Even if you don't yet know your personality preferences, I hope that as you read my Christmas wish list you'll think about what kind of world would be most agreeable and comfortable for your personality. Relax and let yourself "Imagine".....
For Christmas I dream of seeing our society transformed from one in which ESTJ (Extravert, Sensing, Thinking, Judging) is the four - letter type code most favored and considered most successful, the one people should strive to be, to one in which people of all type codes, even the minority type codes such as mine (INFJ), would feel perfectly at home. No one would feel like he or she must change to fit in and avoid being considered weird, because the unique talents and contributions of all would be respected and appreciated. No one would ever be considered weird or inferior because of their healthy personality preferences.
For Christmas I want Santa to show me more and more people looking beyond tangible results of self - improvement, such as the immediate rewards of developing a skill, losing weight, earning more money, etc. It would be a wonderful surprise to be able to attend a huge craft show and find among the hundreds of booths at least one offering information on the MBTI(R) personality assessment. It would be like spotting a mound of diamonds to see hundreds of people flocking to that booth, eager to learn about something which could give them riches far beyond the immediate benefits provided by most goods and services showcased at such craft fairs. I'd rather see them realize the value of the insights they could gain from taking the MBTI tool than find 100 presents under my tree! The insights they could gain about their own type preferences and those of their loved ones might not put more food on their tables, but nonetheless have a tremendous amount to offer. The changes resulting from learning about personality type might not be immediately visible, but then again they just might be! The time invested in learning to use this tool for understanding ourselves and others would certainly never be wasted.
For Christmas I want San Antonio, TX, where I live, to have an active, organized type community. A type community is a network of people ranging from beginners to professionals interested in the MBTI personality assessment, who meet occasionally for discussion, training, and to share ideas, etc. Online MBTI discussion groups such as those on Facebook and LinkedIn are great, but can't take the place of friends to trade ideas with face - to - face.
I'd like to wake up on Christmas morning 2013 to see more people understanding that the MBTI tool is not a test since everything it measures is good and healthy, and that it is worth more than any knockoff. Near the top of my wish list is my desire not to have to spend anymore time putting out the fires of misinformation about it on the Internet, because the letters MBTI would be a household acronym known and understood by all. I also hope to see Santa and his elves nudging more people toward becoming MBTI certified practitioners.
As Christmas approaches I imagine a world where schools and colleges will take the personality preferences and learning styles of their students into account, and use them to the students' advantage. For example, in this world students with a preference for extraversion would be allowed to learn mostly in groups and those with a preference for introversion would be allowed to learn mostly independently, instead of being forced to learn in ways which drain them of energy, make them miserable, and limit their chances for academic success. As someone who is employed in the field of educational assessments, I dream of the improvement we will see in test results as more and more students will be allowed to learn in ways which harness the strengths of their personality preferences.
A special gift I hope to see Santa pull out of his pack this Christmas is that of fewer people asking what four - letter type code they should seek in a spouse. This question would not be necessary because more people would understand that the key to a successful marriage is their own ability and willingness to respect the style and needs of another person's type code, rather than what that person's type code actually is. Many couples have shown that any two types can have a happy, successful marriage. Isabel Briggs Myers herself, who had preferences for INFP, was happily married to Chief, who had preferences for ISTJ, from 1918 until her death in 1980!
Since I am a stamp collector, another treasure I hope to find under my tree someday is the much - deserved news that Isabel Briggs Myers would be honored on a postage stamp. But by far the best gift of all would be to see her vision of world peace fulfilled through the teaching we find in the MBTI tool that healthy differences in personality preferences are just that - healthy! How can our different approaches to energizing ourselves, taking in information, making decisions and orienting ourselves to the outside world possibly be worth fighting over?
That's my Christmas 2013 wish list so far. How does it compare with yours?? Please take a moment to tell us what's on your list!
MERRY CHRISTMAS, EVERYONE!