I am an INTJ personality type, as are my three brothers, my dad, my man Smith, my brother’s girlfriend, and many of my friends and colleagues. I counted 22 of my facebook friends who are INTJ, and those are just the ones whose personality type I know for sure.

I am fascinated by Myers-Briggs personality theory. Most of us who are INTJ personality types have always felt like we are odd, like we don’t fit in, that perhaps there is something wrong with us. In reality, we are simply wired with a certain temperament that makes us unique and special, but because our type is rare, we often feel like outsiders.

An INTJ friend and fellow blogger, unruly helpmeet, recently googled the phrase, “things every woman should know,” and wrote about what she found on the topic. That gave me the idea to write a list of things every INTJ should know.

As an INTJ, if you have the following skills and knowledge, you may feel more balanced, less drained, and generally happier.

1. We know how to avoid small talk.

2. We know that there is nothing wrong with us.

3. We know we are socially awkward, yes, but we know how to be okay with that.

4. We know that no, we do not think too much or analyze too much. If someone says we do, we know how to reply, “I don‘t think too much. You don‘t think enough.”

5. We know that it is our prerogative to look serious or not smile, and people are just going to have to deal with that.

6. We know how to avoid talking on the phone, and we especially know how to avoid returning phone calls. Thank goodness for text messaging for the times when it is absolutely necessary to communicate a piece of information.

7. We know how to avoid people and especially crowds. We also know how to just walk away from a social situation with no explanation or apology when our social capacity is reached.

8. We know what we know, the limits of our knowledge and competence.

9. We know that we are always right.

10. We know how to be sarcastic, though others often do not seem to know when we are being that way.

11. We know how to zone out when we are bored by others’ conversations, which is most of the time.

12. We know how to use language and grammar, and how to correct others when they misuse language.

13. We know how to avoid surprises, gifts, and compliments.

14. We know how to see through people’s bs.

15. We know how to protect our alone time, and how to deal with people who complain that we never want to go out or do anything. Hey, those people are more than welcome to come over and spend time with us doing crossword puzzles, sudoku, or plotting to take over the universe, in silence of course.