How do you use your Intuition?

It is very difficult to explain because it is so complicated. If you want a little overview of it, go under "Personal INFJ videos" and watch my video about Ni. After making that video though I notice that there is quite a bit that I have left out or could have went into more detail with.

Ni is like having a "just know" type of feeling or an "That's it!" moment. You're taking observations based on the current moment and looking ahead as to how the present can influence the future. For instance, you meet a new person and right away you "just know" that you will be friends with them in the future, but you notice that you will have conflicts seeing eye to eye with organization and planning. Its as if you're taking the present observations and look at what the outcome will be and you know all the conflicts and challenges that will come along the way.

For instance, before I dated my last ex-boyfriend one of the reasons I dated him was because I knew that if we broke up, we would be civil friends afterward. For a few months after the breakup, I was puzzled into thinking how I could have been wrong about this, but 10 months after the breakup we are now fine and civil.

Perhaps a good exercise to enhance your Ni and be more aware of what it is telling you is to take in a current situation and, without bias, ask yourself what you honestly think will happen.

Now, on the flip side Ne is totally different. ENTPs and ENFPs primarily use this function and it involves brainstorming to create endless ideas. It's more like trying to piece a puzzle together. I know I still have a fairly well developed Ne that I'll whip out when my Ni isn't giving me a straight-line outcome.

Ne: It's like walking into a room with various different toys you could grab.
Ni: It's like walking into a hallway and you see that one toy way down the hall and you can see everything you need to pass before you can get there.


Ne allows you to look at a situation from various different angles so those with Ne always seem to be realigning their way of thinking and viewing. Ni appears more "stubborn" in a way because you just see that ONE outcome and people don't always like to believe you and might just think you're being close-minded on your view at times. Though I find it funny when, even after someone making such a comment, my intuition is still eventually proven right. That's when I won't say anything, but I'll be quietly chuckling to myself in the corner thinking "I told you so..."

How do you use your iNtuition, how does it play out?
I love learning and questioning how things work. When I was a child I was very curious about everything, especially about nature and people, not so much things like cars and computers. When I was in school I loved all of the subjects that taught me new concepts, but I disliked ones that also had be memorize a lot of details (hated history and biology wasn't a favorite as well). I couldn't see much use in art classes and self-expression wasn't really important to me. In college I had trouble picking major, in fact big trouble to the point that I had an existential crisis and went on antidepressants for a while. I took a wide variety of classes and worked several jobs, usually holding two jobs in summer and one job over the year. All this did was made me even more uncertain about specializing. I just wanted to learn a lot about different subjects and once I picked a major I have attempted sitting though classes for other majors just to make sure I am not missing out on anything.

Is it a Blessing or a curse?
Can be both. If I overuse Ni too much then I start getting lazy. Who cares about doing laundry when you can be reading about something interesting? Sometimes it can get out of hand. Socially it can present some problems making you too introverted and not going out enough. Also if you start reading people all too well they can become more guarded around you and even start to resent you for it. Sometimes I am also scared that I will spend my life learning and won't do as much, won't make any significant contributions. However this sort of fear is also really good for propelling oneself to choose a career and become a specialist as much as our Ni might spread us too thin and make INFJs neglect career development.

Do you feel like you'd like to turn it down a bit sometimes?
Sometimes yes, when I have to do sensor type stuff and it just seems so excruciatingly boring. Or when I am with sensors and I just want to be more in tune with them, but can't. More often I would like to extravert my intuition. Extraverted intuition lets one create new stuff our of stuff already learned, and I always experience a lot of mental high when this happens. Plus trying to extravert my intuition more I have noticed makes me more optimistic and energetic overall.

does it make you a bit more close-minded than you think you are
No I think it has always made me more open minded. Introverted intuition makes one want to see any object, person, or topic from multiple points of view. And the love of learning that INFJs sometimes experience is actually manifestation of wanting to learn about more different points of view. This actually makes one be more open minded.

How do you use your iNtuition, how does it play out?
In layman terms, my brain works much like a 'calculator'. The only difference being that I calculate thought as opposed to numbers. It works in this process:
1. Intuition feeds me information
2. I use said information to perceive situational outcomes
3. I use my judgment to determine risk involved
4. I decide on a path and construct a plan of action
5. Follow through with plan, adapt as necessary

But to be honest, I'm pretty sure this is synonymous with "common sense"

Is it a Blessing or a curse?
It was a curse only until I began to understand myself

Do you feel like you'd like to turn it down a bit sometimes?
Only when it delivers an irrational course of action (I.E. fluctuating mood swings)

Does it make you a bit more close-minded than you think you are?
I am learning to be more open-minded to the insights and opinions of other individuals. However, right now I am only interested in the NFs and the NTs.

Even though I may be more on the intuitive side of my personality, I don't think I use my intuition very well. But I have come across strong moments of intuition that has helped me help my family members during crisis moments and I was able to reach them in time. As if some kind of intuition kicked in and said, "Get to them right now!"

Oddly, I don't know if it is really a blessing or a curse because I have had very scary intuitive happenings that aren't easy to explain. With the right help, and guidance, I think intuition can be a very good thing that can help others as well as one's self.

I don't know about the turning down because I haven't turned it up.

vel said:

Is it a Blessing or a curse?
Can be both. If I overuse Ni too much then I start getting lazy. Who cares about doing laundry when you can be reading about something interesting? Sometimes it can get out of hand. Socially it can present some problems making you too introverted and not going out enough. Also if you start reading people all too well they can become more guarded around you and even start to resent you for it. Sometimes I am also scared that I will spend my life learning and won't do as much, won't make any significant contributions. However this sort of fear is also really good for propelling oneself to choose a career and become a specialist as much as our Ni might spread us too thin and make INFJs neglect career development.

does it make you a bit more close-minded than you think you are
No I think it has always made me more open minded. Introverted intuition makes one want to see any object, person, or topic from multiple points of view. And the love of learning that INFJs sometimes experience is actually manifestation of wanting to learn about more different points of view. This actually makes one be more open minded.

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I feel the same way about just learning and learning and not doing anything with it.

The thing with the close-mindedness , is that i find, while i am open to learn about different points of views, when i encounter someone who doesn't seem interested in reciprocating, I shut down to an extent and while I'm really open minded, I'm closed at that point.

I tend to see patterns and meaning. My intuition comes into play in figuring out if I've seen this pattern before or not. Then I can make a judgment/decision on the outcome of an action I could take. If it's something I've never come across I'm able to reevaluate my system and will be more able to manage whatever situation it is in the future.
Is it a curse/blessing? It can be both. When I was younger it was more of a curse. I didn't fully understand how I worked. I think too much sometimes which makes it difficult for me to see things at face value. I think it makes me more open than close-minded. I'm pretty understanding and I enjoy learning new things/paths/patterns.

I am sure I failed to trust my intuition last night when i went to buy food from a shop. The look of the food even told me but i dismissed it cause i'd been there several times. So i bought this food and ate it.

Now, I've been sick for the past 18hrs. Its not funny.
I allowed hunger and a bit of judgement to overrule my intuition. A simple thing but large consequences as i lie in bed in lots of pain
A blessing I ignored.

I have to lean heavily on Ni & Ti as far as my day to day life goes because my job is in information technology. But I feel like Ni is so deeply involved in almost everything that I do. It feels like a friend. And I agree that if you really get lost in Ni you can wind up whiling away the hours - doing things like, Oh say; posting a lot of lengthy posts to Personality Cafe ;-)

People may scoff but I have even experienced Ni in a way that borders on paranormal.*

Once in 2001 I was at work one day and out of the blue I was hit by this feeling of dread. I was thinking about a friend I had not seen in 13 years when suddenly I was overcome with the idea that this person was in trouble. I tried to find them by looking online that night but no joy. So I actually paid $200 to a people finder service. They located this person's mother.

My friend in question indeed was in serious trouble, and frankly still is. But it had come to a head with an incident with the mother right at the time I had this visualization. When my friend's mom realized why I had called she was deeply moved. I drove 5 hours to go to the town where she lived to check on her. I visited for a couple of days staying nearby with a business associate of mine. We shared stories and pictures and I did some practical things for her on her property. Since that day I have been friends with the mom and vigilant in prayer with her that my friend may someday find a better life. But that premonition, that vision I had was so real, and so bloody accurate. I still can't get over it. Not the sort of thing that happens everyday. Sometimes you can just see an entire situation unfolding in your intuition. Sometimes, you wish it wasn't the way you saw it.


(* I don't believe in the paranormal. Everything that happens occurs for natural reasons. But those reasons may be supervenient to the ordinary.)

Runescribe said:

And I agree that if you really get lost in Ni you can wind up whiling away the hours - doing things like, Oh say; posting a lot of lengthy posts to Personality Cafe ;-)

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Guilty.

Once in 2001 I was at work one day and out of the blue I was hit by this feeling of dread. I was thinking about a friend I had not seen in 13 years when suddenly I was overcome with the idea that this person was in trouble. I tried to find them by looking online that night but no joy. So I actually paid $200 to a people finder service. They located this person's mother.

My friend in question indeed was in serious trouble, and frankly still is. But it had come to a head with an incident with the mother right at the time I had this visualization. When my friend's mom realized why I had called she was deeply moved. I drove 5 hours to go to the town where she lived to check on her. I visited for a couple of days staying nearby with a business associate of mine. We shared stories and pictures and I did some practical things for her on her property. Since that day I have been friends with the mom and vigilant in prayer with her that my friend may someday find a better life. But that premonition, that vision I had was so real, and so bloody accurate. I still can't get over it. Not the sort of thing that happens everyday. Sometimes you can just see an entire situation unfolding in your intuition. Sometimes, you wish it wasn't the way you saw it.


(* I don't believe in the paranormal. Everything that happens occurs for natural reasons. But those reasons may be supervenient to the ordinary.)
Today 05:50 PM

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Amazing though.
I wonder if having constant deja vu feelings have anything to do with Intuition

Typically my intuition comes into play at any given moment. Someone may suggest anything, and I can easily see what may occur and it plays out that way. It's really just getting that feeling, and knowing. However, it can be both a blessing and curse. A blessing in the way that it's saved me from being in car accident, and keeping away from certain people I need to keep away without even knowing them. However, it can be a curse in my situation because I can get a vibe from someone that isn't good, yet that vibe could be something out of their control (like a problem with their family), and I'll mistake it as something worse.

Because of the vibes I get from certain people and if I don't like it, I stay away from them and then I can be questioned by others on why...and I hate explaining it to people. That's another aspect that can be a curse in some ways, but I wouldn't want to turn it down, I count on it.

I've always wondered if deja vu has to do with it too; I get it a lot sometimes...especially with certain places.

StarryNight said:

However, it can be a curse in my situation because I can get a vibe from someone that isn't good, yet that vibe could be something out of their control (like a problem with their family), and I'll mistake it as something worse.
Because of the vibes I get from certain people and if I don't like it, I stay away from them and then I can be questioned by others on why...and I hate explaining it to people. That's another aspect that can be a curse in some ways, but I wouldn't want to turn it down, I count on it.

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This was exactly what i had in mind when I talked about being 'close-minded'
I begin to withdraw from particular persons when i get the 'vibe' but i could misJudge the situation like you explained but lots of times with guys..its been pretty accurate.

Gaminegirlie said:

This was exactly what i had in mind when I talked about being 'close-mind'
I begin to withdraw from particular persons when i get the 'vibe' but i could misJudge the situation like you explained but lots of times with guys..its been pretty accurate.

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I get it with guys all the time, and just recently too! In that case, to me anyway, it's been a blessing!