# How do I become an S?



## eyeless_aughra (Oct 21, 2012)

Life would be so much easier if I was just an S or and E and if I was lucky I'd be both. Living in reality and liking to be around people, man that would be awesome! I wish I felt that way. Instead I'm an introvert who lives in an overpopulated world sucking all my energy. And an iNtuative who can't seem to focus on what's around me, instead I'm in my head theorizing all day. Everything is so boring to me. I'd rather think and read. I'm one to believe that you can, if not change completely, at least decrease one trait and enhance the other. So here's a question, how can I think like an S? How can I sense more? What's it like looking at something like a dresser and not thinking I wonder..I wonder..I wonder. How do you guys focus? Please don't say things like, you can't change. Great thanks for your opinion. I just want to hear how you process everyday information. You just get up out of bed and think I've got to go to work today? Without over thinking? Without questioning the necessity of work? Without wondering why you do the things you do? I'm really interested in your thought process.


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## EmileeArsenic (Jun 8, 2012)

Is it Si or Se that you're interested in attempting to develop?


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## HonestAndTrue (Oct 25, 2012)

Extraverted Sensing (Se) ESFP and ESTP - Being aware of one's immediate surroundings and using the five senses to immediately react to them.
Introverted Sensing (Si) ISFJ and ISTJ - Looks at past and current concrete situations and data.

Q1. How can I think like an S? 
A1. How to Get Things Done!: 




Q2. How can I sense more?
A2. Sensual Eating: 




Q3. How do you guys focus?
A3. One-Moment Meditation: 




Q4. You just get up out of bed and think I've got to go to work today?
A4. We already know, so we start doing.

Q5. Without over thinking?
A5. Without thinking. We know what needs done.

Q6. Without questioning the necessity of work?
A6. All questions have been asked and answered already. Action is now required, not thinking.

Q7. Without wondering why you do the things you do?
A7: We already know.

N: "I'll think about it."
S: "I'll do it."


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## datMBTIguy (Oct 31, 2012)

I know what you mean. As an ISTJ I'm currently working to develop my E and F a little bit. I like the S and J though 0=]

As an introverted sensor (Si) I feel like the main traits in Si for me anyway are:
1) Alert
2) Attention
3) Observant
4) Mulling

1) Alert - Being alert to all movement, sound, conversation, position and space is an important part of being an Si.
2) Attention - Can't be alert unless you're _remembering_ to do so. If it is your natural inclination as an N to space out and live in your head, you will likely have to remind yourself constantly to snap back to reality from time to time. You can live in your head for some things, but focusing on thinking about the present moment and what you're doing right now (whether you're spacing about random things or paying attention to concrete details) will help develop that sensing into a habit.
3) Observant - It's not enough to just be alert and notice the stimulus, you have to understand it, its purpose for happening, and whether it objectively makes sense which is where you get 4) Mulling where you process information and then store it away once you've made your decision on the information. As an N you might have to remind yourself not to accept things just because you can imagine them: just because you can imagine something absolutely doesn't mean that it's real, true, concrete, and factual!

Hope this makes some sense and good luck


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## cue5c (Oct 12, 2011)

But really, you're an INTP. You'll develop your Si just by living. It may take a few years, but you'll get there.


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## Owfin (Oct 15, 2011)

eyeless_aughra said:


> You just get up out of bed and think I've got to go to work today? Without over thinking? Without questioning the necessity of work? Without wondering why you do the things you do?


Oh _hell_ no. Every day I ask myself "Am I being a good person?", "Am I on the right track in life?", "Am I a good friend?". I can be deeply paralyzed by overthinking, and that is a trait I think is common amongst ISTJs. It's a really big misconception that sensors don't think too hard about what they are doing. 



> Everything is so boring to me. I'd rather think and read.


How can you be bored when you are thinking? If I'm thinking about something interesting, I don't mind even the most mundane tasks! The chores that really get on my nerves require constant focus on something boring. That's what truly bothers me.



> What's it like looking at something like a dresser and not thinking I wonder..I wonder..I wonder.


Eh, normal? Sensors focus on the qualities something _has_. Intuitives like to focus on "What else does this dresser represent... what is it's hidden significance?". The dresser may well elicit thought from me and get me thinking (say, about fashion), though. I'm a very cerebral person. Not as in, I am smart, but I tend to reside in a mental realm rather than an emotional or sensual one.



> How can I sense more?


Sensors don't sense more. As I like to say, your eyeballs don't see with Se. They see with optical nerves. Sensing/Intuition is simply a matter of preference. Which one do you focus on more? Which one do you find more useful? Which perspective do you tend to look at things from? That's what type tells you. Otherwise, I'd be an N type, because I have bad senses of sight and hearing.



> How do you guys focus?


I'm confused at the relevance of this question. We certainly don't have a higher tolerance for boredom or anything. And on a more personal note, I have ADD. This, being a mental disease, obviously puts me out of the norm for any type and is not a good baseline for any of them. That being said, focusing without my medicine can be a very difficult ordeal. As in, I have a hard time focusing on something that I _want_ to focus on. I just wanted to use this as an example of the fact that by no means all sensors have an easy time focusing on things.



> How can I think like an S?


What kind? There is a much much much much much greater gap in between an ISTP (dominant Thinking type) and an ESFJ (dominant Feeling type) than there is between an ISTP and an INTP (both dominant thinkers). And there's a big introversion-extroversion difference, too. Asking how to think like an S is like telling a waiter at a restaurant "I think I'd like some food, please".


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## tanstaafl28 (Sep 10, 2012)

eyeless_aughra said:


> Life would be so much easier if I was just an S or and E and if I was lucky I'd be both. Living in reality and liking to be around people, man that would be awesome! I wish I felt that way. Instead I'm an introvert who lives in an overpopulated world sucking all my energy. And an iNtuative who can't seem to focus on what's around me, instead I'm in my head theorizing all day. Everything is so boring to me. I'd rather think and read. I'm one to believe that you can, if not change completely, at least decrease one trait and enhance the other. So here's a question, how can I think like an S? How can I sense more? What's it like looking at something like a dresser and not thinking I wonder..I wonder..I wonder. How do you guys focus? Please don't say things like, you can't change. Great thanks for your opinion. I just want to hear how you process everyday information. You just get up out of bed and think I've got to go to work today? Without over thinking? Without questioning the necessity of work? Without wondering why you do the things you do? I'm really interested in your thought process.


I believe you can develop functions other than the ones you have shown preference for. I do not believe, however, that it's a scale, where you can raise one trait and lower the other. You will always lean towards your natural preferences, but that doesn't prevent you from developing your weaker traits.

The obvious question is why? Why are you bored? Why do you feel like you're always being drained? What is wrong with wondering? You feel trapped by your type preferences, therefore you want to trade them in for another one? To me, it sounds like you haven't found anything that lights up the preferences you already have; where your abilities sing to you, and shine brightly to others, and you feel a sense of purpose and belonging that f_ills you _rather than emptying you.

What's causing you to want this so badly?


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## keepondreaming (Dec 10, 2012)

HonestAndTrue said:


> Q4. You just get up out of bed and think I've got to go to work today?
> A4. We already know, so we start doing.
> 
> Q5. Without over thinking?
> ...


How? How do you do that? I will always be "No. I don't want to get out of bed, I don't want to do the mundane things and follow the annoying routine I have to follow today."

I will always wonder what else needs to be done and if I'm doing it right and if I am supposed to be doing this in the first place and if this is going to end up way too boring for my Perceiver brain and if there is even a point in doing this - just WHY am I doing this? etc.

and "I'll think about it..." might also be a Perceiver thing - holding off on decisions.

Also, the first video - if I start making lists, I get distracted by the list itself. I don't get things done that way. Rather, I get annoyed when teachers say "You need to be writing this down!" but then I'll have to walk several yards to my planner to get it, but on the way think up of some new story idea or see a bird or see a flower out the window or notice that the sky is bluer than normal and bang I'm distracted again. And "systems" for getting things done bore me. What motivates me is freaking out because it's five minutes before it's due and I haven't started yet, even though two hours ago it was too early to start.... and then regretting it because I didn't finish. So does cleaning up, because again, distractions. And because cleaning up makes me forget where everything is.

Getting back on topic, I think ideal MBTI in my opinion would be an ESTJ. Doesn't have head in clouds, people pleaser, doesn't have to deal with all the feelings, and doesn't procrastinate because Js have a desire to get things done long in advance. So I can understand where the OP is coming from.


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## HonestAndTrue (Oct 25, 2012)

@_keepondreaming_ *"How? How do you do that?"*

We choose to do that.

@_keepondreaming_ *"I will always be "No. I don't want to get out of bed, I don't want to do the mundane things and follow the annoying routine I have to follow today."*

Then your eyes aren't on long-term. Think of yourself 50 years in the future, and what advice your future self would give to you.


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## keepondreaming (Dec 10, 2012)

HonestAndTrue said:


> @_keepondreaming_ *"How? How do you do that?"*
> 
> We choose to do that.
> 
> ...


It's interesting to see your perspective on things, though. It's very different. And, well, fifty years into the future I honestly won't care if I'd slept in one day, or decided I was bored. It wouldn't matter.


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## HonestAndTrue (Oct 25, 2012)

keepondreaming said:


> It's interesting to see your perspective on things, though. It's very different. And, well, fifty years into the future I honestly won't care if I'd slept in one day, or decided I was bored. It wouldn't matter.


Let me toss out an example. Let's say you dream in 2050 you'll be holding your first new born grand child. How do we get there? Will sleeping in or being bored help us graduate high school, college, be a good worker, wife, mother, grand mother? I'm not saying never sleep in, but weight the cost and benefit. Sometimes the benefit will be more and sometimes the cost will be more. And of course below is all idealistic. Or it could happen by 2035, or 2030. But start thinking about legacy today. Reverse engineer the life you want to live. 10,001 things to do in the next 50 years. 1,001 things to do in the next 5 years. 101 things to do in the next year. 20 things to do this week. 5 things to do today. 1 thing to do right now.

I see S as turning a dream into reality.

2013: 17 years of age
2014: Graduate high school
2018: Graduate college
2020: Get married
2023: Have first child
2040: First child is 17 years of age
2041: First child graduates high school
2045: First child graduates college
2047: First child gets married
2050: First grand child.


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## niss (Apr 25, 2010)

eyeless_aughra said:


> How do I become an S?


It is my understanding that you don't.

The preferences that you have are not skill sets to be developed, but are how you cognitively process information received. You can modify behavior, or how these preferences are expressed, but to change preferred cognitive processes would be the equivalent of a personality change.

If the situation demands it, any of us can rise to the occasion and perform with, or display traits that are outside of the norm for us, but when we do this, we are still using our dom/aux/tert/inf functions - just in a way that is different from what is comfortable and one that will draw down our energy levels more quickly than if we were following our normal pattern of emphasis.


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## surgery (Apr 16, 2010)

datMBTIguy said:


> I know what you mean. As an ISTJ I'm currently working to develop my E and F a little bit. I like the S and J though 0=]
> 
> As an introverted sensor (Si) I feel like the main traits in Si for me anyway are:
> 1) Alert
> ...


This is interesting and very helpful. Are these things that come naturally or the you consciously practice? I ask this because I am starting to believe that Sensors, in general, are not more or less focused on _intensely_ experiencing their sensory impressions;rather they simply prefer dealing with information that has practical or immediate relevance and/or is highly detailed.

To me, that means, ESPs are types who simply prefer to engage with new (but still matter-of-fact and oriented to the present moment) information as it comes while ISJs are people who simply prefer to spend their time quietly gathering and reviewing matter-of-fact information.

Is that accurate, in your experience?


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## datMBTIguy (Oct 31, 2012)

surgery said:


> This is interesting and very helpful. Are these things that come naturally or the you consciously practice? I ask this because I am starting to believe that Sensors, in general, are not more or less focused on _intensely_ experiencing their sensory impressions;rather they simply prefer dealing with information that has practical or immediate relevance and/or is highly detailed.
> 
> To me, that means, ESPs are types who simply prefer to engage with new (but still matter-of-fact and oriented to the present moment) information as it comes while ISJs are people who simply prefer to spend their time quietly gathering and reviewing matter-of-fact information.
> 
> Is that accurate, in your experience?


Yeah, that sounds about right for me anyway. Others may agree or disagree of course, but it sounds about right. Particularly that ISJs (I can only speak for myself though) prefer to experience most things by quietly gathering the relevant information and turning it into a memory map that makes some sense.

These things used to not come naturally to me. For example I would forget things when I had a lot going on (anyone would be prone to). I used what I think is my TJ to develop my S better in that I started carrying a small notepad and a mini pen in my back pocket and any time I remembered something (usually via spacing out) I would write it down. Or any plan, homework, etc. I'd write down. Eventually I stopped needing to carrying one around with me and I was remembering more, or at least long enough that once I get home I can pretty quickly remember to put a date in the calendar or something.

Nowadays it isn't conscious, I just like to make sense of what my senses give me and I remember experiences sometimes down to excruciating minutia. The first time I hooked up with a girl after breaking up with my long-time ex, I was really anxious because I kept taking mental notes every two seconds about what was different. I can still remember the temperature of the room, what we were wearing, what her hair and perfume smelled like, what her face looked like when I was close to it - anything that was different from my ex, I noticed it instantly and at the time thought about it consciously though I didn't want to. This is just an example, though it also illustrates a possible pitfall of over-Si-ing 

An example, if you're interested, to show S versus N (specifically Si versus Ne I suppose): a few days ago my very intelligent ENTP dad and I went out looking for possible new cars for him, and when we'd get to the lot and start reading about a car, he couldn't find the details he wanted on the informational paper in the window. I could find them quickly. After we'd look at a few builds of a line of car, he'd have to ask two or three times for clarification from the salesperson about the differences. I could've told him whatever he wanted to know about what was different about the Nissan S, SL, and SV. I still remember most of the differences. The way his N is, he was probably thinking about other things when the salesman was telling him about the cars or when he was reading the paper in the window of each one


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## Pyrocide (Dec 13, 2012)

Listen to lots of Nicki Minaj.


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## niss (Apr 25, 2010)

surgery said:


> This is interesting and very helpful. Are these things that come naturally or the you consciously practice? I ask this because I am starting to believe that Sensors, in general, are not more or less focused on _intensely_ experiencing their sensory impressions;rather they simply prefer dealing with information that has practical or immediate relevance and/or is highly detailed.
> 
> To me, that means, ESPs are types who simply prefer to engage with new (but still matter-of-fact and oriented to the present moment) information as it comes while ISJs are people who simply prefer to spend their time quietly gathering and reviewing matter-of-fact information.
> 
> Is that accurate, in your experience?


If I correctly understand what you are saying/asking, then no, that's not sensors.

Everyone has intuition just as everyone has sensory input. Broadly, the difference between intuitives and sensors lies in the trust (or emphasis) they place on the type of data received.

SPs have extroverted sensing as one of their cognitive functions, while SJs have introverted sensing as one of their cognitive functions. Se is extremely aware of the surrounding environment, moreso than Si. But both types can be very intensely aware of the experience of their sensory impressions.


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## surgery (Apr 16, 2010)

niss said:


> But both types can be very intensely aware of the experience of their sensory impressions.


Thanks for clarifying this. 

I understood this to be true of Sensors _until_ I started reading posts on other threads related to Si in which members talked about how they are just as oblivious to certain details as some iNtuitives claim to be. I understand that Sensation does not equate to sensory input so much as it does the the reaction to/engagement with what is perceived. But, I was confused as to what degree awareness of sensory detail actually actually makes an impression on Se and Si users; it seemed like there was a lot of contradictory information coming from Si users themselves  Perhaps, it just depends on the individual, and a cognitive preference for Sensation does not necessarily preclude or exclude vivid awareness, although it is certainly common.

To me, Se is very simple to understand where as Si is still rather confusing. But from what people are describing, it sounds like Si is an awareness of details and/or specific information about the material world _stored as _"subjective impressions" that one can use as a point of comparison in new situations. Is that right?


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## niss (Apr 25, 2010)

surgery said:


> Thanks for clarifying this.
> 
> I understood this to be true of Sensors _until_ I started reading posts on other threads related to Si in which members talked about how they are just as oblivious to certain details as some iNtuitives claim to be. I understand that Sensation does not equate to sensory input so much as it does the the reaction to/engagement with what is perceived. But, I was confused as to what degree awareness of sensory detail actually actually makes an impression on Se and Si users; it seemed like there was a lot of contradictory information coming from Si users themselves  Perhaps, it just depends on the individual, and a cognitive preference for Sensation does not necessarily preclude or exclude vivid awareness, although it is certainly common.
> 
> To me, Se is very simple to understand where as Si is still rather confusing. But from what people are describing, it sounds like Si is an awareness of details and/or specific information about the material world _stored as _"subjective impressions" that one can use as a point of comparison in new situations. Is that right?


Sort of, but that sounds too close to memory - which is something we all have and use, regardless of preferred functions. Here's a post where I've delved into Si a bit more in depth:

http://personalitycafe.com/cognitiv...-introverted-sensing-again-2.html#post2922247


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## Tru7h (Oct 16, 2012)

Being either a S or N does not represent what you will need to be for the rest of your life. All these letters do is indicate what comes naturally to you and what drains your energy. This means that you may like to play sports every now and then, but quickly look to bury yourself in a book soon after said sports events (inferior Se).

We all have strengths and weaknesses. We can either accept those that we do have and possibly achieve our dreams or we can just look at our weaknesses and stay idle. Idk. Sounds like a difficult choice.


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## electricky (Feb 18, 2011)

Assuming you are actually an INTP and assuming you know cognitive functions, it's just a matter of rolling around and indulging in your Si a lot more often, and telling your Ne to take a hike every once in a while. If you manage to do that you may be a TiSi, which would usually still be considered an INTP but under some interpretations could be an ISTP.


More relevantly: looks like you're actually looking to become more balanced with your extraverted side, in which case you should really do the opposite of what I just told you to do. Or talk to some older INTPs


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## Finn_the_Human (Jan 1, 2013)

I really love INTP's, they are the most sensitive of the rationals, lovely people. Why would you want to change to suit other people? You are magical xx


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