ENFP Wiring of the Mind.
Hey it’s Joel Mark Witt from Personality Hacker.
As an ENFP your mind is fundamentally wired differently from other personalities.
You’ve probably already heard that you are an extravert, intuitive, feeler, perceiver.
And a lot of articles and resources focus on the behaviors you show the world as an
ENFP.
Behavior can be helpful - but it isn’t the complete picture when figuring out your personality.
I want to give you a peek inside your mind to expose the mental wiring that makes you
an ENFP.Let’s get started.
Your four letter code ENFP gives us insight into how your mind is learning information
and making decisions.
The primary way your mind sees the world is by using a mental process we’ve nicknamed
“Exploration.”
It’s technical name is Extraverted Intuition.
When looking at the world - Exploration asks the question “What if?”“What if we could
build a machine that let’s humans fly?”“What if we cross breed a Lion with a Tiger?”“What
if I pretend to speak a foreign language on the first day of class?”
Imagine a four passenger car.
If one of your mental processes could drive - it would be Exploration.
Using this mental process puts you in flow.
You’ve been using it your whole life.
It’s your reality filter and informs what captures your attention.
If Exploration is how you see the world as an ENFP, then the mental process we’ve nicknamed
Authenticity is how you make your best decisions.
The technical name for Authenticity is Introverted Feeling.
When evaluating any decision - Authenticity asks the question “Does this feel right
to me?”
It’s a feeling process concerned with how the events in your life impact you on a subjective
emotional level.
Think about that four passenger car again… if Exploration is in the driver seat - then
Authenticity is in the front passenger seat.
It is your co-pilot mental process and what we call your growth state.
Of course - this is a four passenger car so you also have two mental processes in the
backseat.
Sitting right behind the co-pilot is a mental process we call Effectiveness.
Effectiveness is all about what works, what gets the job done, what’s the bottom line?
It’s about getting tasks and objectives accomplished regardless of personal feelings
and when not used in a healthy way can disregard personal ethics.
This mental process has the development of about a ten year old child.
Finally - behind the driver of Exploration sits a mental process called Memory.
We call this your blind spot or three year old mental process.
Memory is all about precedent, safety, doing the reliable thing.
It’s about realizing who you are based on your past and your ties to the past.
Notice - we haven’t talked about ENFP behaviors.
Instead, I’ve been talking about the mental wiring of your mind.
Behaviors can only give us clues to how your mind is wired.
It’s far more interesting to dive into WHAT CAUSES our behaviors as people.
Here at Personality Hacker - We don’t talk about personality types for their own sake.
We think understanding your personality is one of the best ways to frame your personal
growth journey.And we attract ENFPs who are interested in personal growth.Next up - I
want to talk about the best way to grow yourself as an ENFP.
Remember the car model we used to show the mental wiring of your personality?
As an ENFP your co-pilot is the mental process called Authenticity (it’s technical name
is Introverted Feeling).
This is what we call your growth position.
It’s the highest leverage point for growth in your personality.
Authenticity allows you as an ENFP to make decisions that resonate with your core identity
and inner wisdom.
Does this feel right to me?Is this action really an expression of how I see myself?
Am I making this choice because it is true to my inner wisdom?
Authenticity encourages you as an ENFP to ignore expedience and instead choose meaning
and alignment.
It’s easy for an ENFP to get into action and get things done, but if those actions
are out of alignment - you will always feel like something is missing.
Growing your Authenticity can be a challenge for you as an ENFP.
It can take a while to process and develop how you feel about a decision.
Every personality type tends to avoid growing their co-pilot mental process.
But here lies the power of understanding your personality.Don’t see your Authenticity
as a hinderance - embrace the slower pace of getting into this mental process because
it gives you the opportunity to slow down and become present as an ENFP.
It feels right to focus on your core values.
It feels like it’s in alignment for you to focus on your true internal motivations
and desires.
It should feel in alignment - that to continue doing the right things - you’ll need to
go inside and check in with your inner wisdom to discover what really matters to you on
a core level As an ENFP - Your inner wisdom already knows
what’s right for you.
Don’t ignore the deep core of your true heart.
Start asking - “what emotion impact do I want to create in my life?”
Spend some focused introverted time thinking about how you personally feel.
See if you can your map your emotions to parts of your body
Each time you are faced with a decision - close your eyes and ask yourself what feels right
for you in this moment In the middle of a disagreement - pay attention
to how you are FEELING in the moment.
Do what it takes to access your inner wisdom.As an ENFP you will bring the best version of
yourself to the world when you get inside your heart and map your inner values and motivations.
We’d love for you - to keep us up to date about your journey.
One of the best places to do that is our Facebook page (Facebook dot com forward slash Personality
Hacker).And of course - come over to Personality Hacker dot com and leave a comment - ask a
question - or take our personality test.
Next I want to talk about the defense strategies your mind uses that steal happiness from you.
And of course - what to do about it.The word defensive.
You probably think of of an emotional state - or someone getting offended in the moment.
“She’s acting so defensive.”
someone might say.
But I’m not talking about emotions.
I’m using the word positionally.
As an ENFP you have a specific area of your mind that you defend.As an ENFP - That’s
your Effectiveness process sitting in the backseat of your car.
It has the sophistication of a 10-year-old child.
That’s okay when you use this process to get the tasks done that your Authenticity
has already prioritized.
The trouble starts when you begin to rely on this 10 year old process of Effectiveness
as your primary way to determine which activities to do in life.
Since Effectiveness is concerned with getting things done - it can often show up when you
have endless options and you don’t know which one to choose.
You may get into action or commit to a project before knowing it’s right for you.
When you feel hurt, Effectiveness can also be used to stay so busy that you can’t connect
with others and create intimacy.
Or in an attempt to ‘do everything’ - or to become impossible to pin down - you can
lose your inner wisdom and become exploitative.
For an ENFP this can show up as telling others what they want to hear.
At it’s worst Effectiveness can take you down a road of anger, emotional manipulation
or becoming a con artist.
If you let your 10 year old take a directive role you’ll be busy and maybe even productive,
but you’ll lose your identity and can offend your own core values.
You need to take time to truly evaluate who you are, what means something to you and how
you want to contribute to the world.
Don’t let your Effectiveness process steal your happiness.The solution is to focus on
growing your Authenticity process like we’ve talked about before.
I want to hear from you.
How are you letting your 10 year old of Effectiveness hijack your happiness?
What are the ways you as an ENFP are getting into action without checking with your inner
wisdom first?
You can leave a comment or take our personality test over at Personality Hacker dot com.
Next we’ll talk about how you best show and receive love as an ENFP.I’ve got two
quick lists for you today.
First - how ENFPs ask “do you love me.”
Second - how ENFPs show other people love.
Here are a few examples of how ENFPs ask do you love me?
Imagine an ENFP asking these questions:
Do you think I’m being real with you?
Do you trust my motives and intent?
Will you support me no matter what - do you have my back?
Will you give me space to be me?
Here are examples of ENFPs saying “Yes - I love you” Imagine an ENFP making these statements:
I will be patient with your honest expressions I will honor your feelings and identity, even
if it’s a struggle for both of us.
I will hold space for you and give you alone time when you need it
I will have your back no matter what the fight is
I will trust you have my best interests at heart
As an ENFP you are probably nodding in agreement.
Just remember that other personalities can sometimes see these ways you show love passive
or self absorbed.Feel free to share with the people in your life how your mind works.
Let them know the ways you show love are authentic for you.
If you want to go deeper in your personal development - we have tons of resources, articles
and recordings about personal development through the lens of understanding your personality.
Come over to Personality Hacker dot com.
Next up - let’s talk about where to go next in your personal growth as an ENFP.
I have some action steps for you.
We’ve been talking about YOU - the ENFP personality type.
I’ve already detailed the mental wiring of your mind.
We’ve talked about your highest leverage point for growth and shed light on your defensive
strategies.
And we’ve outlined how you give and receive love.
So what’s next for you as an ENFP?
How will you launch yourself on a personal development journey that resonates with you?Understanding
that each of us have a unique personal growth path seems obvious.
And yet - self help authors and teachers often teach a one size fits all model of growth.At
Personality Hacker - It feels right that personal growth will be personalized to you as an ENFP.
So that’s how we’ve designed our frameworks and models.
You now know the mental process to grow yourself as an ENFP is Authenticity.
We hear from ENFPs all the time that are insecure about the knowledge and insight they bring
to the world.
Many ENFPs worry that they are only seen as “life of the party” or the “class clown.”
Most ENFPs want to truly inspire others.
They want to be an example of living an exciting and inspirational life.Developing Authenticity
takes an ENFP from being “fun” to “inspirational.”
The enemy of Authenticity is frenetic, thoughtless activity.
Authenticity requires time, space and introspection.
Sometimes this means addressing painful emotions.
Sometimes you may feel even more indecisive at first.
But given time and practice - Authenticity will increase the quality of your decisions,
ensuring you only commit to things you actually believe in.
Set up your conditions to slow down and give yourself the needed alone time to check in
with your Inner Wisdom.
A good way to practice this technique is to explore where your values and beliefs come
from.
Are your core values inherited from parents, influential people in your life, or your culture?
Which of your core values are reactions against those things?
If you had to make a list of 10 core values, which ones would make the list?
It’s common for ENFPs, once they get start living from their inner wisdom to begin wondering
how they missed out on this amazing feeling for so long.
Most of your growth will happen by feeling super clear about what is really important
to YOU and making decisions based on YOUR core values.
If you really want a deep dive into your individual growth plan as an ENFP I invite you to check
out our ENFP Personal Development Starter Kit.You can find more information at Personality
Hacker dot com.
Let me know what personal growth actions you are taking in your life and what has already
worked for you.I’m Joel Mark Witt for Personality Hacker.Talk with you soon.