“One thing I’ve learned is that, unlike most Extroverted types, my specific combination needs some alone time. This was a relief to discover this after recognizing my desire to sometimes say “no” to going out with people which I thought was supposedly contrary to how extroverts in general behaved.”

It’s comforting to even hear that others identify with and acknowledge this need. I am only an 11% on the E side (with NF 80-90%), so I think I need even more alone time than some other E’s. Feel free to touch base! I’d love to chat more about this. I blog at http://www.brynnabegins.com.

I read Lulu’s comment above. She may never see this comment from me, as she wrote back in Oct 2009, but I’ll say it anyway: don’t get discouraged! It can be frustrating to feel paralyzed because you can’t seem to choose between the options. And other people don’t always understand – they may think that you are procrastinating or that you are “wishy washy” because they neither share nor understand the challenge we may feel in making that key decision. I like to turn to other friends who have a good logical analysis skills and decisiveness, who can help me clearly outline my options, weigh some pros and cons and eliminate the distractions.

Also, most 19 year olds don’t know what they want to do! Don’t beat yourself up too much. Think of this year as a “Gap year” and explore! Also, talk to people who do some of the career options that you are considering. At some point, just go for something that sounds like it could be fulfilling for a while – doens’t have to be for the rest of your life – and that meets some other goals for your life, ie does salary matter to you, travel as part of the job, security, adventure, what? There’s no wrong choice – just different paths to explore. Some people start in marketing, get on the job experience and move into sales, then later retrain for something else. You can always switch paths.

It’s annoying (probably to others too) that we can try something once and be very good at it…making choosing something even harder to choose. For instance, I began a screen play after looking at the screenplay for The Shawkshank Redemption, just to see the format, and then applied the format to my own screenplay. Easy enough, I thought, but when I told my dad he was shocked that I hadn’t needed to buy screenplay and script writing software. A few days ago I decided I wanted to see how well I could dance like Michael Jackson, who I loveeee, and I’ve never really tried dancing in a stylized way, apart from the type everyone does at clubs and stuff…I had a MJ hat and cane (walking stick) to dance around with and use to my advantage…everyone was shocked, and it didn’t matter that I didn’t have mesmerized steps planned out because MJ said so himself dancings not something you think about, you just do. You feel the music. He said he can tell when dancers are thinking. Anyway so now shall I be a writer or a dancer, an actor, a screen writer, maybe something like … a Marie World dolphin feeder too that would be fun or a psychologist…or a… hmm….

If you don’t mind me asking some second-level questions, how good are you with self-discipline? For example, do you rely on your tactical people to keep you on track with deliverables/deadlines, or can you rely on yourself to keep on track?

I’ve found it tough to self-police, and though I’ve used something that looks similar to NEO– it’s called “Getting Things Done”, a different Outlook add-in– it’s all too easy to “hit the snooze button” on task reminders. However, when I get all fired up and really get back into the GTD process, it’s amazing how things unclutter and clarity descends on me…until 2 weeks have passed and my brain is squirming to move on to something else.

Is sticking with a routine challenging for you as well? How do you get around that?

Good hunting on the yellow brick road. May you run into many friends along the way and none of the wicked witches.

I also think you should be studied. as a text book case.