* Life Cartography: Musings on the Map

Currently Listening: How to Train Your Dragon OST
Reading Queue: World War Z: An Oral History of the Zombie War & The Zombie Survival Guide (Max Brooks), Eat, Pray, Love (Elizabeth Gilbert)

1) Personality Typing

The past few months, I've had several conversations about Meyers Briggs Type preferences. Typing personalities is an interesting concept because personalities are fluid. And while some may argue that MBTI is not a useful or validated metric for personality, it seems to be a good guideline. With MBTI alone, you would not be able to account for external factors that affect our propensities such as upbringing, life experiences, culture, and genetics. For me, however, it serves as a good basis for assessing personal strengths and weaknesses and how I can work on personal growth and development.

The four letters as they apply to our types can be described most easily from the MBTI Manual:

Favorite world: Do you prefer to focus on the outer world or on your own inner world? This is called Extraversion (E) or Introversion (I).
Information: Do you prefer to focus on the basic information you take in or do you prefer to interpret and add meaning? This is called Sensing (S) or Intuition (N).
Decisions: When making decisions, do you prefer to first look at logic and consistency or first look at the people and special circumstances? This is called Thinking (T) or Feeling (F).
Structure: In dealing with the outside world, do you prefer to get things decided or do you prefer to stay open to new information and options? This is called Judging (J) or Perceiving (P).

Since I have often had to explain MBTI to others, I've found that extraversion and introversion are often misinterpreted as whether or not one is outgoing and social or quiet and not-quite-as-social. In actuality, extraversion and introversion is generalized to where a person gets their energy--externally or internally. For example, an introvert may not prefer being around too many people at a party because it is more difficult to access their internal world when there is so much going on externally. Additionally, an extrovert would have trouble feeling mentally stimulated when they are alone or in an location that does not seem interesting to them.

MBTI preferences are also interesting for understanding type dynamics in the workplace and in personal relationships. My type, for example, is theoretically a good match with INTJs because of our complementary needs - mentally, emotionally, and psychosocially. I'm discovering more and more that the people I have gravitated towards in my life are INTJs. They are all unique people apart from each other. Most of them I can relate to based on common interests, background, or values but I sometimes won't have much in common with them. However, the common denominator in all my relationships with these people is that they seem to bring order and stability into the way I think, which is usually haphazard, inclined towards non-linearity, and oriented towards the big picture. They challenge me to be a better person while allowing for me to be myself (happy, caring, and people-oriented). I gravitate towards them because I am intrigued by the way they think and operate.

2) Choosing my own adventure (inspired by an INTJ - yay for segues!)

Recently, I was asked what my 5-year plan was. If I could choose my own adventure, where do I see myself in 5 years? That's a good question. Where do you see yourself in 5 years? There are so many possibilities!

My answer at the time was this:
I would be...
... managing research projects in biomaterials with orthopedic applications
... married
... in the process of starting my own rehabilitation clinic focused on new research/technologies. I want to be able to still make an impact by bringing new ideas in from translational medicine!
... considering children (or maybe have one on the way)
... considering further education (possibly physical therapy school?)

Upon further thought, I would add these details: I would be married to someone who is simultaneously my best friend, life teammate, and greatest love of my life. I'd be more knowledgeable, grounded, and very competent at follow-through for new ideas. I'd be able to say I was well-traveled and good at planning trips. I'd know how to code! And finally, I would have paid off all of my student loans and still have a lot of savings.

3) What is the end goal?

Every time someone asks me where I see myself in X amount of years, my mind revisits this little snapshot I once envisioned... with myself as a physical therapist. In this snapshot, I'm helping people recover motor function - be it from neurological disability or injury that required surgical repair. I have encountered a lot of skepticism whenever I mentioned PT to people who understand that I have studied engineering. The general feeling from the skeptics is that if I ever went to PT school, it would be a waste of my engineering education. A few months ago, I was told it was illogical. When I was told that it sounded illogical, I was taken aback for a bit by the criticism. It hurt, actually, and made me sad and unsure of myself.

But I thought about it some more... I don't feel it is illogical to enrich my life with different types of experiences until I get to my 'end goal' (if I had to dream the perfect dream... it would be heading my own PT clinic focused on clinical research and new tech - similar to the Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago). A unique journey and having a lot of experience to draw from is my preferred mode of operation. For example, studying abroad in HK placed me in a position for many lessons on independence, simple living and avoidance of excess, adaptability, sensitivity to other peoples' ways of life, and communication. I know that I could be very good at starting new things, integrating ideas and concepts, and being diplomatic. I could use my developed people skills to manage projects, but through my experiences abroad, I have also found that there are many things I still need to work on such as follow-through, self-discipline, and consistency (these are developed but can always be improved).

Being an engineer is also very different being someone with a patient-centric occupation or a people-oriented job, which I would enjoy. However, it is valuable to be able to take engineering approaches to both managing research projects and leading a rehabilitation clinic's operations.

Knowing that people would be very critical of how seemingly haphazard my path is - the best take away is that I should not jump into new ventures on a whim. I should still know my general direction and ensure that everything I do serves a purpose, either directly or indirectly. And that is why I need to think more about my 5 year snapshot!

I'm still charting the course and enjoying where I'm at now. My goal is to have an interesting life and have an impact on my world/community. That is the value I hope to create for myself.

4) Snapshots from Random Social Happenings! (in no particular order)