Ni and planning ahead
Honestly I don't fully understand Ni but I do hear a lot of people mentioning that Ni types are excellent at planning ahead.
I'm curious about this.
Ni base and creative types, how far do you plan ahead? Do you have your schedule for the next week planned? The next month?
Last edited by theMime.; 05-05-2008 at 05:01 AM.
How far ahead can you see?Originally Posted by Starfall
Things falling into place tomorrow? Next week? Next year?
All of the above?
Are things in the far far future kind of more blurry?
Can you get specific? Like could you tell me the specifics of some of the things you can forsee falling into place?
Last edited by theMime.; 05-05-2008 at 05:20 AM.
Maybe you get gut feelings sometimes that a particular situation will turn out good? Yes?
I think "planning ahead" is not the right term for it.
Myknows what is most likely going to happen next, what is going to happen given the situation at hand, which for me involves others' emotions. i don't plan ahead as much as know ahead. oh that doesn't sound right because it's hard to put into words.
with my kids, when this and that happens and then this, then i *know* this is going to happen, so i strategically do it this and that way and will change course if something else happens a different way. all in the name of emotional well being. it "looks" like planning ahead, but for me, it's not a plan, it's a knowing of what is going to happen next, in the next moment as well as for the long term of growth and development of the people affected with what is happening now.
physically, i have a few things written on my calendar each day for what's important for that day and then i "listen" to the emotional state of everyone around me to "tell" me what to do next and at what time, speed, how to do it...
i believe IEIs trust it so much they don't even think about it. that's why they go with the flow so easily. where i trust it tons but not quite as much and so i make preliminary plans and then change course as my knowing tells me to.
love
kelly jo
Starfall,Ok, maybe I'm not the best at describing things, heh. I'm guessing others can probably give you a better answer then the one I just gave you.
that's how i felt when typing my answer.
love,
kj
OMG! I bet it's the OTHER types that actually plan ahead more...not the Ni base and creatives....it seems like the Ni base and creatives don't need to really plan ahead...where as like people like me, if I wanna know a probable outcome I really have to stop and think through things hard to come to any kind of conclusion.
Just stay pretty, and stop listening to old windbags.
D-SEI9w1
This is me and my dual being scientific together
I think I am very good at planning ahead, especially for other people (I can be lazy towards myself). One of the things I'm "famous" (not the right term, but still) for is being perfectly on time everywhere, never early or late, never leaving home too early or too late. I seecreatives especially appreciating this input since they seem to often worry about being late. I can do this type of prediction for most things (ex. how much time it will take to finish a given task), and I actually enjoy dealing with timetables and such.
As far as more long term plans go, well I feel like excessive planning tends to ultimately be not so useful; I actually tend to be a bit overoptimistic about the future. I have more of a "not-so-detailed" plan to reach what my "goals" are (of course not negelecting the fact that I have to enjoy what I have to do to reach the goal). An example: if I have to prepare a race, I have a "feeling" of how much I need to train each day to make an harmonious progression towards a better condition, without the need for precise tables. I compare this attitude to the one of many xSTj's I race with, that tend to compile very detailed tables and follow them very strictly.
I would actually tie all of this tothough more than
Obsequium amicos, veritas odium parit
I don't plan ahead in the sense of making schedules, writing things out...etc. that i just find frustrating. I do have...landmarks in my mind of things I expect to happen--which usually do. it's like trying to bring a picture into focus. the farther away in time i try to imagine myself, the vaguer the images of where i'll be become. I have a mental picture of this summer...a vision of how my career/education will progress over the next 14 or so years. going in to college i had an idea of how i would fare in classes, when I'd get into a relationship, how that would progress, that i would be moving out of the dorms and into an apartment next year, how i'd spend the summer. those things ended up happening as I'd expected. I don't make rigid plans, and couldn't stand the thought of writing out a 'to do' list ofr the day or the week, but I have things i expect to happen or intend to make happen, loosely fixed in time.
I don't know what function planning ahead via writing out schedules would be associated with, but I imagine it would have to be something static.
ILI
¿Qué es la vida? Un frenesí.
¿Qué es la vida? Una ilusión;
una sombra, una ficción
y el mayor bien es pequeño.
¡Que toda la vida es sueño
y los sueños, sueños son!
You can sometimes predict how a movie will turn out?
Okay, yes, this is much more similar to the way I see it.
Obsequium amicos, veritas odium parit
for me, it's all about people's emotional selves in their development....
I see things that fell into place from previous lifetimes to when they were in the womb to their childhood and stages of development then to the whole of their life. None is blurry. Each is just as real as the other.
something as simple as the way i say something to my child and what affect it is and will have on the rest of his life and growth and development of himself. whoa! no wonder i'm so serious!lol i can't help but knowing....no matter what is said or done or whatever, even by other people with other people, especially other parents with their kids....
love
kj
reading back my own post, i see that it seems very IEE or EII. what's up with that? hmmmmmfor me, it's all about people's emotional selves in their development....
I see things that fell into place from previous lifetimes to when they were in the womb to their childhood and stages of development then to the whole of their life. None is blurry. Each is just as real as the other.
something as simple as the way i say something to my child and what affect it is and will have on the rest of his life and growth and development of himself. whoa! no wonder i'm so serious!
love
kj
love
kj
that is my sister!!!! oh SHE'S an IEI not SEI!! oh yeah! thanks Starfall!Yes, actually, a lot of the time I can.
love,
kj
i plan my next life out, it sounds crazy but i really do, i look at what i do and i think about how that affects my karma.
(D)IEE~FI-(C)SLE~Ni E-5w4(Sp/Sx)/7w8(So/Sp)/9w1(sp/sx)
And it is totally false. Planning ahead has nothing to do with
Exactly. Especially the Ni base types don't plan ahead much. But LIEs are extremely organized and have long-term plans which they often follow strictly.
I dunno if this is Ni, and I don't even think I'm an Ni dominant (though I think I am likely an intuitive type), but I find that a lot of the time I'm thinking ahead, like if I'm trying to decide what to say or how to react I'll automatically think up the consequences (this inhibits me a lot actually, because most of the time it makes me decide against doing or saying what I was thinking). Or when I'm walking or driving somewhere, I'll think of all the different routes I could take, and then choose the one which I predict will be most efficient (and its not necessarily the same each time).
Just then my friend sent me a text message, and I was about to reply, but then I realised that I'm going to see him soon anyway, and that it'll probably be more effective when I answer his question in person than it would have been had I answered it in an SMS.
I suspect there is an element of Ni in some of that stuff (though I may be completely off the mark)
That is absolute bullshit. Take the SLE, a supposedly brilliant military commander. If said commander has a poor ability to plan ahead, how does he ever expect to win a battle? More pertinently, how the fuck did he get to that position in the first place?And it is totally false. Planning ahead has nothing to do with
I think...well, first off, to dispel any rumours about this, Ni can only see into the future based on certain conditions. These may vary per person and perhaps vary per type, but Ni isn't some sort of mystic or psychic function that can see the unknown. This can be evidenced by the many sort of things that an Ni-dominant or creative could predict that would turn out to be wrong, for whatever reason. With that in mind, I think this is how Ni works within me:
Everything I do or think about...it isn't just some static image, but it has some sort of.. direction? I'm trying to think of a specific example to make it easier to explain. Hmm.. I've got a perfect example in mind actually but it's private so I don't want to use it. Well, basically, for me personally, Ni will start off simply with a direction. I don't mean direction in the sense of North, East, South, West or any combination thereof, but.. with any given subject, it would be moving in a particular direction. Personal relationships for example. I'm not going to use any real-life examples here for privacy's sake, but a general trend might be something like this:
Let's say I feel attracted to a particular person. I then start imagining how I might end up with that person; whether the relationship would have any future potential (by this I mean whether it would last); whether I'd be spending the rest of my life with that person, things like that. It's...I don't necessarily think of all of these things, nor have I though them with every person I might have been attracted to in the past, but it's this general theme of where something is going in the long-term. How things would develop over time. I don't have a clue how long it might take for things to go this way, nor do I know IF it will go this way. I can imagine a situation developing to a specific end, but I don't know in reality if it will go this way or not. In theory there are an infinite number of factors that could affect the development of how something turns out; some are easily predictable, others not. Furthermore, with so many possible tangents, I don't necessarily know which ones WILL happen, I just know which ones COULD happen. That's Ni in a nutshell I think; it sees how things could turn out, but not how they will turn out. I think one way in which Se helps us in this regard is that because Se-dominants are very much inclined to experiencing things in life, by drawing on past experiences that could help Ni to judge which possibilities are more realistic and which are more fantastic. I know a lot of this is very abstract, but it's very difficult for me to describe this function. I think it's partly because, for me at least, a lot of what I describe here happens quite passively. I don't actively sit there and concentrate on imagining a particular set of circumstances; my mind just follows it somewhat automatically. Even if I'm working on something else, provided I'm not concentrating too hard on whatever it might be then my mind will be doing this sort of thing in the background. I can focus on it if I want to, but it's quite difficult for me to concentrate specifically on it unless I'm in a quiet area on my own. Sensory distractions and all that can interfere, but I suppose that just applies to concentration in general. But yeah, more often than not I'm seeing the end result of this transition, although I'm perfectly aware of what's gone before and can trace back through it if need be. I think it's also important that I need a clear mind to be accurate about what's likely to happen; if I'm under stress or things like that, I start to imagine the future turning out much worse than is in any way realistic, since the stress distorts my common sense basically. But yeah, if anyone's able to make any sense of what I've written above, then perhaps that might provide some clarity on the matter. Or confuse things even more. I dunno.
ILI (Indescribable Lovemaking Inc.)
5w4 so/sx
"IP temperament! Because today's concerns are tomorrow's indifferences!"
Lord Fnorgle's Domain - A slowly growing collection of music, poetry and literature.
Stickam music performances
yes, i think this has to do with Fe too.Yes, actually, a lot of the time I can.
and yes. i think ENxjs always seem to tell me not to worry, but at the same time push me to act and worry for MY sense of time. "you better do it early". "you better get on it". ISxj always get mad if you aren't on time, and are the ones who ask for input on how long things will take. they don't really stress about it because it seems they try to pick the sources that will be right. Not sure if this is an ISFj thing only. The ones who excessively plan, like need to make lists and stuff, are Te polr IxFp. IME. oh, and to some extent ESFp.
i also agree with some of what Blauritson wrote. i think it definitely is not so much being psychic as being able to retrieve information about patterns through time based on certain input .. factual economic data, for example.
I think this may answer some of your question, because I'm not sure if Phaedrus is explaining himself in a way your understanding:
Rationials in general tend to plan ahead more than irrationals. Rationials make a plan and tend to stick to it, whereas irrationals are more flexible with their plans-they're more willing to change them once they have been drawn up, or even not make them at all because they've got more confidence in their ability to think on their feet. There's benefits to both approaches.
But I don't see how planning ahead would be just an Ni trait. I would go as far to say Ni may see itself as (and probably is) skilled in the art of the prediction of events, but predicting and planning are two different things.
I think thats more or less what he's getting at, and this is pretty much what I think at the moment, so I agree with him here.. if thats what he's getting at (and I think he is.) Well, thats my 10 bob (50 pence Minde) on it.
(So the SLE general will plan ahead, but be flexible in those plans. Couple this with Se and it's got ingredients to make for a potent general, or warlord.)
Last edited by Cyclops; 05-05-2008 at 11:37 AM.
i was thinking the exact same thing when i read that post!
ILE
those who are easily shocked.....should be shocked more often
this is good. because you can't really say that irrationals don't plan and rationals do plan. you are right it's more about does the person stick to the plan or flex it/change it/abandon it. i tend to plan but then change the plan or flex the plan.Rationials in general tend to plan ahead more than irrationals. Rationials make a plan and tend to stick to it, whereas irrationals are more flexible with their plans-they're more willing to change them once they have been drawn up, or even not make them at all because they've got more confidence in their ability to think on their feet. There's benefits to both approaches.
somebody posted an article here somewhere about different types of thinking. in the article certain types were seen as demonstrating kaleidescopic thinking, which describes Ni perfectly i think. the Ni dominant person can kinda see how the image in the kaleidescope will morph...and yet not be able to predict all changes....and so will be delighted when the kaleidescope changes in an unexpected way.
the other types of thinking in the article were cause and effect, holographic, dialectical, and something else i can't remember. but i thought these categories were useful for understanding the cognitive styles of different types.
ILE
those who are easily shocked.....should be shocked more often
SLEs don't plan ahead, at least not at all in the same sense as an LIE, an LII, an LSI, or an LSE would. SLEs can be tactical geniuses but they typically don't plan their actions beforehand. Instead they improvise and take advantage of opportunities that arise in the actual situation.
I totally do this. It's automatic to think a few steps ahead, but it's not really planning, per se. Rather a kind of apperception of proximal chain of events. I often don't realize how dependent I am on this facility. If something unforeseen occurs, it changes the expected map and I'm often upset, because I have "invested" in the pleasurable anticipation of things going that way. I've created too "clear" a picture. If on the other hand, I keep a framework and allow for certain things to manifest differently, or otherwise simply artificially keep my expectations low, I'm less upset when details change. A kind of "it would be nice if..." but always have a backup plan to mollify myself in case of detour...
The route thing is totally reflexive. I don't usually have to think about it for more than a few seconds. And I'm always surprised when other people seem to actually have to put effort into it or otherwise take a route that either wastes time or is totally illogical. The only time I consciously "plan" a route is when I've never been somewhere.
socio: INFp - IEI
ennea: 4w5 sp/sx
**********
I'm not sure. I always get bullied into thinking that I don't 'just do it' enough. People don't know how to properly inspire me to care, so I just do it like they say but I miss something mentally and it all fucks up. They think that I'm this absent-minded professor or something, when that's not the case.
I just don't give a shit. LOL
Like I said, people don't understand that I can do physical things well- it's actually the mental stuff I need trouble working out. But gay guys get this a lot, I hate to keep bringing it up but you know it's fucking true. When everybody thinks of a gay guy, nobody thinks of a guy that can do physical things well- but I can, I just can't fucking think most of the time and I need to re-evaluate things. I need people to read questions to me slowly. I got Bs and Cs in school, and everybody thought that I could get As just because I was quiet. My IQ is only in the low 100s... I am a dumb fuck that just wants sex. Not some intelligent person that's bad with physical things. It's more the other way around, but NOBODY believes this about me- because nobody can accept that a gay man can kick their ass.
I always felt intimidated in school because I felt I could never ask for help from the teacher because they would go "Come on Sam, you already know this - let me help Jonny" I kid you not, I got this my whole life. Fuck you. I DON'T KNOW EVERYTHING JUST BECAUSE I LIKE SITTING IN MY ROOM ALL DAY AND BEING A HERMIT.
When I got a B- in art class everybody went 'Omg how did that happen?' I hate being pre-judged like this, I get why they think that but none of it is true. AND I DON'T KNOW HOW TO FUCKING DRAW JUST CAUSE IM INTROVERTED YOU DUMB FUCKS.
As soon as I show
I really feel that I am actually ESTp, and INFp is my dual. I want somebody to just be very passive and tell me I don't have to do something.
Look at how often Expat owns me in intellectual debates....I AM NOT THAT SMART ALREADY!!!
This is how I experience it as well.
Exactly...
Absolutely accurate. I definitely have the tendency to imagine the worst outcome, especially when something I perceive as a "setback" or "negative development" occurs in the situation. I'm learning how to stop myself from compulsively following the negative thread, but it's tough to always catch it. Sometimes it just sneaks up on me and all of a sudden I'm out on a limb worrying that I'll be trapped, be alone forever, unable to alter anything or change direction. There's a kind of fatalistic bent that sometimes slants it all to worst case scenario thinking. I guess it's rather an extreme example of wanting to be prepared for all contingencies...
socio: INFp - IEI
ennea: 4w5 sp/sx
**********
just stumbled upon this thread.
Ni is NOT planning ahead.
So then ENXjs will have a nack for planning ahead because of thier Ni and their rationalness?
They have the ability to see possible outcomes/possible future events and are better at sticking to their plans?
I wanna go find that article.
I can tell you what my experience is: INxps often have stricter plans than ENxjs, on paper, and they gladly talk about them.
However, most of the time INxps will change direction completely all of a sudden and push their plans aside and build some other plan.
ENxjs have a more loosely defined plan, however they generally never change direction, thus on the long term their plans are more likely to materialize in the way they expected.
Obsequium amicos, veritas odium parit
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