Is it true that one cannot change his/her core personality traits?

[LoneWonderer]

Can you change your Myers–Briggs personality type with a lot of emotional and spiritual work or are some core traits never going to change?

[vladorion]

Probably not.

[LoneWonderer]

@vladorion can you elaborate please?

[John Paul]

Sure can, just type in different answers 

[Leo Gura]

You can expand your capacity with all of the different functions, however, you will still have functions which are your strengths, which come easier to you, which you fall back on when you're most relaxed and natural. That's really what your Myers-Briggs type says about you. How are you when you're not huffing and puffing to be somebody?

You can also shore up the functions that you're weak in, so you're not crippled by those weaknesses. For example, if you're an introvert crippled in social situations, you can correct that so you can function in social situations, although you'll still be an introvert at heart. That's what I did. And it was worthwhile to do. But I still love being an introvert at my core but it's not really a problem any more.

Edited December 12, 2022 by Leo Gura

[LoneWonderer]

@Leo Gura Thank you Leo! ?

[Adam M]

4 hours ago, Leo Gura said:

You can expand your capacity with all of the different functions, however, you will still have functions which are your strengths, which come easier to you, which you fall back on when you're most relaxed and natural. That's really what your Myers-Briggs type says about you. How are you when you're not huffing and puffing to be somebody?

You can also shore up the functions that you're weak in, so you're not crippled by those weaknesses. For example, if you're an introvert crippled in social situations, you can correct that so you can function in social situations, although you'll still be an introvert at heart. That's what I did. And it was worthwhile to do. But I still love being an introvert at my core but it's not really a problem any more.

Yes.

Also, it seems to be that your myers-briggs type is also related to your 'soul-mission' and is usually reflected in your top values.

Ex. I just re-vamped my top 10 values and "exloration/learning" was my number 1 value (according to my deepest heart-feeling)

That makes since since my myers-briggs is ENTP and Extroverted Intuition "exploring" is my primary function.

*I didn't get exploration as my top value because of my myers-briggs type. I made sure that my assessment was un-biased by my knowledge of personality models. And only found correlation after the fact.

Also, Leo's top value might be something like "Truth" as he's mentioned in other videos... "If you're top value isn't Truth! Then what are you serving?" (I paraphrase).

That would make sense because his myers-briggs type is INTP and his primary function is Introverted Thinking or "accuracy" a.k.a. Truth.

So, your "soul's mission" and what you most deeply desire seems to be related to your personality type.

I believe that God can be found via all "primary functions" when taken to their extremes.

All paths lead to God, as long as you are following the principles of Self-Actualization and you are striving to grow and expand consciously (and being true to your heart!)

On changing your type:

What Leo said above is accurate. I personally had a big problem with being too "P-trait" (too free-flowing and spontaneous) which caused me to be super dis-organized and easily distracted with "shiny object syndrome." I couldn't get anything done!

So, I had to intentionally build my J-trait "scheduling, consistency, organization" so that I can be productive. I did this by installing a strict morning routine.

This made be more well-rounded and helps me to further develop my main traits.

[Cathal]

@LoneWonderer Ease into who you are, there will never be anyone like you again to walk this planet, you are an utterly a unique being

[Shane Hanlon]

This is particularly interesting to me since I have taken the Myers Briggs test at different points in my life.  The results have changed significantly over time.

The first time I took the test was as a sophomore in high school (over 10 years ago.) My result was ENTJ. That felt very accurate to me at the time.

Then I took it again a few years later (around 2015) a few different times and got ENTP. Similar but a sizable difference.

Since then I have done a ton of spiritual and development work. I have a whole new way of making sense of the world. A year ago I took the test again and got INFJ. I also feel it does a great job of representing me now.

[Adam M]

6 hours ago, Shane Hanlon said:

This is particularly interesting to me since I have taken the Myers Briggs test at different points in my life.  The results have changed significantly over time.

The first time I took the test was as a sophomore in high school (over 10 years ago.) My result was ENTJ. That felt very accurate to me at the time.

Then I took it again a few years later (around 2015) a few different times and got ENTP. Similar but a sizable difference.

Since then I have done a ton of spiritual and development work. I have a whole new way of making sense of the world. A year ago I took the test again and got INFJ. I also feel it does a great job of representing me now.

I doubt that your actual type changes.

I think you're just uncovering deeper and deeper layers of yourself... but at the end of the day.  I think that you're using certain cognitive functions and you've been using them your entire life.

[Leo Gura]

8 hours ago, Shane Hanlon said:

This is particularly interesting to me since I have taken the Myers Briggs test at different points in my life.  The results have changed significantly over time.

You have to know how to take the test properly.

[eggopm3]

I Identified heavily with INTP as a teen and young adult, but now I'd say I fall into the INFP or INFJ categories and INTP doesn't resonate with my personality much at all anymore. But like @Adam M said, I think it's more about gaining a deepening understanding of myself rather than my core personality changing. Like when I was younger I admired the traits of INTPs so I'd try to align myself more closely with it, rather than it genuinely reflecting how I actually behaved. But also experiences can influence you to reveal more of yourself, I was very emotionally repressed when I was younger whereas now after going through some intense life experiences I'm much more comfortable with my emotions. And surely there are many other things that I haven't experienced yet that will occur in the future which could reveal more dimensions of my personality that I don't yet realize.

[How to be wise]

@eggopm3 The difference between NJ and NP is that they are ‘direct’ and ‘informative’ respectively. Basically NP can talk all day, while NJ will usually get right to the point and use fewer words. You see this best when you watch NJs vs NPs giving lectures. NJs will always use notes and PowerPoint because they don’t know what to say without them, while NPs can give a two hour lecture with no notes and no preparation. 

[Leo Gura]

7 minutes ago, How to be wise said:

NJs will always use notes and PowerPoint because they don’t know what to say without them, while NPs can give a two hour lecture with no notes and no preparation.

I can do both, and I'm half-way between J & P.

Edited December 13, 2022 by Leo Gura

[How to be wise]

@Leo Gura You’ve demonstrated in your blog videos that you can talk for 2 hours with no notes. NJs will struggle to talk for 15 minutes without some sort of prompt. 

[Leo Gura]

It's actually easier for me to talk without notes, but the talk will not be as well structured and important insights will slip my mind.

My Jordan Peterson video is probably my best video done off the top of my head.

Edited December 13, 2022 by Leo Gura

[JuliusCaesar]

@LoneWonderer The short answer is it can be done; all you have to do is turn yourself into a different person. If you want the longer answer, a good place to start would be the first post I ever made on this forum. Though bear in mind, that I'm not just talking about some analytical metric. I'm literally talking about straight up becoming someone else.

https://www.actualized.org/forum/topic/70806-accidental-ego-replacement-a-doorway-to-the-occult-and-god/

[Ayham]

@Adam M what function might have wisdom and personal growth as their top values in your opinion?

@Leo Gura also can you elaborate on taking tests properly?

I think your personality can change as in the way you behave, but the cognitive functions as in how your mind approaches things cant be changed.

which is why everyone's personality is a unique example of their type, since it determines how your mind works rather than how you behave.
and of course, how your mind works also determines how you behave to a high degree.

[Gesundheit2]

On 12/12/2022 at 1:00 PM, Leo Gura said:

How are you when you're not huffing and puffing to be somebody?

That's a very good question.

For me, I would say the answer is that I am mostly preference-less, adaptive/flexible, and perfectionist. At least in the context of personality traits/structure and perception of the world.

Though, on a deeper level, I'm a crazy person who pretends to be rational.

Edited December 13, 2022 by Gesundheit2

[Shane Hanlon]

23 hours ago, Leo Gura said:

You have to know how to take the test properly.

Ya fair enough. I have always just taken the test from https://www.16personalities.com/free-personality-test without thinking about anything else.

On 12/12/2022 at 5:47 PM, Adam M said:

I think you're just uncovering deeper and deeper layers of yourself... but at the end of the day.  I think that you're using certain cognitive functions and you've been using them your entire life.

Ya could be. Could some parts of us change and others not? It doesn't seem totally out of the realm of possibility that someone could genuinely transform parts of themselves over their lives.