Are you an ENTP and wonder why you can't get things done when working for yourself?

[Oso]

What do you hate about being an INTJ?

It's akin to something you said earlier (I don't feel up to searching for it, sorry, though I think it's in the same post I quoted above, lmfao) regarding misidentifying yourself can ultimately lead to resentment and anger.

When you are the thing, but you aren't like the other "the things," that same resentment and anger continues to grow. It's like being born with a superpower, but you can't figure out how to get your superpower to do superpower stuff. Meanwhile, the other people with the same superpower get to do all the cool shit that comes with it, and it simply comes natural to them.

It's almost as if what I was naturally born into completely contradicts my entire existence, and I have no idea how to resolve the misalignment. I originally commented on this post to make it clear not all INTJs are Elon. I spent years wishing I was a stereotypical INTJ only to accept the fact that isn't reality for me, so I've had to work harder to force myself to care about anything at all.

I have made tremendous leaps of progress over the last 2 years. Yet I can't help but think how much further I would've gone if I understood this side of myself more. Perhaps it's merely a problem of me "denying what I am." Who knows.

Either way, I appreciate the knowledge you've dropped throughout this thread. Thank you.

Cheers.

 

[Simon Angel]

I started reading this and was immediately turned off by the obvious copywriting. A couple hours later I opened my phone and saw ENTP and wondered, "What am I again? Oh yeah, INTP." Though, I'm right in the middle of I and E.

I read another couple sentences and realized you were speaking the truth. This post describes me very well. Some of the words explained it better than I understood myself from experience. So, for that I thank you very much.

One thing that sticks out in particular is the part about hard deadlines. I've always worked so hard for others but had managed to wiggle out of every deadline I ever set for myself. The only way I found success in business is to hire employees and create hard deadlines that way. It works very well and now that I understand it more, I'll be able to take advantage of it more.

I noticed early in the entrepreneur journey that I had to act fast. If I had an idea, I needed to execute on it quickly and finish within a day or two or it was game over. I've made some amazing things happen in a day or two.... Other times, I spent a week pouring myself into something only to never look at it again.

I can tell you wrote this for yourself and I appreciate the many grammatical errors. No true ENTP is going to go back and edit this without a hard deadline or a serious inkling for proper Grammer and punctuation.

To all other NTPs out there, stay strong and cut yourself some slack. We aren't meant for the slow burn. We are meant to flame out and burn hot before changing focus and lighting something else on fire. Let it burn ad long as it wants to then follow where your crazy mind takes you next!

Always knew you were an ENTP and found you relatable after reading through your threads.

 

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[emphasize.v1]

T H A N K Y O U !!!

Few examples of my own:
- played 5 different sports, team captain playing handball, was decent at 2, sucked at 2
- picked up guitar, learned basic chords to play favorite songs -> guitar collecting dust in my bedroom today
- fitness? my buddies call me "the transformer" because of how fast I'm able to gain weight and look disgusting but also get back in shape and look amazing in record time
- started an advertising agency with a friend a few yrs back, closed 3 minor clients and 1 big fish in a month -> moved on and left it all to him for no particular reason

I can go on more but the point is clear here. I am struggling to be consistent even today

 

[Kid]

Amazing article. I still wish I was an ENTJ or INTJ

Then become one.

And btw. be careful what you wish for.

 

[Kybalion]

Then become one.

And btw. be careful what you wish for.

Tell me more about it Wise Sensei.

 

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[Simon Angel]

Then become one.

And btw. be careful what you wish for.

You can't change your personality type - it should be renamed to "thought processes type". You can pretend to be another or you can just accept yourself and work on your shortcomings (which all types have).

 

[serge94]

I also took the personality test 3 times and got 3 different results. I don't think the Myers Briggs personality test is accurate.

I did find immense value in your post though so thank you for that.

 

[Remiremi]

I am super intrigued. I've never heard of this. Ni Te Fi stuff.

Where did you learn about this part of it, and how did you get to the point where you can accurately predict someone's personality?

Any particular resources you'd recommend?

You might appreciate starting here : ENTP Personality Type: The Intuitive Thinker | Personality Junkie

It will introduce you to four of the eight functions and how they manifest within ENTP types, which will probably lead you to actionable insights.

 

[Tom H.]

Hey guys, this post inspired me to write a draft for a (hypothetical) productivity/organization/calendaring email newsletter. It's about a specific tactic I've had in mind that is very aligned with the advice in the OP. I figured since I just wrote it all out, I might as well share it here.

---

I have a tendency to get enamored with project ideas that may a bit too grand in scope... One of those ideas keeps recurring for me, and it's closely related to why I love using a calendar (for stuff I've DONE, not stuff I plan to do) for my personal productivity.

I keep thinking I should go through all of my various types of personal records: journals, email correspondence, private messages, forum posts, software commits, passport stamps, plane tickets, invoices, rental agreements, etc. and use everything I can find as source material for an ultimate DONE list.

Imagine a private web page with a timeline of your entire life (at least your adult life) — mapped out, browsable, searchable, annotated, hyperlinked, tagged... personal stats, life events, and most importantly progress on projects. If I want to see every time I worked on some particular programming topic, I can pull up all of the relevant entries in my timeline. If I want have a project that's been on the back burner for 7 years, and now I feel like working on it, I can pull up all of my previous progress, see what I did, see where I left off, and jump right back into it today.

I'm a guy with dozens of projects on the back burner over years and years. The good news is, I do make progress on, and even finish, a lot of these projects. The appeal of this ultimate-life-timeline-done-list-thing is that I can get on track with projects a lot faster, and when I'm struggling for motivation, I can just browse everything I've done in the past and see what I find interesting to work on today.

In some ways, this is just too big of an idea, I can see myself going down a rabbit hole building an ill-conceived system that is too meta to every really be useful. But if I apply some of my favorite productivity principles, this becomes a very reasonable project.

What we need to make this work: a real commitment to a minimum viable product (meaning get my ego out of the way and find a solution that starts producing results this afternoon), an aesthetic of simplicity, and Larry Wall's laziness as a virtue.

In other words, if I get my head out of the clouds and get real, I can start getting exactly what I'm looking for just by using my calendar. I'm already using my calendar as much as possible to track my fuzzy plans and what I actually did, including notes about progress on projects, links to the context/resources I need to pick projects back up, sometimes notes about where I went and who I saw, and of course hard deadlines like meetings that I've scheduled with clients. I am also starting each week by creating a calendar entry that contains a "menu" of things I've been interested in recently, which serves the same purpose as being able to browse through my past projects and pick out what I want to work on.

So if I really want to create this ultimate DONE list, I can start small, right now, by taking one source of data (e.g. one of the handwritten notebooks I've filled up with journal entries) and start adding historical information to my calendar. Then I can experiment with different ways of tagging, linking and otherwise organizing a small set of data... once I have a simple system for creating calendar entries that meets my needs (must keep it simple!) then the job of turning all of my unstructured source material into a structured data on my calendar just becomes one more project on the back burner that I can pick up and work on when it feels like the right thing to do!

Let me know if you think this is a dumb idea, good idea, or if you see ways that this idea could be a lot better.

 

[Not Most People]

This was incredibly accurate and spoke directly to me. Well done!

I fall right on the ENTP/INTP line and will try to implement a lot of these.

Any thoughts on who to surround yourself with/hire as an entrepreneur to balance out some of the less productive ENTP tendencies?

 

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[Simon Angel]

You are confused because you're doing the garbage 16 Personalities test, which is basically a rebranded Big Five Look up cognitive functions for your true type.

So after my post above, I decided to look deeper into what my results might mean, and I also read @eliquid's excellent thread too.

I picked up the book "INTP" which I think was mentioned either here or that thread. and have been giving it a thorough look.

But, I got to a point where something doesn't quite seem right. It said about INTPs loving order? I'm chaotic, and if INTP is indeed Einstein's type, he used to say something almost the complete opposite of Marie Kondo; “If a cluttered desk is a sign of a cluttered mind, of what, then, is an empty desk a sign?” and seemed quite chaotic himself from what I can gather...

Maybe that's where the extra letter at the end of the 16 personalities differentiates?

It said about INTPs "eating to eat, not for the joy of eating" or something along them lines, wheras I am definitely not in that camp, I'm quite a foodie lol

I know these tests are not going to be 100% accurate, but something about that makes me question the typing, I have checked multiple times, I only switch between ENTP/INTP

Just wondering if anybody has any further insight who's deeper down the rabbit hole than myself?

Whatever book you're reading that describes INTPs as liking order you can throw in the trash. Things INTPs do not like: Authority, order, routine, people who can't think out of the box, washing their teeth on a regular basis.

From your writing style I'm pretty sure you're an ENTP.

 

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[LifeTransformer]

Then you're definitely an ENTP. ENTPs are probably the only true "ambiverts" out of all 16 personalities because of the Ne + Ti cognitive functions synergy. The only thing that does make us seem extraverted compared to INTPs is the third function in our stack, Fe, which is more developed than in the INTPs.

ENTP:

Ne - Extraverted Intuition.

Gathers information and comes up with a shit ton of ideas all day, every day. If brainstorming, wittiness and "what if?" had a name, that would Ne (Extraverted iNtuition). "Dude, imagine if.. and... and.. and.. etc". Funnily enough, everyone seems to activate their Ne more when they're high (every type has every cognitive function but with a different strength and preference). Focuses on what could be possible, rather than what is.

Ti - Introverted Thinking.

Processes all equally genius and retarded ideas that Ne comes up with and slaps it in the face or gives the green light as needed. Every great mathematician, physicist, chemist and etc likely had/has Ti way up in their stack.

Fe - Extraverted Feeling.

Smiling, knowing when you're pissing people off (and Ti often decides to ignore it), sympathy, holding your fart in when you're around friends because you wouldn't want to embarass yourself in front of others or have them smell what you ate for lunch.

Si - Introverted Sensing.

Forgot to eat? Bladder about to burst because you were so engaged in a task you didn't even notice how much you need to pee? Didn't make your bed? Leaving the dishes to wash for "later"? Play first work later? Give 0 shits about tradition, rules, maybe even your own birthday? Running late often and forgetting important responsibilities? You have what is called "Inferior Si". The bane of the ENTP.

This is eye opening! Describes me perfectly. Except for the farting part, I might do that around certain people just for a laugh

I've attached a screenie of that bit that didn't sit well with me from the INTP book.

I like variety everywhere, only eating simple foods and sometimes forgetting to eat isn't me at all. So that kinda sent off an alarm bell to me ‍

I would skip lunch if I was immersed in something though that's for sure, or eat while working. I don't do breakfast

 

[Simon Angel]

I've been a fan of all forms of typology for many years now. While I have scored as an ENTP after several MBTI tests, I personally prerer the enneagram (I'm a 7) for any instropection, peace of mind and for leisurely reading. That being said I do strongly agree with how I behave based on the ENTP summary, I just see myself as a 7 more than anything else.

As for your post, I was initially going to skim through it as it's very long (lack of attention spans heavily found amongst ENTP), but realized you made some interesting points and gave it the whole read.

Thank you for typing this out as it's not something I have ever really come across, at least not in the way you presented it. I have been in a heavily extended period of being stagnant, lackadaisical, and distracted.

Taking hours to do something simple, laying in bed for 5 hours before I can even fall asleep, waking up dejected and unable to get out or bed even if I'm technically awake. This has led me to pondering the past few weeks how to best live with the organized chaos I seem to naturally prefer but you have laid out a great blueprint.

Thanks again.

It's not like MBTI and the enneagram are opposites, they go hand in hand.

An ENTP with enneagram 7 is the most common ENTP out there.

Fun fact: While MBTI (Jung) is all about your personality type and cognitive functions, which remain the same your whole life, the enneagram is mostly about your behaviour, attitude and mentality, which of course can and will change over time.

 

[BellaPippin]

Want to explore an option, fine, do it.

Go all the way.

Unleash your curiosity.

... But you must make a pact with yourself.

Every time you unleash your curiosity, you must build a memento and share it with the world.

A simple recipe...

1/ Explore until bored.

2/ Quickly build something valuable for others.

3/ Share it to the people who most need it.

You are an explorer and every time you go on an adventure, you bring back wonderful treasures, undiscovered before.

Promise yourself you won't keep those treasures to yourself and will share those with the world.

Once your oath is taken, go.

Explore.

Follow your curiosity relentlessly.

Everyday.

You are free now.

You know, the first time I skimmed like @Jon L and went straight to say "I'm an INFP!" 'cause I like being part of the fun. But now I re-read this and I kinda feel good a bit about being validated on this "you don't stick to a thing!" I'm just missing the "do something quickly about it" part most of the time. Last time I took the test, for some reason, came out as an INTP for the first time. I mean, tbh it doesn't matter, we all use all the functions depending on context etc. The type relates to the deep core of the way we do things most of the time.

Because my mind is producing stuff 24/7 I want to do it all. I hear people criticize me or call me out on it but looking back, I've achieved everything I've ever set my mind to, and I mean everything. I just...take longer, but deep down my inner voice says confidently that eventually I always get what I want.


Edit: I'm tempted to take the paid, authentic test for a long time now because since this year I get a different result from different websites. So far I've gotten INFP, INTP, INFJ...

 

[Tourmaline]

You seem like quite the INTP, @BellaPippin, going by the way you speak.

It's not like MBTI and the enneagram are opposites, they go hand in hand.

An ENTP with enneagram 7 is the most common ENTP out there.

Fun fact: While MBTI (Jung) is all about your personality type and cognitive functions, which remain the same your whole life, the enneagram is mostly about your behaviour, attitude and mentality, which of course can and will change over time.

To me this is a misnomer that one's MBTI type must stay constant. I grew up ESTJ, became ENTJ by the end of college, then ENTP for a year, and am now typically ENTJ but have been moving towards ENFJ.

Most people also tend to go from being more extreme to being more balanced as their cognitive functions develop as they get older and older.

One can also change their MBTI type. It's like a habit really. You can make new ones, though it is quite difficult to break old habits.

 

[Remiremi]

But now I re-read this and I kinda feel good a bit about being validated on this "you don't stick to a thing!" I'm just missing the "do something quickly about it" part most of the time.

Glad to help, you can ask yourself the question : "What can I start right now and finish before the end of the day/hour/before lunch, that will yield something that will build up over time? "

There's no one size fit all answers because it depends of what you can leverage.

For example:
A) When I study ML I don't tend to take notes...

So what I started to do now when I am done with a subject is quickly write an outline of how I would advise people to study the subject if they started from scratch.

I still don't take notes but if I have to plan a course (online) or a session (irl) about a ML topic, I can use that outline as a blueprint. Huge time save because I don't reinvent the wheel twice.

B) When I study copy concepts I don't take extensive notes because my goal is not be a copy scholar.

But I want to be able to use the concepts I stumble upon while exploring, unfortunately it seems what I learn in copywriting disappear when I go sleep.

So before finishing my study session I take some time to brainstorm what is the best way for efficiently using what I learned today, in the future.

Sometimes it's just a prompt that I add to my prompt bank alongside the desired effect. Then when I need to write copy, I go through the bank and go with those inspiring me.

Sometimes it's a notion template with an outline. Then I can use the template as a starting point for whatever I need atm.

Sometimes it's a question I ask students to gather verbatims. So when I have the occasion to ask, I ask relevent and powerful questions instead of boring useless stuff.

Etc..

Edit: I'm tempted to take the paid, authentic test for a long time now because since this year I get a different result from different websites. So far I've gotten INFP, INTP, INFJ...

Unfortunately tests are useless if you want to go deeper...

There's two ways to think about MBTI stuff.

1) Stereotypical approach (based on behaviors)
The first one is stereotypical, and the results are assessed by comparing your answers to a stereotype. It's based on behaviors.

The advantages of the stereotypical aproach is the following :
- it's a gateway to self understanding.
- it's great to understand that everybody is different.
- it's great to understand there's nothing wrong with you.
- it's great to shine a new light on your strength and weaknesses, sometimes what you thought were weaknesses were strengths.
- it's great to prescribe loosely targeted life advice.

The disadvantage of the stereotypical approach is that it's advertised as a science which it is not at all. Consequences are:
- People boxing themselves in based on results on something not much better than an horoscope.
- People start to get deep in typology based on a wrong typing which leds to biased theory impairing healthy type development.
- Stereotypes and clichés fail to account for the unicity of every human being, (environment, emotional development, decisions, etc...)


ALL TESTS ARE BASED ON A STEREOTYPICAL APPROACH (ON BEHAVIORS).

2) The cognitive functions stack (a.k.a type) approach (based on how you prefer to think)

This is the deep end and to get accurately typed you there's is no test.

The only way is to learn what are the eight cognitive functions and how they manifest with respect to their place in the stack.

Then you proceed with elimination toward your true type.

This is a long process, where you need to be honest with yourself and ask feedbacks to peoole who know you well.

If you are willing to go down the rabbit hole, start here to get the basics before you can type yourself in the next step:

Type Fundamentals Guide @mbti-notes

[click here for pure text without blog theme] . Guide Contents: I. Introduction to Type 1. Why Self-Report Questionnaires Are Imperfect 2. Addressing Myths & Misconceptions 3. Trait...

mbti-notes.tumblr.com

Then use this guide and description of individual functions to type yourself:

The Principles of Cognitive Function Theory @mbti-notes

[click here for pure text without blog theme] . Guide Contents: I. What Is Type? - Cognition vs Behavior - Personality is Interactive - Personality is Not a “Box” ...

mbti-notes.tumblr.com

After you are accurately type you can put your new found knowledge to work by following the actionable advice given here in functions of your stack:

Type Development Guide @mbti-notes

[click here for pure text without blog theme] . DISCLAIMER: This guide provides suggestions for self-improvement. However, self-improvement should be positively motivated by self-care rather than...

mbti-notes.tumblr.com

Your true type may be different than your stereotypical type because cognitive functions theory is much more nuanced... For example my stack is Te-Ni-Se-Fi (ENTJ) whereas my stereotype across most online tests is ENTP (Ne-Ti-Fe-Si) or INTP.

And don't be fooled by the apparent similarity, a one letter difference is a gigantic difference...

Hope it helps.
Rémi

P. S.- TLDR :
Online tests are basically glorified horoscopes. You can derive value and insights but don't build your life on it.

Don't learn about functions if you have only typed yourself with an online test. This knowledge will be impossible to use in the rigjt way.

If you want to go deeper and learn about functions use the method outlined above in #2.

It's totally okay staying at the stereotype level, you don't need to know your true type to succeed in what you want to do. JUST NEVER USE YOUR STEREOTYPE AS AN EXCUSE OR A VALID ARGUMENT, IT'S NOT.
(Imagine saying "Oh of course I was a prick, I am a Scorpio" or "I can't build a business because I am Sagittarius")

 

[BellaPippin]

Glad to help, you can ask yourself the question : "What can I start right now and finish before the end of the day/hour/before lunch, that will yield something that will build up over time? "

There's no one size fit all answers because it depends of what you can leverage.

For example:
A) When I study ML I don't tend to take notes...

So what I started to do now when I am done with a subject is quickly write an outline of how I would advise people to study the subject if they started from scratch.

I still don't take notes but if I have to plan a course (online) or a session (irl) about a ML topic, I can use that outline as a blueprint. Huge time save because I don't reinvent the wheel twice.

B) When I study copy concepts I don't take extensive notes because my goal is not be a copy scholar.

But I want to be able to use the concepts I stumble upon while exploring, unfortunately it seems what I learn in copywriting disappear when I go sleep.

So before finishing my study session I take some time to brainstorm what is the best way for efficiently using what I learned today, in the future.

Sometimes it's just a prompt that I add to my prompt bank alongside the desired effect. Then when I need to write copy, I go through the bank and go with those inspiring me.

Sometimes it's a notion template with an outline. Then I can use the template as a starting point for whatever I need atm.

Sometimes it's a question I ask students to gather verbatims. So when I have the occasion to ask, I ask relevent and powerful questions instead of boring useless stuff.

Etc..



Unfortunately tests are useless if you want to go deeper...

There's two ways to think about MBTI stuff.

1) Stereotypical approach (based on behaviors)
The first one is stereotypical, and the results are assessed by comparing your answers to a stereotype. It's based on behaviors.

The advantages of the stereotypical aproach is the following :
- it's a gateway to self understanding.
- it's great to understand that everybody is different.
- it's great to understand there's nothing wrong with you.
- it's great to shine a new light on your strength and weaknesses, sometimes what you thought were weaknesses were strengths.
- it's great to prescribe loosely targeted life advice.

The disadvantage of the stereotypical approach is that it's advertised as a science which it is not at all. Consequences are:
- People boxing themselves in based on results on something not much better than an horoscope.
- People start to get deep in typology based on a wrong typing which leds to biased theory impairing healthy type development.
- Stereotypes and clichés fail to account for the unicity of every human being, (environment, emotional development, decisions, etc...)


ALL TESTS ARE BASED ON A STEREOTYPICAL APPROACH (ON BEHAVIORS).

2) The cognitive functions stack (a.k.a type) approach (based on how you prefer to think)

This is the deep end and to get accurately typed you there's is no test.

The only way is to learn what are the eight cognitive functions and how they manifest with respect to their place in the stack.

Then you proceed with elimination toward your true type.

This is a long process, where you need to be honest with yourself and ask feedbacks to peoole who know you well.

If you are willing to go down the rabbit hole, start here to get the basics before you can type yourself in the next step:

Type Fundamentals Guide @mbti-notes

[click here for pure text without blog theme] . Guide Contents: I. Introduction to Type 1. Why Self-Report Questionnaires Are Imperfect 2. Addressing Myths & Misconceptions 3. Trait...

mbti-notes.tumblr.com

Then use this guide and description of individual functions to type yourself:

The Principles of Cognitive Function Theory @mbti-notes

[click here for pure text without blog theme] . Guide Contents: I. What Is Type? - Cognition vs Behavior - Personality is Interactive - Personality is Not a “Box” ...

mbti-notes.tumblr.com

After you are accurately type you can put your new found knowledge to work by following the actionable advice given here in functions of your stack:

Type Development Guide @mbti-notes

[click here for pure text without blog theme] . DISCLAIMER: This guide provides suggestions for self-improvement. However, self-improvement should be positively motivated by self-care rather than...

mbti-notes.tumblr.com

Your true type may be different than your stereotypical type because cognitive functions theory is much more nuanced... For example my stack is Te-Ni-Se-Fi (ENTJ) whereas my stereotype across most online tests is ENTP (Ne-Ti-Fe-Si) or INTP.

And don't be fooled by the apparent similarity, a one letter difference is a gigantic difference...

Hope it helps.
Rémi

P. S.- TLDR :
Online tests are basically glorified horoscopes. You can derive value and insights but don't build your life on it.

Don't learn about functions if you have only typed yourself with an online test. This knowledge will be impossible to use in the rigjt way.

If you want to go deeper and learn about functions use the method outlined above in #2.

It's totally okay staying at the stereotype level, you don't need to know your true type to succeed in what you want to do. JUST NEVER USE YOUR STEREOTYPE AS AN EXCUSE OR A VALID ARGUMENT, IT'S NOT.
(Imagine saying "Oh of course I was a prick, I am a Scorpio" or "I can't build a business because I am Sagittarius")

Definitely, I've always had that in mind. Especially because I'm very versatile, the questions are not always black and white. I'm not a black and white person myself, so it's always very difficult to answer them, or to try to remember a life-or-death decision to know what I TRULY use when pulling the trigger.

I can relate myself to every single description of INFP and INTP, and now I even got INFJ on the last one for the first time, and it was pretty "accurate". At the end of the day I took what really mattered which was the (accurate and relatable) description of my strengths and weaknesses to help me understand myself better. I don't really care what team I'm on.

Thanks for this post, you added the second piece about making something quick before it vanishes into the air and that actually clicked a lot. It's way more effective to just work with what you've got than trying to be someone you're not.

 

[Simon Angel]

Things aren't either black or white. I'm INFJ, but my J is only 51-53%, so I'm actually in between. Same for other people.

Ah, another fresh piggy straight from 16 Personalities dot com. Since you already wasted my time by making me click the notification, I'm about to unleash sacred wisdom onto you. Listen carefully, my son.

16 Personalities is a rebranded version of psychology's coveted Big Five test. Except they don't have anything to do with eachother and MBTI should not ever be measured on a spectrum.

Why?

Because MBTI isn't a spectrum. MBTI is about cognitive functions.

INFJ's cognitive function stack: Ni Fe Ti Se
INFP's cognitive function stack: Fi Ne Si Te

What does this mean? It means INFJ and INFP have absolutely nothing in common except that they're introverted.

By the way, Ni dom/aux personality types (like INFJ, ENFJ, INTJ, ENTJ, ESTJ, ISTJ) are known to have black and white thinking. On the other hand, Ne dom/aux personality types (like ENTP, ENFP, INTP, INFP) are known for the opposite, challenging facts, beliefs, fine-tuning frameworks and coming up with new ways of doing things.

 

[BellaPippin]

Looks like a total lack of Fi and type-awareness, so we could probably remove all Fi types (INFP, ENFP ISFP, ESFP, ENTJ, INTJ, ISTJ, ESTJ).

Just like you I've also considered ENFJ, INFJ and INFP. Many times. But as far as stereotypes go:

• I'm considered a bit too bright to be an ENFJ and not as people focused. ENFJ's have weak Ti (Inferior, 4th slot), so an ENTP would always be more logical (Auxiliary, 2nd slot), rational and objective than an ENFJ who mostly seeks social harmony and unity in groups. They also love attention from every side.​
• INFJs are..something else. I've been deluded in the past that I am an INFJ, then I made 2 friends (and a girlfriend) that were definitely INFJ and to them I'm like some god in their eyes that they look up to and support unconditionally. Mostly because I've helped them with many things they lack experience in (women, working out, healthy eating and fighting depression). So I am unlikely to be an INFJ as I tend to provoke people a lot, often unbeknowst to me even.​
• INFP.. I went through high school thinking I was an INFP. But I was just a depressed ENTP. This got more obvious over time when my Ti and Fe developed. I became much more confrontative, witty, unapologetic due to Ti but Fe also lead to developing my social skills to turn my wittiness into charm for the ladies, to not be perceived as a nerd anymore. I'd like to say my Fe is really developed now, but I don't think the anime dude above would agree.​

I skimmed through a few pages of posts you've made just now. I defnitely see Ne and Ti. I believe you're an ENTP.

• Smart and witty? Check. (Ti)
• Brainstorms ideas on autopilot (Ne) and then replies to others saying "We don't need to brainstorm now guys!" even though you just did (lack of Fi)? Check.
• Gamer? Check. (Ne)
• Depressed, sexy nerd? Check. (Ne + Ti + Fe)
• Interested in Ancient Greece? Check. (Ne, a bit of Si)
• Argumentative, healthily skeptical? Check. (Ne + Ti)
• Hardcore memelord? Check. (Ne + Ti)
• Full of self-hatred and self-love at the same time? Check.
• Struggle with addiction? Check.
• Lost faith in humanity and even your family? (Ti) Check.
• Disgusted by narrow-minded people? Check. (Ne + Ti)
• Thinking of getting rid of social media for good because people are retarded? (and you should) Check. (Ti)
• Very proficient in English yet you are from South America? Check. (ENTPs are great at learning new things and that definitely includes foreign languages).
• Edits each and every post? Check.

I could add more but I think you get it by now. I took all of the above from your post history, and curiously it's exactly what I am like as well.

You got me at hardcore memelord, lmao!

Thanks for taking the time to check thru my posts to give some perspective! That "I went through high-school thinking I was an INFP but I was just a depressed ENTP" rung a bell for sure. It makes sense when you think the tertiary and last functions don't develop after your 20s and beyond which makes people wrongly think they change types, and I super feel like I've added a lot of tools to my personality in the past years, or sort of had some attitudes replace others (example: becoming much more assertive)

 

[DrScream]

Going to come back to this post to take some much needed notes because there's a lot to unpack here. I appreciate you taking the time. I'm a fellow ENTP and most everything that I've read here rings true for me. I just put in my 2 weeks about 3 days ago at my current job and am going to be pursuing Entrepreneurship full-time. I've got a semi-organized mental framework for how I'm going to get my business off the ground.

I've got some tips I'd like to add that will really help ENTP thrive in any new ventures they try to undertake.

1. Get your expenses LOW.
I've been working on cutting expenses for about a year now and finally have my expenses so low that I can pay my monthly bills from just 1 or 2 clients which I can easily acquire. I'm moving from Miami Florida to a city that is a lot cheaper to live in and have about a year worth of savings to get me by if I get zero clients (which is unlikely). The pressure of finances and paying your bills is something that stunts all your creative energy as an ENTP because we need freedom to let our brains run at full speed which is something that doesn't happen if we're stressing about where we are going to be working to get our bills paid. You can either get a high paying job which generally adds more stress to your life or you can do what I did and move to a place that's extremely cheap and get all of your unnecessary expenses low.

2. Don't get stuck!
I worked at the job I just quit for about 5 years and in these 5 years I've been in this automatic cycle of comfort because the job paid me enough to get by which took away a lot of my drive to better myself. I was going to work and then going home to play video games and I wasn't working on myself at all. I felt extremely stuck because I didn't want to give up the comfort of a 9 to5 job even though every fiber in my body was telling me to quit. If you're feeling stuck, just make sure that you devise a general plan for how you can get out of it and then get to work on bringing those plans to fruition. We're pretty good at that thankfully.

We've got some pretty bad a$$ brains as ENTPs, so we've got to use them or we risk staying mediocre. Just because you've got the tools to succeed, doesn't mean it'll come all on it's own. It'll still take a lot of work and perseverance but that's what you've got this forum for. Most of the people here will give you a kick in the a$$ when you're falling short of what you've got the potential to achieve.

 

[Simon Angel]

I'm an INTJ-A. I'm wondering how many there are here.

If I had to take a guess, I would say quite a few. ENTJ, ENTP, INTJ, INTP are the most common (and well-equipped) types to see the big picture and ultimately succeed in business.

I really like INTJs, they're shadow types with ENTP due to the mirrored function stacks. Even though they are often stubborn and opinionated I'd say they tend to be strategical geniuses (great at planning, slower to take action, good at strategy games) while ENTPs tend to be tactical geniuses (great at improvizing, quick to take action, good at FPS/moba/mechanical games. It's a good partner match too.

 

[Hai]

It's like anything else in life.

Nothing is 100% accurate about anything in life.

Many things will impact your results on something like a Myers Briggs:

• Not understanding certain words or questions in the test
• Not answering as your true self, but what society told you to be and how to act
• Your mood for the day
• Your mood for the week
• Memory
• Your interpetaion of what the questions are/mean
• etc

But these above will impact you on ANY test you take in life, right?

I took the MBTI test over several years growing up. I would be 1 of 3 things each time. Talking about maybe 1 time a year growing up. On average though, it would come back as 1 type the majority of the time. The minority would be 1 of the other 2.

A few years ago, I decided to take it on purpose many times with a few days or weeks between tests.

Out of many many tries, I kept coming back to INTJ. There were a few times something else would pop up but it was very small %.

Based on that, I decided to do the same routine with Ennagram. Same type of results, majority was 1 type but I kept getting another a slim amount of times.

I then did a lot of research into INTJ and 5w4's online. Not taking the test anymore, but research into careers, weakness, strengths, etc. All of that research kinda confirmed both labels.

I then proceeded to take other tests like the Strength's Finder test and more. Many of them came back with data that reinforced the INTJ and 5W4 outcome.

Within the last year, I took an even more in-depth approach.

I'm leaning a lot on INTP now.

Very very very similar in many ways to INTJ. Still connects on 5w4 and the other tests I took.

I don't think you can ever be 100%, but knowing at least 90% can make a difference.

You probably need to take it a few times and really get down to answering these things honestly from yourself, your core.

It might take months to do that.

You might want to look into cognitive functions to have a better grasp of you being INTP or INTJ.

https://i.pinimg.com/originals/73/42/d2/7342d226f93450489a3a3a3336e427e1.png

This test below is fairly good. Better to look at the functions stack rather than 16personalities test(which is based on big 5, not myers briggs).

Sakinorva Cognitive Functions Test (Grant/Brownsword)

A cognitive function test centered around the work of Harold Grant, Alan Brownsword, Myers & Jung, and the 16 personalities they describe, this personality test calculates a cognitive function type using two different algorithms and attempts to pin down your type.

sakinorva.net

 

[Ali Abbasi]

I’m just floored by this. Absolutely amazing! Perfect breakdown of exactly how I’m wired. I wish I could give this a million likes. I truly appreciate the insight and the mitigation tips. Lifesaver. Thank you so much for posting this.

 

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[Simon Angel]

I don't really know. The first time I ever took a personality test, I got Intp.

I think I am a mixture of INTP, ENTP and INTJ. I have the brainstorming of an INTP, I have a goofy side and love debating like an ENTP and I can make long term goals like an INTJ, although i find it hard to follow it due to low motivation or procrastination.

I am also act as a rebel, I not really into traditional or cultural stuff and hate the school system.

I heard that if you are struggling to identify if you are INTP or ENTP, then you must be ENTP. Is that true?

Ahh. Yep, sounds pretty ENTP.

 

[srodrigo]

Thanks for this thread, @Remiremi. I think this is one of the most important threads for some of us on this forum.

I'm an INFP (thanks Simon), so "just" auxiliary Ne, but I struggle a hell lot with what you described on your first post. My attention span is close to zero sometimes. I remember one particular day day where I decided to take 5 different career paths within that day. Insane. Let alone planning for the weekend and ending up doing any other random thing that catches my attention. I can imagine what nightmare this is for dominant Ne folks.

I think your video was really interesting too. The "what do you want?" question is more difficult than it seems. And sometimes there's a big conflict between what you want and what you have to do because your passions or interests don't align with what the market needs. Or maybe you have a couple of interests that are too different to build a business around all of them and it's difficult to choose. I think your weakness mitigations help a lot to at least ship something, even if it doesn't lead to a business (yet).

One thing I found useless for people with too many interests is to split the day into time buckets, as in school, and allocate one for each topic. I wonder whether this works for some people, but for me it drains my energy because I need to split my attention too much, which is already scattered enough. I found it better to follow what you say about letting yourself to make the most of the attention span for each interest.

 

[WarWizard]

Hello friends, are you an ENTP? Are you struggling with finishing things? Are you wondering why you can't seem to follow the monk-like discipline you crave so much?

This post is for you. (ps: This post may also apply to INTP, INFP, and ENFP, but it's not guaranteed. It has been primarily written for my fellow ENTP in mind.)

If you are a bit like me, and you probably are, you admire people of the ENTJ or INTJ types. The Elon Musks, the smart lads with the incredible power of execution.

They decide to do something and they just do it.

And you want that power, you want to be awesome at execution...

You have so many ideas (that you believe are amazing and revolutionary) if you concretize those ideas you will be on top of the world, don't you?

But when you start to work on them on your own, as a side-project or a business, your work ethic is gone, nowhere to be seen.

That's weird because you have an incredible work ethic everywhere else, be it at your job or in a team. You are always craving to learn more and become better. You always produce top-grade stuff and you are relentless. You are proud of this. And people agree with that statement.

You then, think you can make it out on your own, as skillful as you are, it would be a shame not to try.

But when you take the leap, you come to quickly realize, it's gonna be hard than expected.

First obstacle? Yourself.

You just can't seem to do what you know needs to be done.

You face a procrastination level more intense than anything you've never met in your life. Except maybe for that time you wanted to confess your love to your crush as a teenager.

You need to understand you are not a cold-blooded strategist that will follow a plan to completion.

You must understand this: You are an explorer! You go where your interest leads you. And when you are motivated by a will to explore your curiosity, YOU ARE UNSTOPPABLE.

The other side of the coin says, when you are disinterested in the tasks at hand, you feel bored as hell and will probably find a way to escape from doing the tasks at hand.

Your driving force is not the perspective of making shit loads of cash, neither it is the perspective of freedom, and sorry to break it to you, your driving force is not your desire to change the world for the better.

Your driving force is your curiosity. This is your motor.

With curiosity, you are a tsunami. Nothing will get in the way of the answer you seek.

Without curiosity, you are very good at finding excuses to not do what bores you out.

Why does it matter?

It matters because you will probably do the following mistake...

You will decide on a goal and following contemporary advice decide to make it S.M.A.R.T. Which basically means realistic with an arbitrary deadline.

Your strategizing mind will help you devise a sound plan of action, and your knack for creativity help you discerned a way you can even kill two birds with one stone.

You talk about it with whoever might be willing to listen and you feel on top of the world.

The first day? You are killing it. The second day? You are killing it.

The third day, you get sidetracked...

One month later? You haven't even achieved 10% of what you set out to do.

You were supposed to be able to do it in three months by focusing intensely.

Now, this seem very compromised. You feel miserable and guilty. You wonder if you are any good at anything.

This scenario keeps happening again, again, and again... Until you give up or you stumble upon the truth.

Let's give a closer look at your primary hypothesis.

So you were thinking you can do it in just three months by focusing intensely?

Well good news, you were half right.

You can do it...

...But not in three months.

Why?

Because even though you can focus intensely consistently on the subject you are curious about.

You can't stay curious about the same subject consistently.

So your curiosity will lead you to places you can't predict.

You just know one thing for sure, if you were interested in something one day, you will be interested in that thing again. You just can't predict when.

You will actually bring that project to completion effortlessly, but not in the shortest time possible.

Instead of the three months, you estimated, it will likely be six to nine months.

And that's ok, because that won't be the only thing you have done in those six to nine months.

You have an unprecedented capacity for multithreading, you just can't allocate all your threads to one project. It must be different projects. This is how you are.

If you are curious about something, you will want to drop the ball on your current project to satisfy your curiosity. And you must do it.

But every time you follow your curiosity you must find a way to get away with more than just knowledge.

Unused knowledge is ephemeral, vanishing as swiftly as it was acquired.

You must build something from the fruit of your recently acquired knowledge that will stand the test of time and bring you a small but lasting advantage.

It doesn't need to be perfect, it just needs to be there.

THE KEY THING TO TAKE AWAY FROM THIS: You must shift from a consumer to a producer.

You must start producing stuff. Start businesses, start a blog, do everything you want, but DO. (keyword do, not just read about/learn about etc....)

It's normal for you to getting informed about something you are interested in, but you need to act on it. You must build something out of it. You must share it with the world.

You must create things and release them in the world. I REPEAT. You must create things and release them in the word.

You don't have to follow a great mastermind plan, you don't have to follow a routine or fixed planning. You don't have to torture yourself to heck out every last bit of productivity there's inside you.

You just need to listen to yourself and follow your curiosity. And to do it everyday.

Your strength is the speed at which you can pivot.

You can change your mind and start working on something different than what you were doing, at full speed, and immediately.

You can survey a complicated question an bring back multiple possible answers at the speed of light.

You are impulsive and adaptable. You can do anything you want because you will always find a way... As long as you are interested.

This surges of productivity come at a cost. Your interest in a particular thing has a very short shelf-life. One to two days top. Sometimes it's less than a couple of hours.

If you don't catch the wave of curiosity, it's gone, and sometimes it's gone for several weeks or months.

So expecting yourself to work on the same project, without interruptions every day for three months in a row? ... You are being oblivious to your own nature, my friend.

You probably know that by now, the biggest predictor of entrepreneurial success is consistency.

Then how can you expect success if you can't stay on track and schedule for more than two weeks?

You need to build a different kind of consistency than a rigid routine and prison-like tight schedules.

You need to play on your strength: Explore and Exploit ASAP.

Don't explore something without bringing back a treasure from your adventure.

Examples:

• You were curious about nutrition and muscle-growth gym regimen? You binge-learned every possible way to do it (instead of doing your job lol). You just acquired way too much knowledge to expect yourself to remember it a week from now. So applying it consistently? Out of your league.
  The solution? Swiftly assemble a training and nutrition guide based on what you just explored, package it in a nice PDF, and then share it with the world. You can decide to monetize it or just to share it for free on a forum, it doesn't matter. It will help some people, and that's good for your karma. Second benefit, the day you will want to actually go to the gym, you can just follow your own guideline. Two birds, one stone.
• You are learning Python and discover the weird world of Decorators and Closures. This stuff is basically out of your league and at your level you will probably never use it. But you can't shake off the feeling. You start binging and learning mystical stuff. Before you go back to the real world to what will actually move you forward in the grand scheme of things, put on together in one shot a blog post that you will publish on Medium behind the paywall. Boom! Three birds, one stone: Personal Branding & Portfolio : check; a very slim source of additional passive income: check; a quick way to retrieve your long-lost knowledge about closures when you finally need it, three years from now: check.
• Well you see the idea, indulge your instinct and before the honeymoon ends, build something that will last. In this way, you will shift from an inconsistent being to a prolific and polymath builder. You will shift from consumer to producer.

So by now, if you are an ENTP, you are probably envisioning what I am talking about.

I want to add a couple of other points... Playing on your strength also means you need to mitigate your weakness.

Your strength and weaknesses are two faces of the same coin. You can't get one without the other.

During my short time on earth as an entrepreneurial ENTP, I have summarized below everything I know about mitigating our innate weaknesses.








Weakness mitigation tips #1: You can only respect HARD DEADLINES.

There's two kind of deadlines: HARD deadlines and SOFT deadlines.

HARD deadlines are deadlines you must respect. When you are under hard deadlines, you work like crazy to respect them. Those are often imposed by a promise or the external environment. Hard Deadlines are why you have so much work ethic when you work for somebody else.

SOFT deadlines are deadlines you don't have obligation to respect. Basically they are deadlines you can bullshit yourselves out of easily. Often those are arbitrary and self-imposed, for example, SMART Goals. Soft deadlines are why you have so few work ethic when you work for yourself.

The litmus test is simple, "Can I find a way to not respect that deadline?".
If you start generating a thousand ideas about how to do so, then it's a soft deadline and this deadline means nothing to you and will bring you nothing. (except guilt)

So you being too clever may start to think? "Oh, gotcha I just need to change every deadline into a HARD deadline".

NO! Don't do this. The only way to do this is to take risks and to put yourself at a disadvantage. You are basically gambling on yourself just to create the pressure necessary to do the work. This is a horrible way to live your life.

(ex of this destructive behavior: Damaging relationships just to be sure you will do something. Wasting all your money to let the pressure of feeding your family let you work like crazy, etc...)

As an ENTP what you crave is freedom, this way of proceeding (a.k.a. burn your bridges) is the polar opposite of freedom. It will make you feel miserable and burn you out, also it sucks because you are destructing what you build to build more. This is terrible. Don't do it.

Just understand that soft deadlines mean nothing to you and plan accordingly.

Don't gamble on a deadline you can bullshit yourself out of.

Soft deadlines are a distraction to you, those are noise. SMART goals stuff like that, forget those, they don't work with you.

But also, don't take on too many hard deadlines at the same time.

Those hard deadlines are like prison chains to you. And what you crave is freedom.

If you enchain yourself too much, you will burnout.

This leave the question. How an ENTP can get stuff done?

Weakness Mitigation tip #2: Boredom is like a steel wall to you. You can't get through it and have to wait for the door of curiosity to open.

So what should I do? The ENTP equivalent of taking massive actions.

You must play to your strength and mitigate your weakness.

Follow your curiosity and build something from your exploration. Build it quickly, in a couple of hours or max. You must build it before your curiosity wither.

Understand that boredom is your limit. You can only go through boredom excruciatingly. This is your hard deadline for every project, you must finish the milestone before boredom takes you and your curiosity wants to go somewhere else.

A quick note about perfection?
What you build must never be perfect. Perfection is your enemy, it makes you anxious and buries you in analysis paralysis. (= you don't do shit and feel shitty about it)

What should I do when I am bored with a project and want to do something else?

You must stop and do something else. You will get back to the project eventually if you were interested once, you will be interested twice.

Weakness Mitigation tip #3: Don't make plans more detailed than a rough outline.

A detailed and carefully crafted plan is wasted on you... You will never follow it through.

Don't spend time creating detailed stratagems to get to your goals. THIS IS A WASTE OF TIME, DO SOMETHING ELSE INSTEAD.

You are tactical and agile. The time horizon you can plan on is limited to a couple of hours. It's very short.

For the long term, you can guess how things are gonna roughly. Your intuition power is often on point.

It's even more powerful when you feed your intuition with data. How do you get your data?

Every time you want to plan your future, turn to your past instead and log what you have been doing in the last few days.

You want to empirically determine your speed of production. Take the time to keep track of what you did during the day.

You can use this basic template:

Questions to gather data about your explorations:
1. What have I been interested in the last few day?
2. How did I go about exploring that interests?
3. What did I get out of it?
4. How long did it took?
5. What have I build-out of what I discovered? How have I used it?
6. How long did it took?
7. Is there thing I can do better next time? Things I need to avoid next time?

Answer those questions every two to three days. (Optimally, every time you finish a cycle of Exploration / Exploitation)

Store those answers in a way you can easily access those later. (Don't just write on a spare napkin and throw it away).

Weakness Mitigation tip # 4: Don't try to follow a perfect routine.

In the same way, hard deadlines are a chain to you, trying to respect arbitrary daily planning will lower your available energy for the day.

Instead, have a shortlist of 5 mandatory items you must do during the day and that you can do quickly.

If you can't cross every item of that list in less than 100 minutes, the list is too long.

An example can be:

• Meditate 10 minutes.
• Walk the dog.
• Do the dishes.
• Quick workout at the gym.
• Write in my journal.

Sometimes you will meditate in the morning, sometimes before you go to bed, sometimes during the commute. Doesn't matter, you need the flexibility to do things when you are ready for those.

What matters is that you crossed every item of the list, not when you crossed those.

The rest of the day, follow your curiosity relentlessly and get something out of it.

Weakness Mitigation tip #5: Keep your Anxiety in check... It keeps your from entering a Flow state.

First of all, You must strive to get into Flow. Getting into flow every day is your bread and butter as an ENTP.

Though there's one thing that can keep you from entering a Flow state even if you are well rested, in good health, and will push you to immediate-rewards behavior.(ex:... alcohol, infinite scrolling, eating way too much sugar, gambling, buying spree, opening 200+ tabs on your web browser about a shitty subject you don't even care about)

This thing is Anxiety.

You must learn to effectively manage your anxiety level. Because when highly stressed and without a hard deadline, you are basically dysfunctional and will get nothing done.
(Please remember that high-stress level and hard pressure to get things done is a miserable way to live your life. It's okay once in a while but don't abuse it.)

So do things that help you rest and recover. Make a conscious effort to recover and balance your innate restlessness.
Examples:
- Sport you genuinely enjoy
- Meditation
- Light encounter with your social circle
- Playing games
- Read books unrelated to your goals. (fiction, or history)
- Get a massage.
- Dance, Concert, Restaurant
- Journaling, gratitudes etc...

Weakness Mitigation tip #6: Inject a bit of order in your life.

Then, because you are so future and possibly oriented you need help to organize things that happened in your past.

• Some of us are a mess when it comes to meetings and time constraints or remembering special events like birthdays. ⇒ Get a calendar, note everything inside, check it often.
• Your life memory is foggy at best and can't remember specifics even if you try hard, it often means you are totally wrong about your achievements and efforts (often wrongly believe you never did anything right) ⇒ Spend time every day to journal about your life, log your decisions and log your achievements. Include specifics like mood, time spent on task etc... When in doubt about what you have been doing, you can read those logs to help you access data you would have forget otherwise.
• Revisiting your life is very difficult for you as you get immediately distracted. If you believe you have a trauma from your childhood (and most people have) ⇒ Consider going to a psychologist who will guide you through the fumes of your past.
• You want a boost of productivity and increase your odds of success in the short term. ⇒ Get an accountability coach that will help you add some order in your life. (Getting a coach is one of the ways to help you achieve soft deadlines you would not be able to honor otherwise), it also helps you clarify and be more surgical about your focus.
• You forget the things your family / entourage needs you to do (do the laundry, send wishes for birthday etc...)

Weakness Mitigation tip #7: Become more aware of your mind, thoughts and body.

You must strive to be aware of your mental state, to identify when you start to get bored and must finish asap or to identify when you are curious about something.

The best way to do so is to practice mindfulness meditation (yes seriously) and to do sports that demand to be aware of the mind-body connection.

This will help you be more tuned toward your sensations and thoughts. Which is key to live a more fluid and free life.

Weakness Mitigation tip #8: GET RID OF YOUR PHONE / SOCIAL MEDIA
Phones are engineered to suck your attention away from whatever your doing. Your attention is a raw resource they monetize.

As an ENTP you are curious and novelty-seeker, and you are very competent at indulging your curiosity for hours on end.

Attention vampires have access to brilliant minds that they pay a lot to spend their day engineering way to suck your attention for the sake of ad profits.

Against a phone, you are at the bottom of the food chain.

PHONES ARE YOUR NATURAL ENEMY.

Possible solutions to mitigate the damage from your phone:
- Destroy it.
- Use apps blocker like STAY-FOCUSED (android)
- Use phone blocker like FOREST. (ps: it doubles as a Pomodoro app, and is gamified which makes you less likely to bypass it, you sly fox)
- Use a way to track and realize how much time you waste on your phone, like STAY-FOCUSED. (prepare to be shocked)
- Change the color of your phone in grey-scale or invert white/black, attention vampires use flashy colors to suck you in, you can fight that by getting rid of colors.
How to do it with iPhone here, and how to do it with Android here.
- Destroy it.
- Buy a NOKIA 3310, a hand-held GPS, a vintage MP3 player, a nice watch, and a paper agenda. If you think about it, everybody has a phone so you don't really need one, as you can just ask to borrow the functionality you lack.

I repeat. GET RID OF YOUR PHONE. Thank me later.

Weakness Mitigation tip #9: You don't do well in a pond of sharks, you need a supportive and encouraging environment.

You are trusting and willing to see the best face of everyone you meet. You want to collaborate and share your knowledge.

You are good in a team and with people, especially when you can assume everybody is on the same side.

You want to trust people, and you usually demonstrate trust first. Keep doing that, it's one of your competitive edges.

But a word of caution, trusting people first doesn't mean people should be safe double-crossing you.

Of course, some foe will want to abuse your willingness to help.

If somebody abuses your trusting identity YOU MUST RETALIATE. I am serious.

You will know when somebody abuses your kindness. Your Machiavellian side will know immediately. DON'T MAKE EXCUSES FOR THE VILLAINS.

THEY CROSS YOU, YOU CROSS THEM. PERIOD.

ONCE YOU HAVE DEMONSTRATED YOU CAN BITE AS WELL AS YOU CAN SMILE and both sides are bleeding, YOU CAN THEN SHOW FORGIVENESS.

AFTER ALL, YOU DON'T LIKE CONFLICT.

This assumes that you are evolving in an environment where people willing to screw you are an anomaly, and most people are on your side.

If you realize that people wanting to screw you over are the norm, then you are in a pond of shark AND YOU MUST RUNAWAY ASAP.

Let the evil political game and the House of Cards vibe for the people who thrive in those corrosive environments.

This is not you.

You will thrive more in a group that is trusting and encouraging, united in a common cause.

The fact that you have a developed Machiavellian mind doesn't mean you must use it at 100%.

If people around you are mean, calculating, or vain. Leave, without looking back.

Weakness Mitigation tip #10: Don't bet on speed. Build an advantage for the long game instead.

Because, when you start out as an ENTP, you will never be the first to arrive somewhere... (When you will become an experienced ENTP, this will change, as your tactical velocity will be unheard of, but when you start, well... You are not the fastest.)
... You must not pick your battles based on rewards correlated with a short time to arrival... (Example, you are starting out with dropshipping, you see everybody is going for fidget spinners. Don't go for it, you will arrive after the battle.)
... Instead, You must pick your battle based on long term compounded rewards. (Example, learning skills that are difficult and valuable to master. Code, Copywriting, Writing, Consulting.)

Then once you start to have an edge that is difficult to replicate...(Example; you are a blockchain enthusiast, but you probably know things more in-depth than most of the other blockchain enthusiasts.)
... Pick a battle that will complement it and that triggers your curiosity (Example, starting a blog about blockchain + learning how to do first-class SEO).

Even though everybody was faster than you in the short run... (Example, your accountability partner Tom became a millionaire just in two years, and you were still in your parent basement)
... On the long run, you will establish a valuable strategic advantage that is hard for anybody else to replicate. (Example: Five years later, your Blockchain blog is ranked first on google and is monetized with ads, You keep getting people asking you to interview you and you started a consulting business about blockchain. You never made that much money in your life and you now have a strong network. You basically do what you want, when you want, with who you want, from anywhere you want.).




....


Alright I am getting bored, just one last thing before we go...

TLDR: implement the code written below in your daily life. It will do the trick, I know you will figure out the specifics on your own.

ENTP?

Be Patient and Restless

⬪

You must be patient in the long term.

You will get where you want.

But you won't get there in the shortest amount of time possible.

Because you will take so many detours.

So be patient.

⬪

You must be restless in the sort term.

Want to explore an option, fine, do it.

Go all the way.

Unleash your curiosity.

... But you must make a pact with yourself.

Every time you unleash your curiosity, you must build a memento and share it with the world.

A simple recipe...

1/ Explore until bored.

2/ Quickly build something valuable for others.

3/ Share it to the people who most need it.

You are an explorer and every time you go on an adventure, you bring back wonderful treasures, undiscovered before.

Promise yourself you won't keep those treasures to yourself and will share those with the world.

Once your oath is taken, go.

Explore.

Follow your curiosity relentlessly.

Everyday.

You are free now.

⬪

​

BONUS:

What does it look like when you are not playing to your strength and mitigating your weakness?:

You are doing something, let's call it interest A. You begin to be interested in interest B.
You decide to keep doing interest A.
You slowly get bored and pick up your phone.
Five hours later, you haven't finished working on interest A.
You feel guilty and have trouble falling asleep this evening.
You wake up, lethargic, it takes you four hours before finally getting to work on interest A.
It's excruciatingly boring but you manage to finish it. You begin to be interested in interest C.
You repress it and start working on interest B.
And so on and so on....

It feels like an uphill battle.

Also, it's depressing because you know your current velocity of execution is nowhere near your actual potential...

What does it look like when you play to your strength and mitigate your weaknesses?

You are doing something, let's call it interest A. You begin to be interested in interest B.

You switch your focus on interest B.
Five hours later you know everything you could know about interest B. You are still hungry for more.
You decide to produce something about your discovery. (for the sake of example and to give you an idea of what it could be, let's say it's an article you will put on medium behind the paywall and you include a bait to your newsletter.)
Three hours later you are done with the building phase, you share it with the world and go to bed.
You feel good and sleep well.
You wake up, early in the morning, your interest for interest A is back and you feel the urge to do something about it.
You jump out of bed and start working asap, forgetting breakfast. By noon you are done with interest A.
You begin to be interested in interest C. You start working immediately on interest C.
And so on and so on.

You are prolific and restless. Your cumulative speed of production is unheard of. You are proud of you.

Could you have been done with interest A sooner if you had double down on it? No. You can't get away with boredom. This is your limit.

This is why you need to be patient. You are like a wind vane, you keep turning. So you will get there. You just won't get there by the shortest path.

This is why you need to be restless. Because you have to take the detour and answer the calling of your curiosity, you have to move as fast as possible, or you will never finish anything.


....


Hope it helps,

Rémi

P.S.: Btw, from my slim understanding of typology, this can maybe apply also to INFP, ENFP, and INTP.

DAMN. Great work in putting this together in an actionable and useful format.

After years of (intermittently going very deep) learning and testing ideas from many psychometric models, the conclusions I was coming to as an INTP are what you've articulated so well in your post.

I kept going "But, system 'x' (GTD etc) works for so many, why not me?" and thought that I was doing something wrong.

Finally after desiging so many 'elegant' productivity systems, I realised that I need 3 - 5 priorities for the day, and 3 - 5 time blocks where I focussed on the priority items, with other 'fun' and 'admin' type items spread in between.

The idea to pursue the various interests and then create something valuable out of them before flitting off to the next one is GOLD on its own, and is something I will be integrating into my workflow.

Thanks for taking the time to share your findings.

PS. You are right, these do apply at least for INTP's as much as it does for ENTP's.

Very relatable and well-written, ENTP here with a 8w7 enneagram.

I have a progress thread where you can witness the potential and the disappointment that is the ENTP with striking resemblance to what is depicted here.

My super interests from age 14 to 22:

1. League of Legends - started out ultra bad, became a Challenger player in a few years, quit about 5-6 times before I reached that goa. Procrastinated streaming for a long time and ended up quitting for the 10th time or so since I used to be #1 in the world with a champion in the game. This has been on and off since 2012 and I think I quit for good, though I often feel like competing again. I probably played a total of 3 years from 2012 to 2012, so I spent a longer time off the game than on it.

2. Ecommerce/Dropshipping - spent 6 months learning everything from scratch (googled how to get rich and landed on the forum) then set out and created my whole store (did not touch the design after, it was good) + set up payment methods in just one morning, launched a product by lunch and in the afternoon I already had sales and ended up earning $30K a month from that. Got ultra sick for years, almost died a few times and the store + my money evaporated (among other things).

3. Formula 1 - dream since I was a child was to become an F1 racer. Father laughed at the idea and said that's not possible since we're from Bulgaria and poor. Now I am even more invested in the sport, bought a sim racing wheel + games and have eSports level competitive lap times after half a year of on/off driving. If I have a son one day I'm going to help him achieve whatever the f*ck he wants, and if it's to become an F1 driver I'm going to take him karting and sponsor him until his talent is recognized and bigger names take over with me in the management role.

4. Web design / Digital marketing - Started out in May last year, did 2 sites for free. I completely forgot about it until I decided to go at it again after going in debt from my 5th dropshipping attempt THIS May. Ended up learning how to cold call, close meetings and sales and I'm not in debt anymore. I can't really scale this locally and I'm not entirely interested in the idea anyway, so I decided to start reaching out to US businesses with cold emails + video audits. My pronounciation improved a ton and I'm sending out e-mails but it's something like 10 video emails one day, 3 the next, 0 for a week and then 5, 10, 15 the next few days. Then another idea catches my interest or I start reminiscing about League of Legends/Formula 1 and my theoretical streaming/sim racing success.

I'm really guilty of letting my close ones pressure me into being more productive. I've always felt they just don't understand, but then again it's not a terrible idea to improve the dreaded Si function. I can still only make my bed in the morning for 3 consecutive days and that's the end of that.

Weed helps when I get overwhelmed (keeps my Crohn's disease in remission as well).

Thanks for making this thread again, lots of valuable info and a perfect example of "practice what you preach".


P.S The only way to be 99.9% sure you're an ENTP (get it) is if you "tried out" every one of the 16 personalities for size at one point. I've managed to convince myself I'm an ENTJ, INTJ, ISFP, INFP, ENFJ, ISTP, ISTJ and etc. But I always end up coming back to ENTP lol.

John's Personality Test - Accurate and quick cognitive functions test.

@Simon Angel - Thanks for sharing that test.

I just read your Intro and you are only 26 and came to those conclusions? Bloody hell, I feel old. I have read a lot of non fiction books, psychology and what not, but nobody has ever laid it out in such simple terms that you can actually understand.
It is an amazing post, I am one of those ENTP's which has always had those issues. My wife hand my friends have always complained about me starting something new every other day, that I get these great ideas and they die out with the same speed they come to live.
When you reach 45 and read post like yours and realising that the author is half of your age, you fell really dumb. You feel that you were oblivious all those years.
Anyhow, great you are here and shared your thoughts.

Best wishes!
Pete

@tonibob - same here. In my late 30's and have been exploring these things for a long time. Great to have people like @Remiremi here who share valuable findings like this so we can all learn and grow together.

Thanks to a not-so-well developed Fe function in ENTPS and INTPS it usually manifests as them being pranksters, aloof and overall disagreeable assholes until their early 20s (potentially late 20s for INTPS). ENTPS in particular tend to be nasty until their late teens, when they discover that being charming and utilising their unique feel for socializing (thanks to Ne + Ti with a pinch of Fe) they can influence people and do better in life. In high school that manifests as an ENTP being a virgin smartass nerd who ends up transitioning into funny, likable and flirty.

LOL - yeah, so so true...

 

[Simon Angel]

hey @Simon Angel , So I wanted to touch on a few of these... see what your thoughts were since you asked but I never responded to them until today.

1. Were you late to school? Are you often late now? - Never. Always on time or a bit early. I really dislike people who are late.

2. Prefer or better at strategy games that involve planning and foreseeing or MOBAs/shooters who are fast paced and involve a lot of mechanical/tactical skill rather than strategical? - I enjoy both, but I have to say I like shooters better for fun. If I were to be honest, I hardly play any games but I find myself drawn to shooters

3. Secretly believe that communism is better than capitalism? - No, capitalism is better

4. See everyone as equal or as below/above you? - Above or below me

5. Do you think that you know a lot or do you think you don't know anything? - I think I know a lot.

I think the next 2 could be bit of a ramble, so I left them off for now.

Will try to post the results of the test, but I typically like to take tests several times so might be a few days on that.

Can you tell anything from what I answered though when it comes to INTJ or INTP?

Thanks

Hi @eliquid,

I appreciate the honesty in your answers.

Definitely sounds like you're an INTJ, though ISTJ is a possibility as well. Considering your level of self-awareness, I'd put my money on INTJ, though.

The test is one of the best out there and my personal favorite.

 

[Simon Angel]

I am loving this conversation so much. Thanks Remi for starting!

I’ve always thought I was an ENTP. Well the first time I took a test it came out INFJ but I have taken many test over the years and usually got NT, often ENTP and I usually scored way high on the N over S and on the P over J - like 100% Perceiving.

That’s why I’m surprised with these two results from John’s test:

Test complete!
33% ENFP
23% ENTJ
21% ENTP

Test complete! (restart)
58% ENTJ
14% INTJ
8% ENTP
5% ESTJ
4% ENFJ

Btw, I have found this topic so intriguing that I’ve been trying to get through the whole thing before commenting. I’ve been taking notes. I’m about half way through. I can’t really let myself skim it because I like to fully understand. I don’t know if my slow rate of progress has to do with me getting interested in something else or the fact that I have 4 kids and 5 dogs to take care of while my wife is away, and lots of home improvement projects going on.

Many more questions to follow but just wanted to share that in case others can help me clarify.

I plan to learn a lot more about the cognitive functions next. Maybe I should do that before I stick with it and finish this thread.

P.S. I too am not a fan of 16personalities - I’ve gotten much more from Truity and reading David Keirsey’s ‘Please Understand Me II’.

P.P.S. One question about examples: when people point to actors like Tom Hanks or Matthew Perry, isn’t there a danger that they are referring more to the characters they play? Is it really going by interviews/biography/etc. or rather looking at Chandler Bing, the old guy in Big, or Woody from Toy Story?

ENFP and ENTJ both share extraverted thinking and introverted feeling (Te, Fi) so they can sometimes be mistaken for one another (but only at first glance).

You're definitely showing signs of a divergent, non-linear thought process, which points to extroverted intuition (Ne), the dominant function of both ENFPs and ENTPs.

I have ENFP friends and while we do share a bunch of traits, it's very easy to differentiate between us - ENFPS tend to be happy-go-lucky, optimistic, universally-liked people (like you) while ENTPs are often dark, realistic, and can be considered by some as assholes.

In regards to your question about actors: It can be both. If you check out the Personality Database website, you can look up actors' types as well as their movie/tv series characters' types.

And the best part about it is that they're not typed by the site creators, but by the users and usually one type reigns supreme over the others.

 

[HabitsCampaigner]

From my research, thinking and observation, explorers (who tends to be higher in the visionary scale) need to partner (or get help from contractors) with an 'integrator' to bring their visions to life.

Thanks, WarWizard!

I've witnessed in my own experience that sometimes another person like an ESTP helps get me activated on one of my many ideas. Or when editors greatly helped me fine-tune my writing. I would not partner in any official way (to keep control of the business) but I think contracting, employing, and dialoging with friends and family can be a huge help to explorers.

At other times in my past, it just clicked for me without any partnership. Like when I learned about the Internet in 1996, or met my wife and it was love at first sight.

The cognitive theory pages at The Principles of Cognitive Function Theory @mbti-notes has been really helping me a lot; if you too dig in there, don't skim over the links to the inferior in depth pages. That was an eye-opener.

 

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[mr4ffe]

INTP but this was still helpful.