A new year a new approach to personality typing is a post for those who desire to know their true selves, and believe that travel can be the ideal classroom to explore the deeper spiritual aspects of yourself.
I think travel can be the best classroom to explore the larger part of yourself, the nonphysical aspects of you– your true self. And why not use a vacation to get your self-discovery journey started? You don’t need to travel far. You can begin exploring in your own backyard!
If you’re an individual who seeks transformational vacations and wants more than just a trinket. Keep on reading and have a journal handy.
Over the last ten years, I’ve been working on this new approach to spiritual personality typing™️ which is all about finding one’s true self. It’s the premise of my debut book; Unpack Your Personality: Let Your Inner Guide Be Your Travel Guide. It’s a field guide with applications for each of the 16 personality types to help you embrace a path of self-understanding. It speaks to the spark of Divinity that larger part of yourself, that is within us all, to help us live intentionally, inspired, and authentically.
We should come home from adventures, and perils, and discoveries every day with new experience and character. Henry David Thoreau, Eassayiest, Poet and Philosopher
What do I mean by this?
Thoreau a transcendentalist, is best known for his reflection and contemplation on simple living in natural surroundings. Why can’t we become travel transcendentalists? Aren’t the simplest things on vacation some of the most memorable? They enable us to take a pause and remember we are so much more than the small world we’ve created for ourselves.
I believe the time has come for less reliance on the material world and more reliance on the bounty of Mother Nature, which is a reflection of our spiritual beingness, the more expansive side of our human nature, our true selves.
Please realize that this new thinking is not about changing you. It’s about embracing all of you, your personality, and your spiritual SELF in totality. My idea of personal growth is about acceptance not changing who you are. The duality of you, the female/male aspects, your introvert/extrovert attitudes, right and left brain; it’s all one utterly gorgeous YOU!
Have you ever met a person in touch with their true self? They have a contagious joie de vivre. Lost luggage, mix-ups, delays, or whatever life throws at them doesn’t bother them. They enter each situation fully knowing that life is showing up with a love lesson.
Physical and Nonphysical: A New Approach to Personality Typing in 2024
A year-long spiritual retreat in the mountains of North Carolina is where I had an ah-ha moment. I studied various spiritual modalities; personality typing, meditation, breath work, Kundalini yoga, clean eating, and more. When we started discussing personality types, I was wondering why personality typing seemed to focus heavily on one’s career – where’s the soul in that?
Divine thoughts entered my consciousness. Why aren’t we utilizing the extraordinary works of Carl Jung and Myers-Briggs®? Jung tapped into nonphysical ideas, tarot, astrology, and outer-worldly aspects that bring truth to oneself. He didn’t focus solely on careers. I happen to agree.
Unpack Your Personality™️ centers on new ways to engage with your personality, your personal reality. We live in a hectic, fast-paced world, connected yet disconnected. Or, if you’re like me, you have, or you’re experiencing a life tsunami, divorce, death, financial issues, job loss, health issues.
We are born at a given moment, in a given place and, like vintage years of wine, we have the qualities of the year and of the season in which we are born. Astrology does not lay claim to anything more. Carl Jung, a Swiss psychiatrist and founder of analytical psychology
Recognizing Another’s Personality Traits
Today I embrace personality typing beyond the work environment where many of us have been conditioned to wear social masks with pride. Can you relate? Do you have a deeper understanding of life beyond work? Our lives are more than our careers, and I think you already know we live in many different worlds, including romantic, family, friends, and community life. We put on various social masks; mother, wife, lover, caregiver, sister, to meet worldly expectations.
Ask yourself, whose expectations are you living up to, yours or someone else’s?
So how do we get beyond our put-upon social masks? I believe it starts with exploring our personality type, accepting type differences, and using spiritual practices to support personal growth. When we do this, we get closer to our true selves, which allows us to shed social masking.
How Differing Personality Types Show Up
I love the SpongeBob episode, Opposite Day. It’s a beautiful example of how different personality types show up in the world. Many of us are attracted to people with opposite personality functions. We think this person is so cool. What typically happens is this person shows you the opposite side of the spectrum of your dominant personality’s cognitive function. The most influential trait, and in terms of typology. From a spiritual perspective, I think of this function as your North Star.
Of course, the opposite cognition is attractive, unexpected, exciting, and curious. And at first, you only see the upside. Yet again, the allure of this trait can fad quickly when you must deal with it on the daily, especially if it’s not in line with your values and beliefs.
Where I’m Headed with This New Approach to Personality Typing in the New Year and Beyond
I’ve been in the travel industry for two decades, plus. Part of my job as a marketing communications professional is to ask a lot of questions. Why did you pick this resort, destination, attraction, or accommodation? Will you book a group tour, or are you more likely to enjoy independent activities?
What Happened?
Travelers shared personal stories. They’d talk about their families and vacations, and then little, by little, they’d begin to unravel their underlying unhappiness. They would complain about returning to the same resort year after year. Speak about their frustrations with a partner who’s too busy to listen to what they are saying. Or complain about ungrateful kids who didn’t appreciate the time and energy it takes to plan a globe-trotting holiday.
In essence, travelers shared frustrations that reflected something within themselves that needed examination. They’d mirror their disappointments, anger, anxiety, and stress outwardly, blaming a spouse, a child, in-laws, or whomever. Many of us are now learning that personal growth is an inside job. Blaming and complaining don’t get you there!
I kept asking questions, and hundreds of travelers echoed similar comments. It made me sad to think that so many travelers looked happy and yet were very unhappy. But they kept smiling behind their social masks, putting on a pleasant front. I assume, like me, you will be faced with a choice one day to face what you fear. The question becomes, will I stay in my comfort zone, or will I take on responsibility, walk through the fog, and face the fear in my life? Or will I remain OK with what is?
Here’s what I now know; knowing your true self is your purpose in life. Can you see why I’m so passionate about launching a revolutionary new approach to personality typing?
You Can’t Achieve Enlightenment on a Deadline. Nina Zapala, Founder of Spiritual Personality Typing™️
A Pioneering New Approach to Personality Typing is Needed Now.
Here’s why I think a pioneering approach to personality typing is needed now. Will most of you agree that you’re more open-minded when traveling? Would it be accurate to say that when you plan a vacation, you are not intentional? It’s typically an escape from daily life. But what if you set out to discover something about yourself? So when you return home you’re excited about incorporating what you’ve discovered.
Speaking with travelers from around the globe, I believe intention setting is the path to transformative travel. It’s why I love the idea of using travel as a classroom to discover aspects of your true self.
My hope for you is to become more self-aware, awakened, and a more evolved human being. I’m not a big believer in relying on someone else’s opinions about what you need to do to evolve. It’s an inside job, and an experience between you and your spirit mind, your higher consciousness.
I think enlightenment comes from real-world experiences and adversities. The kind of experiences that happen when you travel to an unknown place, unsure of yourself and what you’ll face?
It’s the unknowing of it all. How will you react? Will you rely on your unshakable YOU? It’s in these situations that micro-moments of change arise. My idea is to show you how to dedicate a part of your vacation, pre-, post, and during, for personal growth.
A New Approach to Typing: Say Hello to Your Inner Travel Guide
What if I told you that your inner travel guide, aka your higher self, can help you discover your healthy and unhealthy traits? These traits are always with you and get packed along with your sunnies and sunscreen. :).
It’s about tuning in and learning to recognize personal characteristics—things like your attitude, decision-making style, and how you show up in the world. Your inner travel guide also reveals untruths you believe are real.
The Why Behind Spiritual Personality Iceberg
Carl Jung, Myers-Briggs,® David Keirsey, and others teach that everyone on the planet exhibits essential personality functions. I find this to be true. The personality paradigm I’m introducing here answers WHY and unveils how spiritual personality typing is based on the theory that we are spiritual beings having a human experience. This belief radically shifts your thoughts about personality typing. I now believe our soul chooses our personality to ensure it’s ideally suited for this life’s evolutionary journey.
A Closer Look At This Practical Pioneering Personality Paradigm
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The primary function is noted as your dominant function in the world of traditional typology; meaning it rules your persona in the fact that it can influence all of your personality traits. From a spiritual perspective, I see this function as your North Star. It’s the guiding light in your light. Know it. Understand it. And Follow it.
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Your secondary function is known as auxiliary cognition. It is second in order, highly supportive, balances, and keeps your dominant trait in check. From a spiritual, look-see I see this trait as harmonious. When it is aligned, healthy, and in balance with your North Star, it brings about positive mental health, clarity, and a peaceful knowingness. Know it. Learn it. Embrace it!
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The tertiary trait is third in your functional stack and is often unconscious until your read maturity or mid-life. I believe it to be one of, if not thee, most impactful of traits as it has the power to expand the perceptions of your harmonious, secondary function, which we now know impacts your dominant or North Star cognition. It’s why I’ve termed it the “emerging” trait as it gracefully enters your life in a season of change. Ahh, Divine timing at play.
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Your inferior trait is fourth in your functional stack and the least used. It can wreak havoc in your life if it remains unconscious. It’s important to study this trait and understand why and how it rivals your North Star. There are many life lessons to be learned from it. I see it as a paradoxical cognitive ability. See the challenges it brings as opportunities for personal growth.
And into the forest I go to lose my mind and find my soul.” –John Muir
Do You Believe Personality Traits Can Affect Your Your and Your Vacation?
Knowing just this teeny-tiny bit about yourself, do you believe these personality functions could affect you, and your vacation outcomes? Think about what they can do for you in your daily life. And I’d like to point out we’ve not even discussed ego conditioning, things like childhood, personal life tsunamis, societal expectations, and country cultures.
Many of these unconscious behaviors remain and don’t get addressed until you hit a bump in the road. Your life gets disrupted by a divorce, loss of work, or some other loss. Or you wander into midlife. This is when the questioning begins.
Please don’t judge yourself or anyone else for wearing social masks. We all do. Some masks are tattered and torn, while others are held firmly in place. Nonetheless, can you see how travel malaise can be an issue when we don’t know who we are? It makes the saying, I need a vacation from my vacation, easier to understand
When you are not present with yourself, it causes an underlying anxiety, an unshakable emptiness, and an unknowingness that often leads to unhappiness. – an excerpt from my debut book Unpack Your Personality: Let Your Inner Guide Be Your Travel Guide.
Unpack Your Personality: A Few Takeaways
My debut book is based on spiritual personality typing. It uses the foundational aspects of Myers-Briggs, David Keirsey, and Carl Jung’s take on typology with a fresh perspective. It focuses on the spirit mind, the nonphysical aspects of you. In this context, it means coming to terms with the idea that your personality is a created reality, born from the physical. While the spirit-fed, nonphysical aspect of you exists. It is creative, stemming from Divine consciousness. It’s a peaceful and meaningful existence allowing your beingness (nonphysical) to lead your human (physical) self, to a Divinely inspired, true self lifestyle.
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Become familiar with the philosophy of Spiritual Personality Typing™️.
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Discover how collective thinking around travel often derails self-discovery opportunities while on vacation
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Why travel can be a highly effective self-help therapy to discover yourself.
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Understand typology and use its benefits long after unpacking your suitcases.
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16 personality type travel chapters that highlight the best places to visit, your unique travel perks and triggers, potential romantic options, parenting, and more.
My Intention For a New Year and New Approach To Personality Typing
It’s always my intention for you in the New Year to apply this pioneering approach to personality typing, to help you realize the different aspects of yourself.
To inspire you to show up in the world better than the day before.
Every day is a gift. You’re a gift, with unlimited potential. That’s why the Universe assigned you a distinct personality type and embellished your soul with your own brilliant DNA blueprint.
You’re here to remember and share your beautiful self with the world.
We are all different. After a seven-year life tsunami and years of reflection and learning, I now know spirituality doesn’t come in a pre-labeled box. It comes from your higher self, supported by your personality type.
So many of us don’t acknowledge that your personality is sacred, supportive, and foundational to your spiritual growth. And know, that it also impacts your travel, lifestyle, and career paths.
Does any of this interest you? If you say yes, join the movement.
Blog Updates in 2024
My blog is getting a makeover. In 2024, the upcoming focus will be on what really matters to women; helping them understand their true selves, the holistic Who of who they are. Whether you’re navigating a journey to midlife magic, transitioning from a corporate career to a spirit-led enterprise, or embracing travel as a classroom for self-discovery. The blog explores these meaningful topics and serves as a guide for women around the world to embrace their true selves.
Join The Movement
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Her debut book: Unpack Your Personality: Let Your Inner Guide Be Your Travel Guide, is a blend of personality typing, and spirituality, and brings forth the idea of traveling a classroom for self-discovery. A book that introduces Zapala’s pioneering theory of personality typing with a spiritual focus. It all starts with the belief that we are spirit beings having a human experience, moving beyond the 1940s personality paradigm. Grab your copy here.
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It’s Time to Discover Spiritual Personality Typing ™️ — Nina Zapala, a Curious Type, ENTP.
I’m a certified Myers-Briggs® instructor with an intuitive side ready to introduce you to a pioneering personality paradigm with spiritual understandings.
Photo Credit: Adi Goldstein