Now, we can combine all your letters to find your full cognitive specialty: ESTJ! By combining the four Scopes—EJ, EP, IJ, and IP—with the four Objectives—ST, SF, NT, and NF—we derive the sixteen different facets of cognition, each with its own unique strengths and specializations, which all the other types depend on. And each comes with its own particular weaknesses as well, needing the support of other types who are strong in those areas. Only with all sixteen types combined can we enjoy and benefit from the entire spectrum of zoomed in and zoomed out perspectives, collective and individual focuses, usefulness and meaning, things as they are and things as they can yet become. A deeper understanding of each type leads to better use and appreciation for all types of cognition.
As an ESTJ, your entire cognition revolves around your unique combination of these cognitive variables: the EJ Scope focusing on decisive, deliberate action, and the ST Objective seeking the use of things as they already are. This unique combination prompts every thought, motivates every action, counsels every judgment and inspires every worldview. It sums up the end goal of everything you pursue, the result of the things that matter the most to you in your most private heart.
Every time you’re faced with any decision, any thought or feeling, any experience or person or anything, your mind naturally races through four cognitive steps. The order of these cognitive steps depends on your unique Scope and Objective, as you subconsciously focus first on the things that matter the most to you. You’re probably so used to thinking in your own order, all the time, that it may seem like the only natural way to think. This makes it all the more amazing that people of differing cognition approach the same world so differently, each offering something unique and powerful to share.
As an ESTJ, your first cognition step is to go forward and take Action, because that’s what matters most to you! You look outward to see what Actions would be of the most beneficial use (Te, or extraverted Thinking), and you take Action and form opinions accordingly.
Secondly, you turn inward to review the results of your Actions and opinions by replaying scenarios and possible alternative choices in your mind (Si, or introverted Sensing). From these mental scenarios, you arrive at an understanding of overarching Principles of how the world works.
Thirdly, you take these Principles into account as you Observe people around you. You look outward to discern conceptual connections in all the intricate tapestry of people’s motives and desires, in order to make judgments of their character (Ne, or extraverted iNtuition).
Fourthly and finally, you use what you’ve Observed in order to draw conclusions about the details of the situation. You consider the Data of everything you’ve seen, and draw conclusions based on the meaning and intrinsic preciousness of the situation (Fi, or introverted Feeling).
And then the cycle starts over: The conclusions you draw lead you to take new, useful Actions and form evolving opinions via Te (extraverted Thinking), your fourth step feeding back into your first, over and over. You may go through this entire cycle of cognition many times in a single second without even noticing.
Data and the resulting conclusions are your fourth and final cognition step because they’re what you focus on the least. This makes Data the weakest of your cognitive steps. As you stride forward taking deliberate action, it can be easy to rush past important details that would entirely change your opinions and conclusions about a situation. And even when you do notice details, it can be hard to keep all their implications straight as you go forward forming new opinions. This is nothing to be embarrassed about. Every type has a weakness, just as every type has a strength that may appear almost superhuman to other types.
Healthy EJs can naturally accomplish long lists of tasks with precision while other types would be struggling to even get started. Healthy IPs, on the flip side, delve deep into probing questions that others might never even think to ask. IJs provide complex and comprehensive answers to even the most baffling of those questions, while EPs see right to the core of people with speed and surety that might seem reckless to others. All the types need each other; this is why we call them the Type Heroes! Each approaches the same world from such a different angle, and each supports, guides, and teaches every other. By seeking out and learning from other types, especially types that think very differently from you, you can grow stronger in all your cognition steps.
And usually the best way to grow more reliable and strong in all your cognitive steps is to focus on your first step. This is the step that your mind naturally prioritizes first anyway; it’s what you care about the most, even when you might feel like you shouldn’t. As you focus on paying attention to your first step, you’ll find that all your other cognitive steps grow sharper and stronger as a result, almost automatically. When it comes to cognition, play to your strengths and your weaknesses will grow to keep up.
It’s when people focus too much on trying to improve their fourth step directly that they tend to become defensive, depressed, and discouraged about it, often neglecting their strengths and falling into denial that they even have a weakness. Some such people try to cover their weakness by inadvertently posing as a different cognitive type, in order to act like others who don’t share their weak area. Yet this usually results in only a parody of the type they’re trying to become, attempting to gain the strengths of another type without first mastering their own. You can develop all the strengths of all the types, but you cannot do it by trying to fight or suppress what you naturally want most. Let your first cognitive step be your focus, let yourself be you, and then you’ll be free to grow to become everything you want to become.
Focus on your strength of taking deliberate action; as you do, your weakness in drawing correct conclusions from details will grow stronger of its own accord. And remember, if you draw a wrong conclusion, you can learn from it! Let your opinions be tentative and your actions flexible, and you’ll have less damage control to worry about. Beware of getting down on yourself about details; enjoy striding confidently forward toward your goals, and then you’ll learn how to bring greater efficiency, dependability, and thoroughness to everything you do, for everyone you care about.
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