Corey Haines's User Manual

I love writing and teaching. I love connecting people, ideas, and identifying patterns to figure out how systems work. I naturally see the best in people and want to see them live up to their best self. I'm an eternal optimist, have a positive outlook on life, and like to transfer confidence in people. I take pride in being able to take action on ideas and follow through on vision.

INTJs have been described as imaginative yet decisive, ambitious yet like their privacy, curious about everything but remain focused. INTJs move through life as though it were a giant chessboard, advancing and retreating with considered intelligence. This personality type always looks for new tactics, strategies, and contingency plans.

StengthFinder strengths:
• Responsibility — Excuses and rationalizations are totally unacceptable. You will not quite be able to live with yourself until you have made restitution. This conscientiousness, this near obsession for doing things right, and your impeccable ethics, combine to create your reputation: utterly dependable.
• Achiever — Your Achiever theme helps explain your drive. Achiever describes a constant need for achievement. You feel as if every day starts at zero. By the end of the day you must achieve something tangible in order to feel good about yourself. You have an internal fire burning inside you. Your relentless need for achievement might not be logical. It might not even be focused. But it will always be with you. As an Achiever you must learn to live with this whisper of discontent.
• Strategic — The Strategic theme enables you to sort through the clutter and find the best route. It is not a skill that can be taught. It is a distinct way of thinking, a special perspective on the world at large. This perspective allows you to see patterns where others simply see complexity.
• Futuristic — You are a dreamer who sees visions of what could be and who cherishes those visions. When the present proves too frustrating and the people around you too pragmatic, you conjure up your visions of the future and they energize you.
• Ideation — An idea is a connection. Yours is the kind of mind that is always looking for connections, and so you are intrigued when seemingly disparate phenomena can be linked by an obscure connection. An idea is a new perspective on familiar challenges. You revel in taking the world we all know and turning it around so we can view it from a strange but strangely enlightening angle.

I despise monotony and can easily get bored with repetitive tasks. I tend to overcommit and stretch myself thin. This is the combination of the "dark sides" of a few of my strengths: responsibility, achiever, and futuristic.

Because I tend to see the best in people, sometimes I ignore the unsavory parts or areas they need to grow. I tend to be agreeable, which makes me susceptible to manipulation. I can sometimes withhold the truth or how I feel about something if I feel it may come off as mean or insensitive. If I'm stressed or insecure, I'll probably withdraw. I might be short, reserved, or distant. I'm most afraid of failure — I tend to do anything it takes to succeed.

I like to give and receive feedback based on tangible reasons, not subjective experience. I like to thoroughly think through everything which often requires time alone to process as well as being able to work out all the different options and angles in conversation. I'm a much clearer communicator via writing, or at least after writing it out once.

Understanding the thought process for how someone thinks as they state something or ask something makes me much more able to give a thoughtful response. Sort of a verbal "show your work" idea. I prefer asynchronous communication and prefer to keep in-person or video meetings as the last resort (unless it's a recurring meeting I can come prepared for). 

Because I have a tendency to think long-term, I might give you impractical or complex suggestions when what you’re looking for is pragmatic, short-term options.

Sometimes I'll have wild, random ideas that I'll want to get off my chest and bounce off of someone else's brain. That doesn't mean I want to act on those ideas. I usually just want to get it off my chest.

I might not be able to give you feedback or an answer right away. I tend to overthink things and it's difficult to get a gut reaction out of me. I need time to mentally process things, which can come off as being slow or even inattentive.

My communication can come and go in spurts. I may go MIA for a week and then constantly be chattering for days on end and then go back to acting like a hermit.

I'll probably forget to mention something huge and important and then casually mention it later, not realizing that it's new information to you.

I may be a bit obsessive about documenting, organizing, and tweaking things. I have anxiety about forgetting, not being prepared, and being behind schedule.

If I'm confronted with something, disagree, or in an argument, I tend to communicate in a style that comes off like a debate. I'm not trying to debate to win, I'm just trying to dissect and address each point individually to make sure that I cover all the bases and we're both on the same page. Sometimes this can come off as rude or defensive unintentionally, but if you stick with me for long enough, my goal is always to mutually resolve it.

I view success as giving everything you've got through consistent progress to achieve goals we agree upon. I strongly value transparency and honesty. My dislike for people-pleasing, social politics, and passive-aggressiveness compels me to be as honest as I can and want others to know where I'm at mentally.

An Enneagram 3w4's most basic desire is to succeed and feel valued. They may show this by seeking validation of their hard work and successes. My overarching goal is to work on meaningful projects that allow for a high level of autonomy for myself and everyone involved. This usually involves creating content, seeing a vision come to fruition, and launching new things.

To help people with exceptional products, services, and content get the attention they deserve.

I've hand-fed rhinos, hiked an active volcano, and met Casey Neistat.

“The best way to predict the future is to invent it.” — Alan Kay