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[NT] Nt's and trouble sticking with things

DiscoBiscuit

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I played tons of sports as a kid.

I would pick something up, get good at it, get bored with it and move onto something else.

Now I'm finding that I have the tendency to do the same thing at jobs I don't like.

I love the fact that I'm my own boss now, and that seemed to do the trick as far as making me happy at my job.

Does anyone else have this problem?
 

UniqueMixture

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I think this is a source of much conflict for NTs in relationships as well. The sense of "it's my life, I will live it as I wish." I think it gives a lot of drive in the long run if channeled properly.
 

DiscoBiscuit

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Yea I can see how it could.

But man it can be a pain in the ass when you're looking for shitty jobs to hold you over in a shitty economy.
 

EJCC

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NTs do seem to have a lot of trouble with boredom, from my experience. My INTJ roommate, last year, had an especially hard time with it... and then she'd be too afraid of doing poorly and embarrassing herself (cough type 1 cough) to try any new things.

But generally I wouldn't say that what you're describing is a bad thing. The NTs I know who regularly change their hobbies/occupations/locations have really enjoyed it. My dad is INTP and his job path has been extremely irregular, but he did fine in terms of money and was very happy with it. The way I see it, if you have boredom issues, you've got to do what you have to, to fix those issues. Better to change occupations all the time, then to end up like my INTJ roommate and be bored and miserable 24/7.

Edit: Yeah, in this economy, I guess you're right. But that's where the NTs I know have either gone freelance, like you (and also [MENTION=10251]Red Herring[/MENTION], if I remember correctly), or they've done lots of interesting things outside of work, or they've found ways to shape their work to fit their needs, which especially works if the NT is in a high position. (My dad did this at his nonprofit job, to a limited extent.)
 

DiscoBiscuit

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NTs do seem to have a lot of trouble with boredom, from my experience. My INTJ roommate, last year, had an especially hard time with it... and then she'd be too afraid of doing poorly and embarrassing herself (cough type 1 cough) to try any new things.

But generally I wouldn't say that what you're describing is a bad thing. The NTs I know who regularly change their hobbies/occupations/locations have really enjoyed it. My dad is INTP and his job path has been extremely irregular, but he did fine in terms of money and was very happy with it. The way I see it, if you have boredom issues, you've got to do what you have to, to fix those issues. Better to change occupations all the time, then to end up like my INTJ roommate and be bored and miserable 24/7.

Yea, I could see that, but deep down I want to do one thing I at least like (if not love) for a while to invest myself in my future there and reap the benefits of advancement in that field.
 

UniqueMixture

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Life can be underwhelming at times disco. Remember it is just a time in your life. Diligence will maximize your potential :) You deserve to be happy bro. Just stick with it and find some safe fun to help you socialize and blow off stress.
 

Red Herring

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NTs do seem to have a lot of trouble with boredom, from my experience. My INTJ roommate, last year, had an especially hard time with it... and then she'd be too afraid of doing poorly and embarrassing herself (cough type 1 cough) to try any new things.

But generally I wouldn't say that what you're describing is a bad thing. The NTs I know who regularly change their hobbies/occupations/locations have really enjoyed it. My dad is INTP and his job path has been extremely irregular, but he did fine in terms of money and was very happy with it. The way I see it, if you have boredom issues, you've got to do what you have to, to fix those issues. Better to change occupations all the time, then to end up like my INTJ roommate and be bored and miserable 24/7.

Edit: Yeah, in this economy, I guess you're right. But that's where the NTs I know have either gone freelance, like you (and also Red Herring, if I remember correctly), or they've done lots of interesting things outside of work, or they've found ways to shape their work to fit their needs, which especially works if the NT is in a high position. (My dad did this at his nonprofit job, to a limited extent.)

Oh god, yes! I always claim that I haven't been bored in 20 years, but that is only due to some coping strategies I developed.

I'm probably not the inly INTP for whom repetition means torture. Back in school there was no homework I hated as mucb as "transfer these 20 sentences into the past tense" and the like. I started varying my handwriting or even changing the color of the pen, even using very long and compley sentences as examples for certain grammatical phenomena to build little stories out of them... just to give it some form of variety. *moans*

I started a dozent hobbies but never really systematically went through with any of it. I do finish a book once in a while, but the normal thing is to read 4-5 at the same time or to start one, drop it, start another one, drop it, rinse and repeat. Right now I am officially reading three novels at the same time and have three more text books on my night table that are waiting to be worked through.

At the university I started a bunch of optional classes, many outside my own field, and dropped at least half of them by midterm. When I spent half a year working an office job after graduation it was a slow death. i hated every single day of it. There were many reasons for that but one of them was the monotony and lack of intellectual stimulation (it was mostly administrative work and getting others to do the sort of work I would have liked to do myself). As a freelamcer I at least have a lot of variety of topics (a lot of law, a lot of commerce, some medicine, some food, some engineering, some advertisement) and since I am working from home at my own schedule I can multitask and watch tv and/or read stuff online while translating. And while it might slightly slow me done (I'm aware of that) I do need this additional stimulation, I think. I need to have at least one additional source of input (tv, dvd, forum, news website,...) next to the translation I'm working on.

The main reason I applied for the diplomatic sevice (passed the national written exam but gloriously failed the psychological interview at the ministry) was that they have you move to another country and work in another sector (culture, law, economics,...) every 3-4 years. That sounded so awesome. It's probably a good thing that didn't work, I wouldn't ahve been happy there for different reasons, out but it sounded enormously attractive at the time.

I also work as an interpreter and have a favorite customer that calls for me every few weeks or so to translate meetings with foreign suppliers. The conversation always follws exactly the same script. They are very nice, it is easy money and I feel comfortable doing it since by now I could basically do the meeting singlehandedly and ask the questions myself instead of just translating them. But it has also reached that point where I sort of whidh for some variety, for something odd to happen because these meetings have become so repetitive and stopped being a challenge.


Don't get me wrong. There are strong disadvantages to not being an expert in anything and only dable on a bunch of areas. And I'm not claiming to be supersmart or anything, not at all. I'm just saying that there are many, many things that interest me or in which I can develop an interest when facing them but it rarely lasts. And I am constantly disappointed at my own lack of persistance and low level of skills. It's like there are many things I have put my nose into but hardly anything I'm actually good at. :(
It's "get the basic concept and move on". From what I have read, this is pretty much picture book INTP MO, so maybe others can relate.

I envy and admire people who have the discipline and strength of will and inner focus to hold a regular job, be great at it and become an authority in their field without going "oh, look, a squirrel!!!" at the first chance they get. People who really master a skill.

The dirty little secret of course in a world with little stability that is oozing with P-style improvisation, a messed up circadian rythm and unsafe freelance work is that I sometime do cling to relief Si as a counterweight. Having a few odd habits gives me something to hold on to in an otherwise rather chaotic life style. It's like a kind of Northern Star.

Some interests (and even fewer people) are part of that Si-ish framework that holds all this mental chaos together.

/tl;dr

summary:
All work and no play makes RH a dull INTP
 

DiscoBiscuit

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Oh god, yes! I always claim that I haven't been bored in 20 years, but that is only due to some coping strategies I developed.

I'm probably not the inly INTP for whom repetition means torture. Back in school there was no homework I hated as mucb as "transfer these 20 sentences into the past tense" and the like. I started varying my handwriting or even changing the color of the pen, even using very long and compley sentences as examples for certain grammatical phenomena to build little stories out of them... just to give it some form of variety. *moans*

I started a dozent hobbies but never really systematically went through with any of it. I do finish a book once in a while, but the normal thing is to read 4-5 at the same time or to start one, drop it, start another one, drop it, rinse and repeat. Right now I am officially reading three novels at the same time and have three more text books on my night table that are waiting to be worked through.

At the university I started a bunch of optional classes, many outside my own field, and dropped at least half of them by midterm. When I spent half a year working an office job after graduation it was a slow death. i hated every single day of it. There were many reasons for that but one of them was the monotony and lack of intellectual stimulation (it was mostly administrative work and getting others to do the sort of work I would have liked to do myself). As a freelamcer I at least have a lot of variety of topics (a lot of law, a lot of commerce, some medicine, some food, some engineering, some advertisement) and since I am working from home at my own schedule I can multitask and watch tv and/or read stuff online while translating. And while it might slightly slow me done (I'm aware of that) I do need this additional stimulation, I think. I need to have at least one additional source of input (tv, dvd, forum, news website,...) next to the translation I'm working on.

The main reason I applied for the diplomatic sevice (passed the national written exam but gloriously failed the psychological interview at the ministry) was that they have you move to another country and work in another sector (culture, law, economics,...) every 3-4 years. That sounded so awesome. It's probably a good thing that didn't work, I wouldn't ahve been happy there for different reasons, out but it sounded enormously attractive at the time.

I also work as an interpreter and have a favorite customer that calls for me every few weeks or so to translate meetings with foreign suppliers. The conversation always follws exactly the same script. They are very nice, it is easy money and I feel comfortable doing it since by now I could basically do the meeting singlehandedly and ask the questions myself instead of just translating them. But it has also reached that point where I sort of whidh for some variety, for something odd to happen because these meetings have become so repetitive and stopped being a challenge.


Don't get me wrong. There are strong disadvantages to not being an expert in anything and only dable on a bunch of areas. And I'm not claiming to be supersmart or anything, not at all. I'm just saying that there are many, many things that interest me or in which I can develop an interest when facing them but it rarely lasts. And I am constantly disappointed at my own lack of persistance and low level of skills. It's like there are many things I have put my nose into but hardly anything I'm actually good at. :(
It's "get the basic concept and move on". From what I have read, this is pretty much picture book INTP MO, so maybe others can relate.

I envy and admire people who have the discipline and strength of will and inner focus to hold a regular job, be great at it and become an authority in their field without going "oh, look, a squirrel!!!" at the first chance they get. People who really master a skill.

The dirty little secret of course in a world with little stability that is oozing with P-style improvisation, a messed up circadian rythm and unsafe freelance work is that I sometime do cling to relief Si as a counterweight. Having a few odd habits gives me something to hold on to in an otherwise rather chaotic life style. It's like a kind of Northern Star.

Some interests (and even fewer people) are part of that Si-ish framework that holds all this mental chaos together.

/tl;dr

summary:
All work and no play makes RH a dull INTP

What you did with classes I did with activities and social commitments.

School was so easy by college that I stopped giving a fuck entirely by about junior year.

Law school was hard enough, but I just didn't like law enough. I was still in love with politics.
 

violet_crown

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[MENTION=6724]DiscoBiscuit[/MENTION], in a perfect world where all things were possible, what would you be doing right now career-wise?
 

The Great One

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I played tons of sports as a kid.

I would pick something up, get good at it, get bored with it and move onto something else.

Now I'm finding that I have the tendency to do the same thing at jobs I don't like.

I love the fact that I'm my own boss now, and that seemed to do the trick as far as making me happy at my job.

Does anyone else have this problem?

Yes, but I thought this was more of an ENTP problem?
 

1487610420

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:rly???:

EDIT: There's something there. Will have to ponder on this for significant contribution.
 

Istbkleta

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What about a long term. 10+ years (in Te time) goal?


Then the little dots can start getting connected by that big (N) goal.
 

INTP

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i kinda have a bad habit of mastering something and then getting bored with it. luckily i figured out a solution for this(which will hopefully work as well as it sounds in theory :D), dont try to master anything you know you can ever fully master. for example i figured out that psychology would be my perfect career choice, since its impossible to understand the whole human mind from all the perspectives(neurological, psychological etc).
 

Red Herring

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i kinda have a bad habit of mastering something and then getting bored with it. luckily i figured out a solution for this(which will hopefully work as well as it sounds in theory :D), dont try to master anything you know you can ever fully master. for example i figured out that psychology would be my perfect career choice, since its impossible to understand the whole human mind from all the perspectives(neurological, psychological etc).

What about photography?
 

INTP

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What about photography?

last time i had my dslr with me was last summer i think and didnt happen many times even then :/

i do have pretty good camera on my phone and have reasonably good point and shoot camera with me all the time, but i just dont have the same urge to take photos as i used to..
 

The Great One

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i kinda have a bad habit of mastering something and then getting bored with it. luckily i figured out a solution for this(which will hopefully work as well as it sounds in theory :D), dont try to master anything you know you can ever fully master. for example i figured out that psychology would be my perfect career choice, since its impossible to understand the whole human mind from all the perspectives(neurological, psychological etc).

Lol, I am also pursuing a psychology career for the same reasons.
 
W

WALMART

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I've done about 20% of the homework ever assigned to me. I made straight C's thanks to kind teachers and strong test scores. I was recently fired from my managorial position at a Uhaul for delaying implementation of vital programs, despite improving my P&L sheet to things never seen at that store in the 40 years its been open.

Yeah, it sucks.

Lol, I am also pursuing a psychology career for the same reasons.

The world is digital, aforementioned statements are incorrect.
 

Philosorapteuse

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I'm probably not the inly INTP for whom repetition means torture. Back in school there was no homework I hated as mucb as "transfer these 20 sentences into the past tense" and the like. I started varying my handwriting or even changing the color of the pen, even using very long and compley sentences as examples for certain grammatical phenomena to build little stories out of them... just to give it some form of variety. *moans*

...

I envy and admire people who have the discipline and strength of will and inner focus to hold a regular job, be great at it and become an authority in their field without going "oh, look, a squirrel!!!" at the first chance they get. People who really master a skill.

This this this. This with knobs on. I'm terrible for starting something, then getting distracted by a shiny object and moving onto that. It's depressing, because it means I never achieve what I'm really capable of. Seems like I waste all my potential this way. Friends at school who were (in all honesty) much less bright but more methodical and diligent are doing far better in the real world than I am. Mistaking "self-discipline" for "screaming at myself until I'm paralysed and miserable" is also an issue. Spent years working on my Fe; this is now the main thing I hope to work on at this point in my life.
 

FDG

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You need to find something that's difficult enough to hold your attention almost indefinitely. Try going for a PhD in theorethical physics aiming for a Nobel Prize, for example. Or climbing every >8000 mountain on earth.
 
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