Hi everyone,
I'm new here. Amazing to see so many people sharing the same thoughts and feelings. Here's an abstract what's this all about:
Recently I found out I'm an INFJ, after a couple of years feeling I'm following a career path which is far from the things I value.
Understanding the things I value is also a process which took years, but maybe now I see things more clearly.
So.. I'm an engineer with a career in the high-tech industry, but I feel my purpose is to help people get through life in a better way. (sigh...)
I'll elaborate -
I'm in a bit of a crossroad now, and I figured the best thing to do would be to share it with others.
Since I remember starting to really think about things (somewhere around age 12) I've been asking myself the famous question - "what will I be when I grow up?". Of course the answer did not show up, and that question kept on nagging me for several years.
Where I come from, we do a military service for several years. So naturally, I joined the army at 18. That was a great time for me, putting aside the ugly side of the military. I remember that sometime near the end of my service I was saying out loud that the best thing about those years was that I got the chance to help others go through the military experience in a better, positive way .
Disregarding that notion, I went to university to study Industrial Engineering. It seemed natural - I'm good with numbers, I love creative solutions for everyday problems. Not only that, both my parents and all of my brothers went through the path of engineering/math. I did briefly consider studying psychology, but I ruled that out telling myself I don't want to hear other people's problems - because where will I fulfill myself in this sort of profession?
Studying at uni was fantastic. Everyday I learned something new. After graduating, I started working at a promising start-up company as a programmer. I was there for a year and a half, and at the time of my leaving the company was already doing very well. The problem was that I barely got to pull myself out of bed in the morning those entire 18 months . My job was somewhat challenging, but I felt so detached from it.
Eventually I moved to another company, working as a data analyst. I was convinced that this would solve that feeling of being detached, but I was wrong. Working with numbers all day long and understanding the business is great, but I keep on thinking that it's just very far from what I truly value.
Both workplaces think very highly of me, I know that for sure. So they definitely get what they want, but I feel like a stranger in this environment.
Some morning it's so bad that I just call in sick. I'm ashamed of that... I've never done that before.
A few days ago I remembered that thing I said in the military, about helping people. It literally struck me - do some people tend to be "healers"? Am I this "healer" type?
I started googling about this "healer" personality, not knowing somebody already put a lot of effort categorizing 16 patterns of personalities. Than I stumbled upon Keirsey's personality test. Usually I wouldn't even consider doing such a test, thinking it's probably a scam. I guess my inner compass was stronger than those rational thoughts. I took the test, and it turned out to be that I'm the Idealist Counselor, aka - INFJ. I started reading through the detailed report explaining about this personality type. I don't remember crying that hard for such a long time. I felt like someone was looking through me with X-rays, telling me of the all the things about myself I considered to be either "good" or "bad".
The hardest part to read was the typical jobs for this personality. Programming/Analysis wasn't there.. but all sorts of therapists, including psychologists were high up in the list. That really tore me apart. I'm angry with myself now - how could I be so blind?
I've known for years that I'm a good listener - and I like it. I have empathy for most people. It's weird - because I'm an introvert (though I try not to be).
I'm terrible at meeting new people at social events. But on a 1-on-1, I can make friends with almost anyone. I try to learn anything I can from anyone I know- I believe that can lead to true wisdom.
I'm 27, making the high amounts of money people make in the tech industry.
I'll probably make half that money in any sort of therapy, and needless to say it might take 5 years of studying before I can start practicing (if I choose the Psychology route).
If I make this change, maybe I'll find myself in 5 years in the same situation - feeling very detached doing therapy...
What do you make out of this? How would you try to understand if this is a wise choice, before going the whole way?
Thank you for reading this,
Kamill
I'm new here. Amazing to see so many people sharing the same thoughts and feelings. Here's an abstract what's this all about:
Recently I found out I'm an INFJ, after a couple of years feeling I'm following a career path which is far from the things I value.
Understanding the things I value is also a process which took years, but maybe now I see things more clearly.
So.. I'm an engineer with a career in the high-tech industry, but I feel my purpose is to help people get through life in a better way. (sigh...)
I'll elaborate -
I'm in a bit of a crossroad now, and I figured the best thing to do would be to share it with others.
Since I remember starting to really think about things (somewhere around age 12) I've been asking myself the famous question - "what will I be when I grow up?". Of course the answer did not show up, and that question kept on nagging me for several years.
Where I come from, we do a military service for several years. So naturally, I joined the army at 18. That was a great time for me, putting aside the ugly side of the military. I remember that sometime near the end of my service I was saying out loud that the best thing about those years was that I got the chance to help others go through the military experience in a better, positive way .
Disregarding that notion, I went to university to study Industrial Engineering. It seemed natural - I'm good with numbers, I love creative solutions for everyday problems. Not only that, both my parents and all of my brothers went through the path of engineering/math. I did briefly consider studying psychology, but I ruled that out telling myself I don't want to hear other people's problems - because where will I fulfill myself in this sort of profession?
Studying at uni was fantastic. Everyday I learned something new. After graduating, I started working at a promising start-up company as a programmer. I was there for a year and a half, and at the time of my leaving the company was already doing very well. The problem was that I barely got to pull myself out of bed in the morning those entire 18 months . My job was somewhat challenging, but I felt so detached from it.
Eventually I moved to another company, working as a data analyst. I was convinced that this would solve that feeling of being detached, but I was wrong. Working with numbers all day long and understanding the business is great, but I keep on thinking that it's just very far from what I truly value.
Both workplaces think very highly of me, I know that for sure. So they definitely get what they want, but I feel like a stranger in this environment.
Some morning it's so bad that I just call in sick. I'm ashamed of that... I've never done that before.
A few days ago I remembered that thing I said in the military, about helping people. It literally struck me - do some people tend to be "healers"? Am I this "healer" type?
I started googling about this "healer" personality, not knowing somebody already put a lot of effort categorizing 16 patterns of personalities. Than I stumbled upon Keirsey's personality test. Usually I wouldn't even consider doing such a test, thinking it's probably a scam. I guess my inner compass was stronger than those rational thoughts. I took the test, and it turned out to be that I'm the Idealist Counselor, aka - INFJ. I started reading through the detailed report explaining about this personality type. I don't remember crying that hard for such a long time. I felt like someone was looking through me with X-rays, telling me of the all the things about myself I considered to be either "good" or "bad".
The hardest part to read was the typical jobs for this personality. Programming/Analysis wasn't there.. but all sorts of therapists, including psychologists were high up in the list. That really tore me apart. I'm angry with myself now - how could I be so blind?
I've known for years that I'm a good listener - and I like it. I have empathy for most people. It's weird - because I'm an introvert (though I try not to be).
I'm terrible at meeting new people at social events. But on a 1-on-1, I can make friends with almost anyone. I try to learn anything I can from anyone I know- I believe that can lead to true wisdom.
I'm 27, making the high amounts of money people make in the tech industry.
I'll probably make half that money in any sort of therapy, and needless to say it might take 5 years of studying before I can start practicing (if I choose the Psychology route).
If I make this change, maybe I'll find myself in 5 years in the same situation - feeling very detached doing therapy...
What do you make out of this? How would you try to understand if this is a wise choice, before going the whole way?
Thank you for reading this,
Kamill