https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rKXoDJEOSR0&t=6s
(This post is for Myers-Briggs iNtuitives. If you’re not sure what that means or if you’re not sure if you are one, start here by watching this video and taking the test: 40% of Musicians are iNtuitives. Are You One of Them?)
Being an iNtuitive isn’t easy. We need all the help we can get. 😉 So I’ve put together a few nuggets that I’ve found helpful to keep in mind from time to time:
1. Embrace Your Weirdness
All iNtuitives are weird. In fact, as a general rule, the more intuitive you are, the weirder you are. That’s how you’re supposed to be. Give yourself permission to be a freak. It’s cool. Be who you are. Don’t hide.
2. Find Other iNtuitives
One of the most important needs iNtuitives have is to spend time with other iNtuitives. We need deep, abstract conversation. There’s no substitute for being around people who naturally speak your language.
(Speaking of which, have you joined the Facebook group for iNtuitive Musicians? https://www.facebook.com/groups/intuitivemusicians/)
3. Learn to Communicate With Sensors
Don’t bash your head against the wall by trying to get people to understand you on your terms. They need to understand you on their terms. It’s important to accept and respect your differences.
If you’re talking to a sensor, dial down the big ideas and abstract theories. Talk to them in their own language. Think ‘practical’, ‘concrete’ and ‘factual’ as opposed to ‘hypothetical’, ‘far-fetched’ and ‘radical’.
4. Do What Matters to You
Ultimately, making an impact is what’s going to make you happy. Focus on what you can do to make a difference, whether it’s to one person or to the whole world. Changing things for the better will be much more fulfilling to you than simply adapting.
George Bernard Shaw probably didn’t realize it, but he was talking about iNtuitives when he said:
“The reasonable man adapts himself to the world; the unreasonable one persists in trying to adapt the world to himself. Therefore all progress depends on the unreasonable man.” – George Bernard Shaw
Other people are keeping things together. It’s our job to bring change. Be bold.
5. Let Go and Forgive
Chances are good that you know all too well what it feels like to be misunderstood. For a lot of iNtuitives this is a huge part of the story of their lives. Fortunately, by virtue of the fact that you’re seeking out and reading stuff like this, you’re on the path to understanding yourself better and ultimately to being understood by others.
I believe that if you go far enough down the path of learning and self-discovery, you’ll come to a conclusion – that there is no way that things are ‘supposed to be’. Only the way things are and the way things can be.
“Forgiveness means giving up all hope for a better past.” – Lily Tomlin
So let go of any ideas about how things should be or could have been.
You’re exactly where you’re supposed to be.
The only question is: Where are you going to go from here?
