I recently became reaware that I view life through a lens of typology. As in, in most conversations (especially verbal ones) I pick apart what is being said to see what functions could be behind them. Or I make mental note of possible enneagram fixes for people. When I was less healthy, a few years ago freshman year, I would keep a notebook to record behavior habits of my friends, going as far as making charts and constantly making them retake personality tests.
Many people use typology as a self improvement tool. Curious on how it plays a role in life though.
I am an INTJ. MBTI is one of the best things that I have ever learned; it plays a MAJOR role in my life.
I have been an MBTI enthusiast since around 1992; I mostly use the books by the Barron-Tiegers and Naomi Quenck.
I used MBTI to be able to tell which parts of me were "normal".
I used it to understand my children and husband better.
I use it to get along with people.
I never jump to conclusions about a person's type, and I don't use the cognitive functions to understand them either.
The type dimension I think about mostly is whether a person is mostly P or J and this helps me communicate with them better and also helps me know what to expect from them in the way of communication.
For instance: my father is an ESTP. If I invite him to a picnic which is a week away, he feels uncomfortable deciding to come, so far in advance, but if I call him the day before, I know that makes him happy. And because I know it's his Type that makes him that way, I don't get hurt or offended or think it means that he doesn't love me because he won't decide ahead of time to accept my invitation.
Now my mother and daughter are ISxJs. They like to have things decided in advance, so I try to give them lots of advance notice and try never to spring things on them at the last minute.
My INFP sister was always changing our dinner plans at the last minute. It drove me insane because I had spent a week thinking about the meal I was going to have only to have her change the restaurant at the last minute! So now, I never tell her where we are going ahead of time. I tell her it's a surprise. She loves surprises, so it works for us.