Through the lens of the Striving Styles, each of the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator® (MBTI®) 16 Types comes alive. Discover which quadrant of the brain the ISTJ prefers to use and the predominant, innate psychological need that drives the ISTJ's behavior as well as how an ISTJ can leverage their whole brain in order to develop and achieve their potential. The SSPS shows that each of the four quadrants of the brain has their own role, or function, to play in our personality and our consciousness. Based on Jung's Theory of Psychological Type, we are hard-wired to prefer one function or quadrant over the others and we use each quadrant or function in either an inwardly or an outwardly way.

1.
The Striving Styles Personality System is a neuro‐psychological framework for development,
behavioral change and achieving potential. It provides a step‐by‐step roadmap for breaking
longstanding patterns of behavior that get in the way by re‐patterning the brain. An evolution of the
MBTI®, it’s a powerful approach that can be used in any developmental program.
www.StrivingStyles.com 416.406.3939 info@strivingstyles.com
Personality & the Brain:
A NEW PERSPECTIVE ON THE MBTI’S ISTJ TYPE
Based on the Striving Styles® Personality System
What Is the Striving Styles®
Personality System?
The Striving Styles Personality System
(SSPS™
) is a revolutionary approach to
helping you achieve your potential. It is a
complete system incorporating Psychological
Type, Emotional Intelligence, Needs Theory
and Brain Development theories. It shows
you how your brain is organized, how your
needs and emotions influence your behavior,
and how to strengthen your authentic self to
become the person you are meant to be.
The SSPS is based on the assertion that each
of us is born with a predominant need and
pattern of energy (Striving Style) that
determines how we will behave in order to
get that need met. The Striving Styles does
not provide a laundry list of strengths and
weaknesses; rather, it takes into account the
complexity of your brain’s functioning and its
impact on your personality.
Adapting the MBTI®
to
Advances in Neuroscience
Jung believed we have four mental functions
in consciousness, meaning that our brain has
four distinct areas in which these functions
are located. By incorporating brain
specialization and dominance, the SSPS
provides insight into the mechanics of our
minds and how our brain is organized so we
can direct how it functions and how we feel.
These four quadrants in our brain are meant
to work together in an integrated fashion.
Neuroscience has shown that when this
integration does not happen, we become
rigid and inflexible in thought and action. It
also shows that it leads to physical and
mental illness, including dementia. The SSPS
teaches how to use all four functions of the
brain in a step‐by‐step approach to
development, leading to a healthy brain and
a self‐actualizing human being.
The Striving Style Squad
Just as you have four quadrants in your brain,
you have access to the striving energies of
four “people”, called your Striving Style
Squad. One of these four is your ‘alpha’ and
dominates the others as your Predominant
Striving Style. The other three – your
Associate Styles – have different talents and
abilities based on where they are situated in
the brain. It is your Predominant Style that
determines your Associate Styles based on
Jung’s Theory of Psychological Type.
Understanding the role each Striving Style
plays in your personality and how each
improves and enhances the functioning of
the others is key to the fulfillment of your
potential. It allows you to shift gears when
you need to, drawing on the strengths and
abilities of other members of your Squad,
rather than only using your Predominant
Style.

2. Personality & the Brain: A New Perspective on the MBTI’s ISTJ Type
The Striving Styles Personality System is a neuro‐psychological framework for development,
behavioral change and achieving potential. It provides a step‐by‐step roadmap for breaking
longstanding patterns of behavior that get in the way by re‐patterning the brain. An evolution of the
MBTI®, it’s a powerful approach that can be used in any developmental program.
www.StrivingStyles.com 416.406.3939 info@strivingstyles.com
The ISTJ’s Striving Style
Squad
DON’T OVERUSE YOUR
PREDOMINANT STRIVING STYLE
Your Predominant Striving Style is easier to
use because it has more neural networks in
place and is easily activated to use a set of
prescribed behaviors. You have a tendency to
use the behaviors that make you feel
strongest and most confident – those of your
Predominant Style. If you do this, you will
only be successful in the situations where
that type of behavior is effective.
When Associates are not used and are left
underdeveloped, it leaves the behavioral
pattern of the Predominant Style to take care
of performing roles and tasks it is not
intended to do. This significantly limits our
capacity for development, and can create
inflexibility in our ability to respond to our
relationships, our environment and new
experiences that life brings us.
MANAGE YOUR SQUAD EFFECTIVELY
Although, your brain is designed so that your
Squad is able to work together, your
Predominant Striving Style can still overrule
your Associate Styles if you are not in the
driver’s seat. While you may not feel quite as
comfortable with these three Associate
Styles, you still need to access support from
them when you need to. Otherwise, they will
remain underdeveloped and are likely to be
ineffective, awkward or undermining when
you attempt to use them.
Alternatively, you may already be
conditioned into using an Associate Style
instead of your Predominant Style because of
what is socially and culturally acceptable.
This leads to instinctive, emotional self‐
protective behaviors that can undermine
your effectiveness at home, at work and in
your relationships.
Find out the extent to which you are
using each member of your Squad by
taking the SSPS Level I Assessment.
It is up to you to learn how to manage and
direct the activity of each member of your
Squad to your advantage. It takes time to get
comfortable using the Associates initially as
it requires conscious attention to do so.
Leveraging your Associate Styles ultimately
allows you to see things from a different
perspective, be creative in problem solving,
and practice self‐care and care of others as
you go about living your life.

3. Personality & the Brain: A New Perspective on the MBTI’s ISTJ Type
The Striving Styles Personality System is a neuro‐psychological framework for development,
behavioral change and achieving potential. It provides a step‐by‐step roadmap for breaking
longstanding patterns of behavior that get in the way by re‐patterning the brain. An evolution of the
MBTI®, it’s a powerful approach that can be used in any developmental program.
www.StrivingStyles.com 416.406.3939 info@strivingstyles.com
Activities Best Suited to Your
Predominant Style
The Stabilizer Style leads from their left,
emotional brain, where they ensure that
everything is as it should be so they can
repeat experiences and sensations that
are known and trusted. This part of the
brain is connected to the processing of
positive and more complex emotions that
involve thinking. Specific and objective, it
seeks to know how an object or person fits in
with what has been experienced before.
The Stabilizer, with its predominant need to
be secure, is not concerned with how it
“feels” about the criterion, simply whether or
not it can be related to their past experiences.
Use your Stabilizer Striving Style when
you need to:
 Take care of the needs of others
 Build a secure foundation
 Focus on facts & details
 Create traditions
Activities that Are Better Left
to Your Squad
Each of your Associates has a unique set of
talents and abilities based on its location in
the brain. When an ISTJ learns to
incorporate them fully, rather than over‐
relying on their Predominant Stabilizer
Style, they move towards fulfilling their
potential and becoming who they are
meant to be.
Use your Leader to take charge and
establish your authority. Leaders
confidently express their ideas and concerns,
particularly in changing environments.
Action‐oriented and decisive, Leaders are
quick to determine what needs to be done
and who needs to do it. Without the Leader,
the Stabilizer can fail to assert their need for
more information during change, or to set
limits with the amount of work they do.
Use your Artist to share yourself and to
stay open to others’ differences. Open and
genuine in their self‐expression, the Artist
softens and humanizes the approach of the
Stabilizer. Shifting to the Artist lets the
Stabilizer be more tolerant of individual
differences and allows them to express their
feelings. Without the Artist, Stabilizers risk
being perceived as judgmental, cold and
unfeeling.
Use your Performer to create optimism
about the future. Performers are excited
about the future and see possibilities all
around them. They seek opportunities to
learn, grow and change. Without their
Performer, Stabilizers are in danger of
sticking only with familiar experiences and
limiting their own growth and potential.
Discover more about how to develop
your whole brain by purchasing a
Leveraging Your Squad Report for
the Stabilizer with Leader.
With the SSPS, you get more than
just an assessment – you get a
comprehensive, step-by-step
roadmap for development based on
brain organization.
Expedite development by becoming
a SSPS Practitioner today!