ILE's tips for being an ILE

[EllaC]

Okay super vague thread I know! But I was just wondered if there's any wisdom that you've encountered over the years that you'd wished you known.

Thanks!

[Elro]

Always be yourself.

[Wynch]

People will tell you that you're under-motivated, or an under-achiever. People will tell you that, because you procrastinate, you are undermining your chances at success. Don't listen to them. You're doing things the way that they process in your head and a lot of the systems for achieving success are not compatible with the ILE mode of processing. We need the thrill of excitement to motivate us into action and if we don't let that come, we won't do a good job anyways. Deadlines are good, not for the structure they bring, but for the challenge of getting something in on time. It can be motivating.

Sometimes you need to follow things through to the end. It's really frigging tedious. When you do, make sure you take lots of breaks for things that are completely unrelated. People will criticizing you for procrastinating, but you'll do a better job than if you force it out.

People will tell you you need to slow down. Others will tell you you need to speed up. They obviously can't agree on it, so why should you listen to them. That's illogical.

Despite the fact that everything makes logical sense in your mind, there will be others who refuse to see it the way you do. As much as you want to argue with them and bash their face in until they understand, you sometimes have to let it go. It will feel like you're loosing the argument, but you know that's not true and that will be all that matters. (NOTE: Engineering vs. Social Science debates. FU engineers.)

Sometimes your brilliance will be disconcerting because it comes from seemingly nowhere (Ne). Just because you didn't work for it, doesn't mean it isn't legitimate. No matter where you are in life, your ideas matter and there are people who will listen to them. Don't be afraid to carry that to it's full potential.

We can all improve on our weaknesses, and ILEs are no exception. Don't ignore your personal needs too long, as tedious as it is to take care of them, they'll kick you in the pants. And our sense of style is weird. But it's cool and that's all that matters (=P). Talking to a diverse set of people helps you learn some of those frustrating perspectives too. It makes your life easier in the long-run. And take care of those annoying necessities as soon as they come up (bills, grocery shopping, etc) that way you won't get distracted and forget about them.

Don't fall into stereotypes. ILEs are more and less than what people think we are. Being an ILE does not mean you have to invent cat elevators or pursue a career in innovative science. And if you change your direction a million times during your life, that just makes things more of an adventure. If you look hard enough you'll find something that eventually makes you happy enough to fiddle with and explore in depth. The rest of it you can always tinker with on the side. Some people will love us and others will hate us, but we can't win everyone over.

All we can do is be ourselves.

[Suomea]

...

[Wynch]

Always be yourself.

GTFO, Elro. According to your sig you're not a real ILE anymore.

[diljs]

Murder/Suicide

whoops, wrong forum.

Random things off the top of my head:

Don't work for large corporations, especially those that "hired you because you're Type A, a high performer" etc. Sorry, not so much. ILE will need to spend time staring out the window while the "high performers" are busy spinning their hamster wheels with six sigma analyses of whether filling out 5 or 6 forms is best practice for a simple override of standard procedure. Big companies think you're wasting time when you stare out the window, regardless of your overall performance.

You can't please anyone. I would say you can't please everyone, but really you've just gotta say "screw it" and do what you want, and random people will be very impressed/enthusiastic about you when you do. If you try to keep everyone happy you're gonna suck at it, you're not or , don't try to be. Also some poeple will have lots of little rules you're going to break no matter what you do, and you'll never be able to meet them all. They'll either adapt or run away.

Stay within your main functions, regardless of how weird society in general thinks they are. Try to find friends who value them.

Don't think you're an introvert. You might get labelled or label yourself that way or just react to your own poor social skills and think you are, but you're not. You need new experiences, people, and information, otherwise you just get bored and feel terrible.

More to come, maybe.

[Jimbean]

Action, take lots of action!

Gain a sense of realty by taking action toward your goals

Be honest with yourself

Work very hard to try to see the whole picture, so to speak. ENTp's I think have a hard time doing that.

[munenori2]

People will tell you that you're under-motivated, or an under-achiever. People will tell you that, because you procrastinate, you are undermining your chances at success. Don't listen to them. You're doing things the way that they process in your head and a lot of the systems for achieving success are not compatible with the ILE mode of processing. We need the thrill of excitement to motivate us into action and if we don't let that come, we won't do a good job anyways. Deadlines are good, not for the structure they bring, but for the challenge of getting something in on time. It can be motivating.

Sometimes you need to follow things through to the end. It's really frigging tedious. When you do, make sure you take lots of breaks for things that are completely unrelated. People will criticizing you for procrastinating, but you'll do a better job than if you force it out.

People will tell you you need to slow down. Others will tell you you need to speed up. They obviously can't agree on it, so why should you listen to them. That's illogical.

Despite the fact that everything makes logical sense in your mind, there will be others who refuse to see it the way you do. As much as you want to argue with them and bash their face in until they understand, you sometimes have to let it go. It will feel like you're loosing the argument, but you know that's not true and that will be all that matters. (NOTE: Engineering vs. Social Science debates. FU engineers.)

Sometimes your brilliance will be disconcerting because it comes from seemingly nowhere (Ne). Just because you didn't work for it, doesn't mean it isn't legitimate. No matter where you are in life, your ideas matter and there are people who will listen to them. Don't be afraid to carry that to it's full potential.

We can all improve on our weaknesses, and ILEs are no exception. Don't ignore your personal needs too long, as tedious as it is to take care of them, they'll kick you in the pants. And our sense of style is weird. But it's cool and that's all that matters (=P). Talking to a diverse set of people helps you learn some of those frustrating perspectives too. It makes your life easier in the long-run. And take care of those annoying necessities as soon as they come up (bills, grocery shopping, etc) that way you won't get distracted and forget about them.

Don't fall into stereotypes. ILEs are more and less than what people think we are. Being an ILE does not mean you have to invent cat elevators or pursue a career in innovative science. And if you change your direction a million times during your life, that just makes things more of an adventure. If you look hard enough you'll find something that eventually makes you happy enough to fiddle with and explore in depth. The rest of it you can always tinker with on the side. Some people will love us and others will hate us, but we can't win everyone over.

All we can do is be ourselves.

Ok, I admit, that is pretty freakin ILE. So, um, wow.

[xyz]

People will tell you that you're under-motivated, or an under-achiever. People will tell you that, because you procrastinate, you are undermining your chances at success. Don't listen to them. You're doing things the way that they process in your head and a lot of the systems for achieving success are not compatible with the ILE mode of processing. We need the thrill of excitement to motivate us into action and if we don't let that come, we won't do a good job anyways. Deadlines are good, not for the structure they bring, but for the challenge of getting something in on time. It can be motivating.

Sometimes you need to follow things through to the end. It's really frigging tedious. When you do, make sure you take lots of breaks for things that are completely unrelated. People will criticizing you for procrastinating, but you'll do a better job than if you force it out.

People will tell you you need to slow down. Others will tell you you need to speed up. They obviously can't agree on it, so why should you listen to them. That's illogical.

Despite the fact that everything makes logical sense in your mind, there will be others who refuse to see it the way you do. As much as you want to argue with them and bash their face in until they understand, you sometimes have to let it go. It will feel like you're loosing the argument, but you know that's not true and that will be all that matters. (NOTE: Engineering vs. Social Science debates. FU engineers.)

Sometimes your brilliance will be disconcerting because it comes from seemingly nowhere (Ne). Just because you didn't work for it, doesn't mean it isn't legitimate. No matter where you are in life, your ideas matter and there are people who will listen to them. Don't be afraid to carry that to it's full potential.

We can all improve on our weaknesses, and ILEs are no exception. Don't ignore your personal needs too long, as tedious as it is to take care of them, they'll kick you in the pants. And our sense of style is weird. But it's cool and that's all that matters (=P). Talking to a diverse set of people helps you learn some of those frustrating perspectives too. It makes your life easier in the long-run. And take care of those annoying necessities as soon as they come up (bills, grocery shopping, etc) that way you won't get distracted and forget about them.

Don't fall into stereotypes. ILEs are more and less than what people think we are. Being an ILE does not mean you have to invent cat elevators or pursue a career in innovative science. And if you change your direction a million times during your life, that just makes things more of an adventure. If you look hard enough you'll find something that eventually makes you happy enough to fiddle with and explore in depth. The rest of it you can always tinker with on the side. Some people will love us and others will hate us, but we can't win everyone over.

All we can do is be ourselves.

Summed up is:

Always be yourself.

Pretty much. You guys rock my pink socks.

[munenori2]

Pretty much. You guys rock my pink socks.

Now, guys and gals, this is some high praise.

[Park]

mn0good, wow.

[Wynch]

Don't work for large corporations, especially those that "hired you because you're Type A, a high performer" etc. Sorry, not so much. ILE will need to spend time staring out the window while the "high performers" are busy spinning their hamster wheels with six sigma analyses of whether filling out 5 or 6 forms is best practice for a simple override of standard procedure. Big companies think you're wasting time when you stare out the window, regardless of your overall performance.

QFT, if you really want a job like this, work for the government. They will put up with your window staring as long as you're getting things done. *thumbs up*

@mune: I would say I try, but that would be a lie.

@LV: *shudders* thanks for that...

@winterpark: I keep warning people that I write essays if you let me, but nobody realizes how true that is...

[angelalala]

I've found these three things incredibly useful:

1) Be Fesque. Go on, cultivate some of those 'F' -esque tendencies

2) Think-Act-Think. It feels counter-intuitive, but it stopped a lot of *insert negative description* choice word here from coming out of my mouth like in my more Act-think-Act days

3) Be yourself. You guys have already hit this one, but its worth saying. We'll always raise eyebrows, but as the expression goes:

"Be yourself, those who mind don't matter and those who matter don't mind"