Myers- Briggs

We have had the "Do What You Are Book" by Paul Tieger and Barbara Barron-Teiger and have tried to use it as an oracle of sorts. Jesse and I have always had this family thing down. But making money has been a constant struggle.

As a sales executive, I meet people everyday that run small business and they have always had a talent or like of a specific trade or service. Such as the mechanic I met down the street that has been working on cars since he was 16, or the restaurant owner that practically grew up in a restaurant. The closest thing that Jesse or I have to something like this is the bakery. Jesse has worked there since he was 16 and most of the work was full time and managing. The thing is there is no where to go there. The bakery owner isn't interested in selling and managing some of the people isn't enough to satisfy Jesse.

Sales is an extremely hard job for me. I am such an emotional person that it is tough building up a thick skin to all of the rejection. But it has been good because when I first started selling, one rejection would push me over the edge into a crying depression. Now it only takes about 40 :) Also, I find the lack of relationship or trust, very unmotivating. Now, I am in a new industry and it will take time to build a trusting relationship with a business owner. But I am not making any sales so I don't know if I have the time. And third, I really miss working with a team of people. Working out of the house definitely has advantages. I can call customers in my pajamas, I can work when convenient to my schedule and I don't sit in traffic for hours. But I really miss hanging out with the others in the office, talking about our experiences and pumping each other up. One thing I really liked about my last job in sales support was learning about each account manager's sales ability and style, and working with them to find ways to help them reach their goals.

This leads me to my next discovery that I am an ISFJ according to the Myers-Briggs test.
ISFJs have two basic traits which help define their best career direction: 1) they are extremely interested and in-tune with how other people are feeling, and 2) they enjoy creating structure and order, and are extremely good at it. Ideally, the ISFJ will choose a career in which they can use their exceptional people-observation skills to determine what people want or need, and then use their excellent organizational abilities to create a structured plan or environment for achieving what people want. Their excellent sense of space and function combined with their awareness of aesthetic quality also gives them quite special abilities in the more practical artistic endeavors, such as interior decorating and clothes design.

The thing is, I was trying to change myself for this job, instead of using my abilities. I figured that since I wasn't making sales, my style was failing. And while that may be true, I really haven't explored what my style is. Reading about ISFJ has helped me clarify what it was exactly that I liked about the jobs I have had and what I don't like about the one I am in currently.