curious and fun. There is a wonderful personality test inspired by Carl Jung, who believed we each have natural ways of seeing the world. It looks at where your energy flows and how you take in information, how you make decisions, and how you move through life. The personality test reflects back a type, not to define you, but to help you notice things about yourself more clearly. A way to deepen your understanding of why you think, act, and react the way you do in your daily life. Additionally, it can help identify the reasons behind your choice of career and the sources of your inspiration and motivation. Think of it not as a label, more like a mirror. So if you feel called to take the test, just do it for fun, not to box yourself in, but to become a little more aware. Because awareness is where all healing begins. And it's a free personality test, and you can take it online. Okay, now for a little history about this test. Carl Young's 1921 book, Psychological Times, inspired two women, Catherine Cook Briggs and her daughter, Isabel Briggs-Myers. Together they decided to create a personality test based on Young's psychological types, believing that understanding ourselves could foster more compassion in the world. I agree. What they developed became the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator to help people recognize their natural preferences, how they think, feel, and move through life. I will tell you that within the academic psychology field, the Myers-Briggs type indicator test has led some researchers to question its scientific accuracy and reliability. However, here is the grounded and positive truth. Despite these concerns, it has been widely embraced in schools, workplaces, and personal development settings, because people find it meaningful, relatable, and useful for self-reflection. Oh, there's that mirror again. So it is not a strict science or final definition of who we are, but a great tool for self-awareness. A mirror, not a box, something that invites curiosity instead of limitation. The free young inspired personality test, Myers-Briggs type indicator test, has 16 personality types based on four core patterns. Extroversion versus introversion, where you focus your energy on the outer world or your inner world. Sensing versus intuition, how you take in information via practical facts or abstract patterns, thinking versus feeling, how you make decisions based on logic or personal values, judging versus perceiving, how you organize your life, structure, and schedule are spontaneous and flexible. The combinations create 16 unique types, and they are summed up by and given initials. Here is an example of a few. INTJ means strategic logical leaders, INFP, idealistic and apathetic creators, ESTP, energetic action-oriented adventurers, ESFJ, social supportive caretakers, and the list goes on. This test is frequently utilized for self-reflection, team development, and interpersonal understanding, though it is not intended to limit an individual's potential. So just remember, no test can fully define a human being. Because personality is complex and always evolving. Okay, so what is personality exactly, and how do we get ours? Well it's not entirely born or made, but rather a combination of both, innate temperament and environmental influences. There have been studies that say 30% to 60% of personality is genetic, with environment, experiences, and personal choices shaping the rest of our personalities during our life. You are born with a temperament, which are our innate energy levels and mood. Boy, how true this is having witnessed my sons and grandsons from newborn babies into grown men, I can attest that their temperaments were there from the very beginning. As our personality matures and evolves from childhood to adulthood, the various influences such as our experiences, environment, parenting, societal and cultural factors, and even our latent talents contribute to what makes each of us unique. Here's a breakdown of how personality develops. Our genetics we are born with are our fundamental temperament that includes your emotional reactivity, energy levels, and general demeanor. Research suggests that traits such as shyness, sociability, thrill seeking have a notable genetic basis, and some characteristics like imagination exhibit up to 74% correlation with genetic factors, indicating that genetic predispositions can significantly influence an individual's creative abilities and cognitive styles. Nurture and environmental factors such as upbringing, education, nutrition, and life experiences significantly influence personality development too. These factors can activate specific genetic predispositions, including tendencies towards anxiety or impulsivity. Then there is the interplay, because personality is developed through the constant interaction between your inherited temperament and your life experiences. We change over time because personality is not entirely static and often matures between the ages of 20 and 40. Positive changes can also be cultivated through intentional effort, such as therapy, meditation, yoga, nature experiences, or volunteering. If you feel this is something you can enjoy and learn something more about your individuality, taking a personality test can reveal your trains and identify strengths. It's simply self-reflection. Here is the test I recommend Myers and Briggs Personality Test, based on Carl Jung's studies and book. It is free, safe, and easy to use. The website is www.16personalities.com. You can also access it online or go to my website, the HardLadyPodcast.com, and you can find it on my science page. Once you get your personality type, you can read all about it on that website. Plus, you can search for it on Google, Yahoo, etc., for even more information. Just enter the four initials of your personality type and more will be revealed. It's enjoyable, thought-provoking, and provides an opportunity for positive self-reflection. So enjoy the adventure, feel good, and please join me next time for episode 15, Harnessing Mind Over Matter for Healing and Life Success. Thank you for listening today. I invite you to follow the HeartLady Podcast so you don't miss any episodes, and I would appreciate it if you could leave me a review and rating on the podcast hosting site where you listen. Please share the HeartLady Podcast with people you care about if you believe they would enjoy and benefit from the information I share. To learn more about the power of our thoughts and the science behind them, visit our website, theheartladypodcast.com. Goodbye for now, and remember, at the heart of the matter, thoughts shape our reality.