Personality Facets: Your More Than a Judger or a Perceiver – Everyday Fulfillment
No Vacation Required
If you were to look at our travel itineraries, you might be a little confused. On one hand, we are highly organized. We like a plan, we like to know where we are staying, and we definitely like closure. But the second our boots hit the ground? All bets are off. We are perfectly happy throwing the schedule out the window just to walk down a random street and see what happens.
For a long time, that felt like a contradiction. How can you be a person who craves structure but also craves total spontaneity?
This week, we are wrapping up our facets series by looking at the Judging and Perceiving (J/P) pairing. We are breaking down why a highly organized person might still wait until the last minute to start a project, and why a spontaneous person might secretly love a good spreadsheet. Your personality is a beautiful, complex mix – and it is time to stop letting a single letter define you.
Onward and Inward,
COMMON QUESTIONS ANSWERED IN THIS EPISODE
❓What are the Judging and Perceiving (J/P) facets? This pairing is all about how you manage your life and your time. Judgers (J) generally prefer decisiveness, structure, and closure, while Perceivers (P) prefer flexibility, spontaneity, and keeping their options open. Facets allow you to have traits from both sides.
❓Can I be a structured person who still procrastinates? Absolutely. You can be a dominant Judger who loves a clean calendar, but still have a "pressure-prompted" facet that means you do your best work right before a deadline. This doesn't mean you are disorganized – it’s just how you are wired.
❓Why do I act like a J at work and a P at home? The J/P pairing is where we see the biggest split between our professional and personal lives. Many people "code-switch" by using their structured J facets to succeed at work, while fully leaning into their spontaneous P facets on the weekend.
❓If I am a Perceiver, does that mean I am naturally disorganized? Not at all. Being a Perceiver simply means you prefer to keep your options open and stay flexible. It does not mean you are incapable of planning or keeping your life in order.
CHAPTERS
(00:00) Mind Share: Trade Secret
(03:19) Why personality facets take you from 1-in-16 to 1-in-a-million
(05:55) The Judging vs. Perceiving (J/P) personality pairing explained
(07:05) Real-life examples: The casual J
(10:11) Client story: Code-switching between work and home
(19:56) Mailbag: Understanding stress responses
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TRANSCRIPT
Caanan (00:02)
You can be a spontaneous person who plans everything. And you can be a highly organized person who still waits until the last minute to start. Because when it comes to how we manage our time, one simple label just isn't enough. Today we're diving into details beneath the surface to explain why we do what we do.
Caanan (00:24)
Kent, it's time for mind share.
Kent (00:26)
Yeah, I've got one. Thinking about this gives me goosebumps because friends told us about this movie and we literally could not believe this was true. No. We
Caanan (00:38)
We
Kent (00:38)
thought the movie was a hoax. You know, that's how everything is now. What's true, what's not true, what's a conspiracy theory. But essentially the movie is called Trade Secret and we'll put a link
Kent (00:51)
so that you can get there and get more information about it. I'm just gonna read this to you. Essentially "follows unlikely allies on a mission to protect polar bears from international commercial trade. So
Kent (01:03)
The film exposes the sanctioned sale of hundreds of polar bears each year on the global market. And as the film and investigation deepens, it uncovers a disturbing truth – that some of those entrusted with safeguarding polar bears are actually entangled in their continued commercialization."
Kent (01:29)
So to say the film raises urgent questions is an understatement. And I guess this isn't much of a spoiler alert. The entity entrusted with safeguarding polar bears that's found to be contributing to their commercialization is the World Wildlife Fund. The WWF, if you're into humanitarian things as we are, giving time and effort and
Kent (01:55)
money to organizations, we could not believe it was true until we saw it. And we saw it and it is true. So if you care about these matters, watch Trade Secret. You will leave like we did, feeling more empowered about the work that these conservation efforts accomplish. And you'll leave empowered to know that you've got to keep a vigilant eye on what's happening
Kent (02:22)
in the realm of things you care about, like climate change, like species.
Caanan (02:27)
Yeah,
Caanan (02:28)
because you would never ever believe that the World Wildlife Fund, the organization with the little panda as their icon
Kent (02:38)
Is it a panda or a polar bear? A panda?
Caanan (02:40)
It's
Caanan (02:41)
a panda, yeah. Would be complicit and sanctioning the slaughter and sale of polar bears. Yeah. Like what in the hell is going on?
Kent (02:52)
This is not fake news. Now on with our podcast.
Kent (02:58)
In everything we've done, in our personal lives and as sought after business and career development consultants, we've learned one consistent thing. Most people just don't know themselves. NoVacationRequired.com is where we talk about how you too can build a life that you don't need a break from and how it all starts with knowing yourself.
Caanan (03:19)
So we've reached the final episode in this
Caanan (03:22)
four pack series.
Kent (03:25)
boo or yay.
Caanan (03:27)
Yay. No boo. Anyway, we've reached the final episode and this whole series has been around facets – the things that take you from one of sixteen, in terms of your personality type,
Caanan (03:44)
To one in over a million. So I'll just reiterate quickly in case you haven't listened to the first three episodes. (And if you haven't, come on, what are you doing? I've put them in a playlist for you.) facets essentially break down one of the four pairings
Kent (04:00)
Yes.
Caanan (04:01)
into five different, more nuanced aspects of your personality. And the real gag here,
Caanan (04:09)
is that a lot of times your facets may appear to be in contradiction to your personality type. So facets are super fun because they really round out your personality and they help you understand yourself in a far more nuanced way...
Caanan (04:25)
Yes.
Caanan (04:25)
Than those four letter personality type could ever allow you to do. And that is not to denigrate the four letter personality type. It's still worthwhile, but
Caanan (04:35)
oh yeah.
Caanan (04:36)
We're going deeper.
Kent (04:37)
yeah, we if the four letter personality type is as far as you get, you are a changed person. recently we were talking about hiking conversations. I remember having the best hiking conversation with was it three or four strangers over a beer at the end of a hike, talking about personality type, just the basic personality type and how having this knowledge blew these three guys' minds away.
Kent (05:06)
So we say, if that's all you're gonna do, if that's all you know about, great, but there's something much, much deeper, which is true investigation into what makes you super unique.
Kent (05:18)
Yeah.
Kent (05:19)
we call it, well, we of course it's your personality, but we call it YouFinder. It's our YouFinder product, which is a deep multi-step, multi-faceted look
Kent (05:31)
into the very specifics of who you are, broken up into these five amazing sections that basically give you, we call it the operating manual for for your
Caanan (05:43)
Your life.
Kent (05:44)
life. We go deep into stress response, we go deep into decision making. People leave equipped to know which foot to put forward in
Kent (05:55)
all facets of their life. And this week is the final week where we're talking about the final of the four pairings, judging and perceiving. And these names are just ridiculous.
Kent (06:09)
If you're labeled a J, you have a preference for decisiveness and closure. And if you're labeled a P, you have a preference for flexibility and spontaneity. So again, with facets, you are either a P or a J, but facets expose where within your J-dom you might be a P, and where within your P-dom you might be a J. So
Kent (06:34)
facet scales we're talking about are you know are you more casual or systematic? Are you more spontaneous or are you more scheduled? Are you more pressure prompted or are you more early starting? So let's let's dive into this final pairing.
Caanan (06:58)
Thanks for listening. We'd be honored if you'd subscribe, like, and share. It means the world to us.
Kent (07:05)
Okay, so
Kent (07:06)
J's prefer decisiveness and closure, putting it basically, and P's prefer flexibility and spontaneity. And I will tell you, Caanan I think of how our tune changes all the time. Like, don't pay attention to any of our this is my favorite or whatever. Cause we like I end up saying that all the time. They're they're truly like these little golden nuggets in each of our lives in our life.
Kent (07:31)
And I just have such amazing world opening aha's attached to all of them. But there's something about this pairing and what happened within me, and I know it happened within you. When I learned the specifics of this pairing that was so validating, like a warm hug.
Kent (07:55)
Yeah.
Kent (07:56)
Because I'm a J, I definitely prefer decisiveness and closure. But it always, before I went on this personality journey myself, used to drive me insane in the way that these things in talk about personality can drive our clients insane because there's all these things in them.
Kent (08:17)
That they don't understand and things they're told by loved ones, but I thought you were this. why do I feel this way? This is where I had most of that kind of experience
Kent (08:29)
Because part of me is so give a whatever, so casual, so this is where my head is now. I want to do this. So seeing the results for me and doing my own analysis, doing the work we do with others on myself and having Caanan walk me through this.
Kent (08:49)
For instance, the systematic-casual scale facet, dead center. I love that. That validates the part of me that is so casual. For instance, we've talked about on this podcast before how when we travel, we both like to have a a a loose plan, a plan, definitely a plan. But in terms of boots on the ground, we are very, I think extraordinarily,
Kent (09:15)
Casual in I don't want to do that anymore. Now I just want to walk that direction and see what happens. This
Kent (09:23)
Learning about the facets under the J/P pairing blew open my world in the best way and that it was so validating to see this is who I am. And now I can get out of my brain. Thinking about this, like, you know, in my younger years, like I'm not I'm not easygoing enough. Like I'm not I want to be more I I'm casual, but
Kent (09:45)
I'm not as casual as other people, or or you know, this kind of we these weird things that we all experience, they get you in your head. This knowledge got me out of my head. And it was like, yep, looking at the five facets attached to the J/P pairing. Boom. This is who I am. I'm a J, but I'm not entirely a J at all. I know, Caanan, you want to talk about a client.
Caanan (10:11)
Yeah, I have to say though that I think the J/P is one of our true magic elements of our life together.
Kent (10:20)
Yeah.
Caanan (10:21)
So much of our life, as we've talked about before, is enabled by our J qualities. Because we do have some elements of our life that are quite rigid and structured and definitely cared for and we don't futz.
Caanan (10:39)
But we also have this side – because we have so much locked in – that is so go with the flow. And I know for you, Kent, that there are times where people can easily perceive you as one or the other quite confoundingly, and it is so satisfying to see on paper and hear it from somebody. No, you are both. You have a preference this way.
Caanan (11:04)
But you can play around as you see fit, and that's so satisfying. It's interesting because the client I brought up, and I'm just looking at some notes for them, also has this quality, this ambidextriousness in their J/P. So this client is a P. and I think
Caanan (11:27)
Having worked with this client, they are clearly a P. Yeah. There are elements of our interactions that are very casual and open-ended and
Kent (11:38)
Yeah.
Caanan (11:39)
but this client also tests right down the line, mid-zone, I should say, in many ways. So this client is a P who's casual and the like, but in some settings –
Caanan (11:54)
And this is something that was confounding to them going into the project – they can show up very J-like. They can flip
Kent (12:03)
Yeah.
Caanan (12:04)
into J-like. And for this client, what that looks like is, and it sounds a little like code switching, and I guess it technically is, they go to work and they pull out the J because they have to. Because we all kind of have to.
Kent (12:20)
It's how they're successful at the job. You know, Kenan, this makes so much sense to people of things we've talked about if you've been a listener through a variety of of episodes.
Kent (12:30)
The ability to positively compartmentalize and to know who you are and to know that, wow, I've got a strength in this area and that serves me in work because I need to keep my job and make money and whatever. But that does not define this whole element of my personality. In fact, this element of my personality lies on the opposite side of the scale. But now that I know this is a facet of my personality that aligns with work. Yeah.
Kent (13:00)
I am empowered to use that even more deeply.
Caanan (13:04)
Yeah. So this person is showing up at work like a J in the ways that they have to. And doing so quite easily because this is a natural strength of theirs to sort of code switch. But then when they get home and they're comfortable and they don't have to be a J, they don't have to show up with their J qualities, they're a P and
Caanan (13:26)
We know because this client working with us, that was not a work relationship. That was this client's personal project with us. Yeah. That in many ways we could see their P-ness very clearly in the way we worked with them.
Kent (13:41)
J-part
Kent (13:42)
surprised both of us. This is a recent client and yes, somebody who came to us on the personal side, not via their professional role. So for us it was like, this is very interesting. Of course they've got facets, everybody does. We love they're yummy. Caanan hates when I use the word yummy. So sometimes I apply the word yummy to things other than food. Yeah, so we'll stop and he'll be like
Kent (14:09)
Never say the word yummy again while we're recording a podcast. So because this is the fourth episode in this four back, I had to say yummy. Like, yeah, of course this client has some J-ness. And yeah, we don't see it in this client because they came to us in a very personal, more casual way. Yeah. And it was eye-opening for them, eye-opening for us. now we know more about how to interact with this
Kent (14:37)
client. And I think what's interesting for our clients is then, you know, we tell clients people have to learn things about you. We just learned this about you. Yeah. This makes total sense, client. Then they know and we tell them via our process, you've got to teach people that this is a facet of you. This is a strength you have or this is a side that you contain that might be surprising to
Kent (15:03)
A certain audience, but you have you have the right, you have the agency to let people know who you are. They don't get to make assumptions or recognize something as a flaw or a you're confusing because you're usually this way. Well, yeah, it is a little confusing, but these are simply facets of my personality. Yep.
Kent (15:30)
So as always, remember that
Kent (15:32)
your behavior on a facet does not determine your entire personality. That's the beauty here. You're one in a million. I wrote down, making lists does not make you a J. Waiting till the last minute does not make you a P. The goal is to understand the pattern across you as a whole person. So yeah, you're gonna fall somewhere as a whole person. You want that. You want to fall somewhere, but within that
Kent (15:58)
You've got lots of little J things and some P things and it's the way they interact that's really beautiful and really uniquely you.
Caanan (16:05)
and as we were talking about with this client, and actually we referenced this back when we talked about the J/P pairing in one of our earlier series. This is where you see the biggest split between the work self and the home self. Yeah. and so a lot of people will show up with J qualities at work and P qualities at home or in their personal life.
Kent (16:31)
Or the opposite. Their work is so casual and unstructured in the way they are required to do their work that at home they're very J faceted. Yeah.
Caanan (16:45)
Yeah.
Caanan (16:45)
The other thing I want to point out here with the J/P – a common misperception – is that needing a deadline to focus (I'm telling myself this) doesn't mean you're disorganized. Right? Just because you're not the kind of person, you're not maybe a J who
Caanan (17:06)
loves to start things early and get things done way ahead of time because that's just who you is, it's okay to need a deadline to get something done. Right? So there's nothing wrong with that.
Caanan (17:20)
And it also doesn't mean if you're a P and you like to be spontaneous, yeah, that doesn't automatically mean you're disorganized and flighty, as sometimes peas can be perceived as. But you do have to bring in many ways, because life is structured, you do have to do a little code switching to bring some J qualities in to get things done.
Kent (17:47)
Yeah, let me just say as we start to move big picture, 'cause we're wrapping up this four pack, I can't believe it's been a month,
Kent (17:56)
Don't get frustrated with how people manage themselves. Don't get frustrated with how you manage yourself. You are a person, a complex person, with all these different facets. So own who you are, own your core personality type. but allow yourself to grow into and embrace the knowledge of knowing all your facets and allow that for other people.
Kent (18:18)
We've said before, and I'm gonna say it in closing this series, that
Kent (18:25)
most things, and we've got two decades of experience with this. Most things are not personal at all. They're personality. And I said in a previous episode, like so many of the things that corporations wanted us to help them solve, and people want our help with can just be boiled down to knowledge of personality. There's no problem. What you perceived as a problem
Kent (18:50)
Is really just that person's personality. So it's respecting that this personality is approaching life and specifically approaching a particular arena that gave you a dust up in a very specific personality aligned way. Rarely is something an intentional, personal, real thing. So know
Kent (19:18)
That you can and should own all the facets of you and you should try your hardest to do the same in understanding that those around you, friends, loved ones, coworkers, are just this unique one in over a million combination of different facets that makes them
Kent (19:40)
Perform life in ways that are both completely understandable to you and completely baffling to you. And it's about them, not about you.
Kent (19:56)
so in a in a in a past
Kent (19:58)
series, a
Kent (19:59)
past four pack, I can't even remember which one. We talked about the was it the last? Okay,
Caanan (20:07)
It was the last.
Kent (20:08)
we talked about dominant, which is your biggest personality strength, auxiliary, which falls after that, tertiary, and your your grip or your inferior. Yeah. And somebody emailed saying I'm trying to understand the difference between over relying on my dominant function
Kent (20:27)
And falling into the grip, which is their least successful function, their inferior function. this person goes on to say they both sound like they can be stressful, but how can I tell which one I'm experiencing so that I know what I'm dealing with?
Caanan (20:43)
Yeah, so they are both stressful, but they are responses to stress. Okay.
Kent (20:51)
And I wasn't quite sure what this person was asking, but now I think I get they're asking like I because we talked about how you can you can be so in your dominant that that becomes stressful, or you can also fall into your grip, you get pulled into your inferior when you're stressed.
Caanan (21:11)
Yes. I think I'm not a hundred percent sure, but I'll just say for clarity, yeah, that over relying on your dominant function and being fully in your inferior function, also called being in the grip, yeah, are both responses to stress. Yes. And typically one overrelies on their dominant function when they're mildly stressed, because you can be quite effective.
Caanan (21:39)
in your dominant function, it is your most mature function.
Kent (21:43)
Yeah.
Caanan (21:44)
And falling into the grip is when people get really stressed. Yeah and kinda whacked out because this is this becomes a a bit of an alternate personality for you and is pretty ineffective.
Kent (21:58)
I think I figured out our conundrum. I don't think this person who wrote actually knows the depth of their personality. Yeah. Because if you know your personality right, then you know, ooh, okay, I'm working in my inferior, my grip. Yep.
Caanan (22:16)
That's where I was going. Yeah.
Kent (22:18)
Preach, keep going.
Caanan (22:19)
The answer to this is you have to know your personality type. So if you don't, that's where you start. Yeah. And then then you actually won't have this question because these things over relying on your dominant function, falling into the grip, they'll make sense to you. You will know the difference without any hesitation.