# NTs: Do you resonate with these problems of your personality?



## wanderingfox (Aug 20, 2015)

I've been writing a book on how personality plays a role in health habits and behaviors. In each chapter, I discuss the strengths and weaknesses of each temperament. I want to be sure my assumptions resonate with people of that personality type. These "pitfalls" can play out in your regular life too, not just in your behaviors surrounding diet and exercise. Please let me know how on target I am, or if I've completely missed the mark!

*NT Trouble Spots*

1. *Self-critical* Desire to always be competent, experiences a drive for perfection. Struggle with constant self-doubting and a feeling that they are always on the verge of failure. May not take action (especially the Perceivers) because of the fear of failure. 

2. *Analysis Paralysis* Over-thinking decisions to the point that it turns into procrastination. Feel like they must have all the information, and explored every avenue before they can make a decision. In diet and exercise, want to have all the facts, so they know they're choosing the "right" diet or exercise program for their goals. 

3. *Playing the Cynic* Having a negative attitude towards the outcome. Rebelling against eating healthfully or working out because it's "irrelevant" or we'll all die anyway. 

*Lost-in-Thought* Get so lost in solving a problem or their work that they forget to take care of themselves. 

If these don't apply, please add what you struggle with when it comes to forming healthy habits, or why you resist changing. Thanks for the help! 

​


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## Vis Vitalis (Jul 30, 2012)

I think in my case, I get overwhelmed by making important decisions and what to do once I have decided what to do, so can relate the best to the second option. I guess this is just because I tend to get stuck in a rut in planning how to go about what to do first and how to do it. My weak judging is one of the things I'm still trying to improve upon, so I'm not always getting everything done at the last minute.


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## Fumetsu (Oct 7, 2015)

Just the first one.


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## lookslikeiwin (May 6, 2014)

All of these are accurate for me and the ENTPs I know, but less so for my ENTJ. He would identify with the first one. With the second he would just research everything and make a decision. With the third it's more tied into the last one. More like, he doesn't think eating healthy should be a focus in life and so its hard to get him to care. Therefore, he gets distracted and skips meals etc. if he decided that he should care more he would research and follow through.

I don't know any INTJs (though ENTJ is borderline INTJ)


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## Catwalk (Aug 12, 2015)

My thought(s) are similar to this most times.

*(1)* - all failure is_ weakness_ - weakling(s) get left behind. All flaw(s) are failures - fix it. 

*(2) - 
*
_Must make the best decision.

Must make the optimal decision.

Must make the right decision.

Cannot fail. 

Cannot show failure(s) - all failure is weakness.

Admit when wrong, but fix it to maximum utility. 

No crying - no whining - no complaining - suck it up. Just do it._

~ Has failed ~ 

*Fair enough;* it is my fault - all my fault. I failed - OCD until no longer failing + over-analyizing problem - system burnout - ((reboots)) - repeat(s) process to correct flaw, correct(s) flaw - moves on.. Repeat.

I suspect this is my flickering (Te) + (J) function(s) on the _misbehave._


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## Luck (Nov 19, 2015)

1. I relate to the competency and perfection part but not the constant self doubt or fear of failure part. I don't take my perfect ideals too seriously (I see it as place I'll never reach but heading in it's direction anyway is good) and I'm a business minded person who tries to 'fail often'. I expect myself to be competent in a new endeavor in time. I probably have less self doubt than most.

2. This is also a kind of, maybe for me. I certainly have over analyzed in my life. And in some complex things I really do want all the information and facts double checked when other personalities would have just made a decision and went with it already. In my mind this is risk analysis and how to make a good decision on something significant and not end up second guessing yourself rather than procrastination (but perhaps others see it as so). I see the procrastination coming after that person has gathered enough info for them to have made a decision (by their standard) and they are avoiding it. I may gather more data than most but I don't delay. When it's time to move on it, I go with absolute conviction.

Using the diet example. When I was 18 and able to buy my own food I spent my evenings for about a month reading about nutrition for the first time. I calculated what I should be eating down to the micronutrients and tried to factor for everything. I ate the paleo ish type diet I ended up calculating for 12 years with a good outcome. To me the effort to pay off was worth it. 

I recently did the same thing before switching to a ketogenic diet. To my mind researching the hell out of it is worth it given that it's pretty weird to stop eating plants and, assuming I continue to have good results, the work I did should hold me over for many many years. Perhaps I'm a classic case of this bc I actually do believe there is one 'right' diet for me!

3. N/a

4. Rarely


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## Punniez (Jun 23, 2015)

The first three out of four apply for me...the first two are particularly relevant, although it's difficult for me to see the difference between the two. Example: I need to get all information before committing to a decision (such as type of exercise, best diet, etc.), but this is because I am afraid of failing if I don't choose the best option.


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## wanderingfox (Aug 20, 2015)

Fumetsu said:


> Just the first one.


I do feel like these are geared towards the NTPs more than the NTJs.. What aspects of your personality would you say hinder you from forming healthy habits? Or make it more of a struggle? Thanks for the input.


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## Fumetsu (Oct 7, 2015)

wanderingfox said:


> I do feel like these are geared towards the NTPs more than the NTJs.. What aspects of your personality would you say hinder you from forming healthy habits? Or make it more of a struggle? Thanks for the input.


I would say the fact that I'm unemployed so I have nothing to create a schedule around.

_but_ probably my very strong "N"which I think overpowers my "J". I just do what my "N" tells me to do at any given time. It really doesn't work for me at all and I hate it.


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## Fumetsu (Oct 7, 2015)

wanderingfox said:


> I do feel like these are geared towards the NTPs more than the NTJs.. What aspects of your personality would you say hinder you from forming healthy habits? Or make it more of a struggle? Thanks for the input.


I would say the fact that I'm unemployed so I have nothing to create a schedule around.

In regards to MBTI, I'd say the fact that my "N" is much stronger than my "J". So, I have a very hard time sticking with a plan. I just do what my "N" tells me to do at the time. It really doesn't work for me at all and I hate it.


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## Emdilem (Mar 15, 2016)

all of the above, sheesh.


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## Necrofantasia (Feb 26, 2014)

I can already see the "procrastination" component might be off proportion due to the excessive amount of INTP in this site. 

Shame you couldn't use checkboxes instead of radio buttons.


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## kimpossible119 (May 15, 2014)

Self-Critical and Analysis Paralysis both resonate with me to the extreme. I put self-critical because it's probably the most debilitating problem I have, but Analysis Paralysis is a very close second.


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## Judgment_Knight (Feb 1, 2015)

Analysis Paralysis is by far the most prevalent with self criticism keeping close at its heels. Comes with extreme social anxiety and nervousness especially when relating personal thoughts.


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## shallnotbenamed (Dec 19, 2014)

All except self-critical.


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## Grandalf (Jun 7, 2014)

> 1. *Self-critical* Desire to always be competent, experiences a drive for perfection. Struggle with constant self-doubting and a feeling that they are always on the verge of failure. May not take action (especially the Perceivers) because of the fear of failure.
> 
> 2. *Analysis Paralysis* Over-thinking decisions to the point that it turns into procrastination. Feel like they must have all the information, and explored every avenue before they can make a decision. In diet and exercise, want to have all the facts, so they know they're choosing the "right" diet or exercise program for their goals.
> 
> ...


As an individual who places an extreme priority of continuously improving intellectually and financially, Number one would resonate the most as failing (defined by not reaching a usually high standard) leads me to try to reverse failures (number 2 and 4) and losing any sense of meaning if no remedy is found (number 3).


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## starscream430 (Jan 14, 2014)

I'm self-critical to a fault. I put myself at a very high standard, so failure for me is very...very disheartening :dry:.


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## Yu Narukami (Jan 14, 2016)

1 and 4. Although for 4, I'm not sure if it's forgetting to take care of myself as opposed to not caring sometimes in the face of a challenge/work lol. I don't necessarily see what's wrong with playing the cynic. As long as it doesn't completely take over your perspective cynicism can be a great tool to help prevent disastrous outcomes.


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## IDontThinkSo (Aug 24, 2011)

I don't have such diet issues.

1) People who fear to fail are idealists. Perfectionists have no ideal self, only issues to understand (solve) : an ideal self that is not themselves would be an issue to solve as it wouldn't be perfect. By extension, a goal that is never reached cannot be perfect. Our abilities to solve our internal issues are not limited until proven otherwise, perfectionists can't stop testing their limits since the fear or failure woudl be the self-fulfilling prophecy of an idealist.


2) Yes but no. I think my paralysis occurs ahead, the time I take to decide that I'm ready to start analyzing something can be quite long. I'm paralyzed by the creative slowness to properly simulate the premises of a concept. I would compare it to.. forced-meditation or something like that. Mind is blank and I see my thoughts scrolling down, can't stop it.. 

So I'll probably start your diet to gain a practical understanding of it. But I'll also probably stop it quickly to take the time to process what happened. Facts don't interest me if I can't understand them, as they only multiply the premises and impede the building of their comprehension.

3) Nope, not prone to rationalization. (and I like being healthy)

4) Nope, because 1) 2) and 3).


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## Endologic (Feb 14, 2015)

1,2 and 4. I would have voted 4 if it weren't for the description of analysis paralysis, trying to overthink it until one has the 100% correct answer.


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## thehalfbloodserb (Sep 23, 2015)

All of them, though "self critical" far more than the others, as an enneagram type 3


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## wanderingfox (Aug 20, 2015)

Thanks for the input everyone! If you're interested in reading more, my book is now available:

http://selz.co/EkxExTEM$


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## ninjahitsawall (Feb 1, 2013)

All of them, but primarily the first two. I voted self-critical since that is the most debilitating for me.


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## polyangel (Mar 3, 2014)

I voted for "Playing the Cynic", but "Lost in Thought" is also a close second. I'm lost in my cynical thoughts, perhaps.


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## SilasGTBronte (Jul 15, 2014)

I have all these weak points, but mostly the first and second ones.


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## wanderingfox (Aug 20, 2015)

Thank you all so much for your feedback! I would like everyone to know that the book is now out on Amazon. It's FREE tomorrow (7/12) thru Friday (7/15). The book is fairly short if you only read the chapter about your specific personality type. Personalitycafe.com was a huge help in researching and getting feedback on this book. So I want to make sure the members on this forum know it's free if interested in reading! I'd also love an honest review (good or bad! I have no problem with constructive criticism...), if you do read it and would like to give me some feedback. 

Thanks to everyone who helped make this possible!

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01I8LM4XS


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## Finny (Jul 17, 2015)

I can only speak from being a ENTP and I think some apply differently to NTs with different cognitive functions (E/INTPs have different functions than E/INTJs)

1) Self-Critical

I don't think it's a perfectionist mentality, I think it's a _growth_ mentality when it comes to E/INTPs

2) Anaylsis Parlysis 

I think this is more common in E/INTPs since it's either Dom or Aux Ti

3) Playing the Cynic

I think it's more of a devil's advocate - messing around type thing than actual cynicism when it comes to E/INTPs (I think ENTPs do it more for fun and INTPs do it more to see different perspectives)

4) Lost in Thought

Again, more for E/INTPs due to high Ne and Ti


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## Clayfighter (Jun 21, 2016)

I think self critical is the most picked option because it can often be the outcome or the reason for the other categories.

In any case, im guilty of all of them.


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## wanderingfox (Aug 20, 2015)

If you're interested, the book has gone on sale today! It's totally free, and I'd love for Personality Cafe members to get it while it is! Or before I second guess myself for the bazilyionth time and take it off. :wink:


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## lunagattina (Nov 7, 2014)

edonistic
I eat what I like, I don't do what I don't like to do.


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## Too Weird Too Normal (Dec 4, 2015)

3 out of 4 (in this order)

Lost in thought
Analysis paralysis
Self critical

And not so much playing the cynic. At least not in the way it was described, that seems extreme, even for a cynic


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## Spiren (May 12, 2016)

All of them, but they could be adapted to any personality type :s

I suppose it's the interpretation and prioritisation that would make this more specific.

For me, the order is:

1. Self-critical and Analysis Paralysis (I'm getting much better at this but it's still a problem in some areas)
2. Playing the Cynic - I still think I am quite optimistic, just not in the ways people seem to need to be
3. Lost-in-Thought - that's what my schedule and reminders are for, it used to happen to the point I'd skip meals in a row without registering that I'm hungry when I'm absorbed


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