Quick Guide to Personality Types and Personal Growth Goals

Defining Personal Growth from a Personality Perspective

Each person has qualities that define their motivation and behavior. When we sort people by personality type, we find that 16 groups share similar characteristics with the others in their group.

This by no means robs the individuals in each group of their uniqueness, since there is no claim that everybody in a personality group is identical. But there is enough overlap in characteristics between each group member to say that the similarities are instructive. Knowing which group one belongs to can help the willing individual in many ways. Acceptance of oneself and one’s preferences is probably at the top of the list. Also high on the list is a similar benefit: the willing person can learn to accept others according to their styles and preferences and find healthy ways to interact with them. There are also a myriad of other benefits too numerous to list here.

If you don’t know your personality type, take our free personality test to find out.

So what does all this defining have to do with personal growth?

Personal growth is pretty simple. While change is certainly part of personal growth, it might be more useful to think in terms of expanding one’s characteristics rather than trying to transform them when we approach personal growth from a personality perspective.

Rather than swimming against the tide of traits that, by definition, are fairly fixed (although not always rigidly so), personality growth means accepting yourself and expanding who you are. We wouldn’t want to tell you that understanding your personality is beneficial and then go on to suggest that you can achieve self-improvement by negating what you’ve come to understand as a core part of who you are.

There are no bad personality traits. They all serve a beneficial purpose when they are balanced and realistic. And this can be helpful to remember when thinking about personality and personal development.

One more defining statement: few people will be 100% of any trait, thus rendering them 0% of the opposite trait. Few people are 100% Introverted with no capacity for Extraverted behavior, and vice versa. Often (but not always), growth calls on us to work on developing our recessive traits a little more. So if some of the suggestions below feel outside your comfort zone, that’s likely because they are. Personal growth usually has some element of discomfort.

And that’s another reason why expanding is a much better way to view personal growth than changing. To live a more well-rounded life, it is often necessary to expand your comfort zone – which is very different from abandoning your comfort zone. That’s just something to keep in mind.

Personal Growth Goals for Every Personality Type

Let’s look at each personality type and one ideal area that individuals within these types might want to explore for growth, with a suggested starting place to prime the pump.

Analyst Personality Types

Architect (INTJ)

Potential Growth Area: People with the Architect personality type focus much of their energy on strategy and getting things done well. However, our research shows that Architects sometimes struggle when they hope to connect with others and form relationships. Working on emotional intelligence and improving one’s social skills may be useful. There’s no such thing as small talk. Thoughtfully expanding one’s areas of interest couldn’t hurt – perhaps finding new hobbies and activities or exploring different social environments. How about looking in on a local dance club instead of your usual corner of the coffee shop tonight?

Suggested Starting Place: Personality Type and Love Language: Architects (INTJ). (And don’t skip the “Further Reading” section.)

Logician (INTP)

Potential Growth Area: In our surveys, Logicians are more likely than other personality types to report that they struggle with trust, sacrifice, giving, and belonging. These four elements are important for being part of a community or a group, so learning to fit in or, better yet, to belong might be something that Logicians may want to explore. Remember, this is all relative and, as is often the case, probably more about leveling up rather than starting from scratch for most Logicians. Maybe jumping into the deep end of the pool means joining a meetup or taking a class for the primary purpose of interacting with others.

Suggested Starting Place: 11 Ways Turbulent Introverts Can Build Confidence and Sociability. (While this article is tailored to Turbulent Introverts, plenty of suggestions would benefit Assertive Introverts as well.)

Commander (ENTJ)

Potential Growth Area: Based on their responses in our surveys, Commanders see themselves as less sensitive than most other personality types to other people’s needs and feelings. This is likely an exaggeration that stems from their focus on effectiveness. They are also less likely to examine their own emotions or pursue a lot of self-awareness in this regard. They probably tend to be more objective than either empathy or self-knowledge allows. Feelings are important to both and lean subjective. Perhaps a good starting place for most Commanders is to explore and build upon the empathy that they have. (Remember, few people are 100% any trait.) Learning skills like active listening and identifying their emotions are growth edges that Commanders may wish to pursue.

Suggested Starting Place: Asking for Help Part II: Some Stories Personality Types Tell Themselves. (Don’t let the “Asking for Help” part throw you. Concentrate on the parts about the stories that you tell yourself and forming connections with others.)

Debater (ENTP)

Potential Growth Area: In a word, stability. Debaters are often in a state of flux and uncertainty. Their relationships tend to change more often than the relationships of most other types. In our research, Debaters are among the most likely personality types to admit that they tend to procrastinate. Debaters thrive on uncertainty and often take more risks than others do. They don’t seem to need as much assurance as most other people do. As a lifestyle choice, it can be exciting and rewarding if all the adrenaline that is spent in an uncertain situation pays off. However, it can be a disaster if it doesn’t pay off. Personal growth might mean keeping this spontaneity while learning to maintain a few reliable resources as a backup. The higher the risk, the greater the gain when things go right. Stability doesn’t have to take all the fun out of life, but neither does not having a stable plan.

Suggested Starting Place: Putting It Off No More: Procrastination and Personality.

Diplomat Personality Types

Advocate (INFJ)

Potential Growth Area: Advocates are generally concerned with ensuring that people are all right and treated fairly. In conjunction with their typically unassuming demeanor, this regard for people can easily cause them to slip into people-pleasing. They prefer a life with low conflict. And yet, despite these qualities, Advocates often strongly believe in supporting the underdog and equity issues, which may put others on the opposite side of their principles. They might need to learn to find the right balance of assertiveness, using it as a tool to help them have confidence in their ability to speak and live their truth without hurting others. Without this understanding, Advocates might be constantly conflicted, either feeling reticent to express themselves for fear of harming or alienating the people they want to help or heading in the opposite direction by going overboard with their criticism. Righteous anger and out-of-control rage are two different things.

Suggested Starting Place: What Are the Biggest Sources of Stress for Advocates (INFJs)?

Mediator (INFP)

Potential Growth Area: Mediators are sensitive, warm people who care about others. They have perhaps the biggest heart of all the personality types. Unfortunately, these caring types also tend to deal with insecurity and low confidence, and according to our research, they don’t often view themselves as people who can get things done. How a person feels about their own capabilities can have a profound effect on how their lives turn out. Mediators are not big fans of risk, so stepping out and trying new things that might build confidence can be difficult for them. This may be an area of growth that Mediators want to take seriously. Confidence is one of those things that ebbs and flows in life. More flow, please. But the important point is that confidence isn’t static – it’s subject to change. Encouragement and effort can make Mediators’ belief in themselves bigger, stronger, and faster over time.

Protagonist (ENFJ)

Potential Growth Area: Protagonists are protectors. They care about the welfare of others, and this is often expressed in various forms of caretaking, from hands-on mentoring to making sure that someone has a ride home. Admirable as this is, there is a problem that sometimes plagues caretakers: they take care of everyone but themselves. Protagonists are among the most likely personality types to report feeling upset that they can’t help everyone, suggesting that turning off compassion may not be easy for them. They’re as prone to experiencing compassion fatigue as anyone else, but they may resist acknowledging or showing it. Their growth edge may involve creating boundaries that allow them to decompress and take time to rest and restore themselves.

Campaigner (ENFP)

Potential Growth Area: Campaigners are more likely than most personalities to desire opportunities to be spontaneous, explore novelty, and follow their feelings. There’s usually some trade-off in life – in this case, Campaigners trade off a little self-discipline to follow their bliss. Out of all 16 personality types, Campaigners are the most likely to report that exerting self-control exhausts them. They’re also among the least likely to say they stick to a budget, follow a routine, and arrive on time. The problem is that some self-discipline is required for a smooth life. Even Campaigners will likely not enjoy the negative consequences of not taking care of business, no matter how spontaneous or novel those consequences may be. “Surprise! They’re turning off the internet because I forgot to pay the bill.” Some Campaigners may need to come to grips with the concept that the confining energy of self-discipline in one part of life often allows for more freedom in other parts of life.

Suggested Starting Place: Campaigner (ENFP) Productivity Tips: Results and Relationships.

Sentinel Personality Types

Logistician (ISTJ)

Potential Growth Area: Logisticians like things to be orderly and reasonable. They have little tolerance for things being disorganized or, in their opinion, nonsensical. There are many places in life where such care is commendable. You don’t want your tax accountant making mistakes, for example, particularly if they’re silly mistakes. The problem starts when intolerance for mistakes engulfs the people in their lives, to the point that Logisticians begin to identify those people with the mistakes that they make. These personalities may be prone to focusing on people’s flaws more quickly than on their strengths. This can make relationships difficult and, in the end, actually affect efficiency and effectiveness in any team or group situation. Growth for Logisticians might involve exploring compassion, forgiveness, and tolerance.

Suggested Starting Place: Understanding Forgiveness through the Lens of Personality Type.

Defender (ISFJ)

Potential Growth Area: Defenders are detail-oriented and exacting, mostly of themselves. But they balance this with having a giving heart and a strong concern for the welfare of the people they care about and the things they value. The downside of this is that life can be lived too carefully. The phrase “no risk, no gain” is likely unpopular among most Defenders. What others might consider dull routine is likely okay for people with this personality type. They might even confuse too much healthy spontaneity with dangerous impulsivity. Not only might they miss opportunities but they also might not have a release for some of the stress that the more disciplined side of life can cause. Exploring how to bring more spontaneity into their lives can be a powerful step forward when it comes to self-development, allowing these diligent personalities to find ways to let go and take a few more healthy risks in life.

Suggested Starting Place: Defenders (ISFJ) and Mental Load: Holding It All Together.

Executive (ESTJ)

Potential Growth Area: Executives are vigorously hands-on in life, whether accomplishing a task themselves or leading others. They are generally confident and clear about what they want in life. They allow little time to feel sorry for themselves, and they don’t tolerate self-pity in others. This isn’t necessarily about them being cold and distant but more about being efficient and not seeing much gain in indulging such behaviors and feelings. Executives may feel that taking a hard line is their most loving move – they do it because they care. Expanding their emotional range and becoming more emotionally literate may be their growth edge. Understanding and respecting how others process their feelings in various ways can open Executives’ lives up and improve their relationships.

Suggested Starting Place: Personality Types, Emotional Intelligence (EQ), and the Workplace.

Consul (ESFJ)

Potential Growth Area: It’s too easy to think of Consuls as the creators of celebrations and the reliable ones in any group. These things are true, but Consuls are more than these superficial descriptions. Consuls gravitate toward a sense of community and are generally supportive and loving. Most of what they do is designed to keep the community stable and afloat. But to do this, they may strive to keep their actions and interests narrow and predictable, so that everything in their lives feels manageable. Their superpower is solid consistency. But even for the most admirable qualities, there is a trade-off, and for Consuls, this may be that they rely too much on the tried and true. Consuls are susceptible to being too set in their ways and beliefs. They could enrich their lives by adding more curiosity to their thinking rather than focusing on what they already know. Remember, our goal is to add, not replace, qualities. A little more curiosity probably won’t kill this cat.

Explorer Personality Types

Virtuoso (ISTP)

Potential Growth Area: Virtuosos are the quiet doers. They place a lot of value on the things that allow them to feel proficient, and they can be quite effective problem-solvers with repairs or other skilled activities. However, this leaves them less interested in developing relationships and interacting with people. Of course, like any human, Virtuosos have the desire to connect. Still, it may not always be high enough on their list of priorities, which might cost them as they go through life and find that being alone isn’t as desirable as it once felt. For Virtuosos, it might be helpful to see relating and connecting as skills that can be learned, and this is likely a part of their growth edge.

Suggested Starting Place: Is It Okay to Be an Unsociable Personality? (Labeling yourself as “unsociable” can limit you. This article has some great tips on how not to do that.)

Adventurer (ISFP)

Potential Growth Area: Adventurers tend to be humble and sensitive individuals. They are wonderful friends who rarely impose. They have a unique view of the world but rarely push their agendas on others. While Adventurers will likely not bring conflict or confrontation into the world, this can go too far. There can be an almost listless feel about their approach to things, as though they are untethered and without purpose. These personalities have so much to offer, yet their reticence can sometimes cloud this and make it appear untrue. Discovering purpose and passion is likely where Adventurers’ personal growth lies. Finding something to wake up for and be excited about can be just the tonic that they need to enjoy life more and find fulfillment. And it couldn’t happen to a nicer group of people.

Suggested Starting Place: Finding Your Life Purpose If You’re an Explorer.

Entrepreneur (ESTP)

Potential Growth Area: If Entrepreneurs are nearby, hang on to your metaphorical hat. These personality types are perhaps the most comfortable with risk. They are energetic and they are bold, no doubt about it. They sometimes go where others fear to tread in order to explore new avenues. The growth that they may need to explore might involve coming to grips with the idea of too much risk. While they embrace “no risk, no gain” thinking, they may find life harder when they fail to embrace “too much risk, no stability” thinking. Entrepreneurs may be willing to make the trade-off of stability for excitement, and that’s a choice. No judgment here. But their growth area might involve learning to do so consciously and being able to accurately count the cost, so that, on a continuum, it’s more risk than recklessness.

Suggested Starting Place: Prospecting Personality Types: Adulting Superpowers and Projects.

Entertainer (ESFP)

Potential Growth Area: Life is a cabaret, or so the old song says. Entertainers likely agree. They are social, stylish, loving, and energetic. This is a wonderful recipe for a life involving a lot of connection and excitement. The label “Entertainer” suits these personalities well. Who doesn’t want to enjoy life more? Well, there’s “enjoy” as in having a good time, and there’s “enjoy” as in having a smooth and trouble-free life. Entertainers tend to live for today, which can be a kind of mindfulness practice and bring much satisfaction. But it can also make one unprepared for the future, and there goes enjoying a smooth and trouble-free life. For Entertainers, growth might involve embracing the drudgery of taking care of mundane business – especially that which ensures a more secure future.

Suggested Starting Place: Building Financial Literacy According to Personality Type.

There Has to Be More, Right?

We’ve offered one potential area of focus for personality growth for each personality type. But that’s unrealistic. There has to be more, since there are likely many areas of personality growth that you could achieve. Our Premium Suites are a great place to start – they offer in-depth guidance on self-improvement and growth in your personal life, your relationships, and your career.

Now it’s your turn. What areas of personal growth have you found most beneficial in your life? How do you think those experiences connect to your personality type? Tell us a little about it in the comments section below.