ISTJs are good self-starters. An ISTJ thrives when they are allowed to tackle a project with very little guidance. They absolutely loathe criticism, which can cause them to retreat and overthink all their mistakes, but praise is brilliant. If you got an ISTJ that needs a bit of extra motivation, you’ll be pleased to know it isn’t that hard. We’ll tell you how.
ISTJs are motivated by themselves. ISTJs are dab hands at coming up with their own method for tackling a project. If they are able to take control of the task, then even better. ISTJs thrive on reaching goals, and getting praise for doing it. The easiest way to demotivate an ISTJ is to critique them.
Let’s discuss this in more depth, shall we? Let’s help you to motivate the ISTJs in your life, whether they are your partner, a family member, or in the workplace.
Give Them Space To Sort Themselves Out Mentally
While ISTJs are tremendous at planning projects themselves, it is incredibly easy for them to focus on their flaws. Just a small setback in a project can easily throw them off track a little bit. ISTJs are prone to over-analyzing all the bad things they have done and focus very little on the good stuff.
Unfortunately, the only way to restore motivation is to allow the ISTJ to retreat into their own headspace and sort things out themselves. We know that it can be tempting to reach out and try and tell the ISTJ that they are doing a great job. But, trust us, it won’t work. It is already far too late at this point, and constantly ‘hassling’ the ISTJ will make it incredibly difficult to get them back on track.
Luckily for you, once they retreat from their privacy, they’ll be more motivated than ever to get back on track, and the project/task should be completed soon.
Keep Critiques to the Minimum
Critiquing ISTJs is a big no-no. It is not motivational at all, and it will cause them to retreat into the headspace that we discussed previously. They will not handle the critique well and, honestly, even the smallest of critiques will be blown out of all proportion. They’ll constantly focus on the ‘worst case’ scenario.
For instance, if they made a mistake at work, and the ISTJ may now start thinking:
- Am I going to be fired?
- How will I find a new job?
- How will I cover my bills?
Even if that ‘worst case’ scenario is unlikely to happen, it isn’t going to stop an ISTJ from thinking about it.
Now, of course, ISTJs are still human. They’re going to make mistakes like everybody else. You are free to bring them up but bring them up in a constructive way. Work with the ISTJ to come up with solutions to a problem. Provide guidance, but not too much e.g. “How about if we tried it like this?”, etc.
Show Appreciation For The Hard Work
One thing that you should know about ISTJs is that they absolutely love praise. It is what motivates them to do better, and they will dwell on all praise that you give them for an incredibly long time. Although, it has to be done in a very, very specific way.
ISTJs don’t take general praise all that well. It tends to mean nothing to them. If somebody tells them ‘good job’, the ISTJ isn’t going to be thinking that they’re amazing and that whatever they are tackling is going well. They’ll just ignore that praise.
If you want to motivate an ISTJ with praise, then mention something highly specific of theirs that you really liked. For example, if you asked them to clean, praise how clean they managed to get a certain area (“I really liked the way you mopped”). If they managed to finish a project earlier than anticipated then “I love your timekeeping skills”.
One of the great things about an ISTJ is that they have no issues giving themselves praise. If you set an ISTJ to tackle a task on their own (which you should), they’ll set their own individual milestones, and give praise to themselves whenever they hit their targets. Of course, self-motivation is good, but it is never going to be better than praise from other people.
Allow Them To Come Up With Their Own Solution to a Task
Once again, we want to point out that ISTJs really love to tackle things on their own. They aren’t massive fans of being given a set plan for tackling a task (although, you can do that). Instead, ISTJs like to be problem solvers. They like the challenge of tackling something that has been handed to them, and you can use this to motivate a person.
Once you have trust in an ISTJ, just leave them to their own devices. Give them minimal guidance for a project. Just tell them what needs to be done, and let them go ahead and reach their goals. We can promise you that they will likely do things completely differently from the way that you would have done it, but they will end up getting the desired result. You can bet your bottom dollar that the ISTJ will enjoy every single second of the project too, and they will work a lot harder.
One of the great things about ISTJs is that you don’t really have to give them simplified tasks. Well, you can. But, ISTJs tend to be much more motivated by bigger projects that they can dive into. They’re going to plan every single part of it.
If you want, for an extra bit of motivation, you can even let them take control of a project. While ISTJs tend to be very introverted as people, if you put planning in their hands, they’re more than happy to work with other people. They love listening to the ideas that other people have and then working them into their own plans.
Remind Them How Important a Task Is
There is a problem with giving an ISTJ a smaller task that doesn’t really seem all that important. They’re less likely to finish it. ISTJs need to see the value in accomplishing something, or the motivation isn’t there. They can easily find this on the bigger projects, but the small day-to-day jobs that just seem like busy work? Not so much. Of course, these jobs still need to get done.
If you find that an ISTJ doesn’t seem particularly enamored by a job you’ve given them, we recommend that you remind them how important it is. Feel free to jazz it up a little (but never lie, ISTJs like honesty). Let them know how completing that small task benefits them, you, the business, and larger projects. ISTJs loathe being laidback about something that can have a genuine improvement in their life, so they’ll be right on the job!
Conclusion
As you can see, there are many ways to motivate an ISTJ. The main one is to just let them do things. ISTJs thrive on being self-starters. Leave them to their own devices (or put them in a leadership position), and the work will get done…and it will be done incredibly well. Every now and then, dish out some praise (but hold back on the critique), and you’ll have an ISTJ that is properly motivated.
Reference Sources
https://www.themyersbriggs.com/en-US/Connect-With-Us/Blog/2019/June/How-to-Motivate-People-You-Manage https://www.crystalknows.com/personality-type/istj/motivations https://personalitygrowth.com/simple-ways-to-motivate-each-myers-briggs-type/
