ENFP. The Catalyst

If ENFP is your best fit personality type you are probably inclined to see life as presenting almost infinite possibilities. Mostly, this is a very positive thing. Possibilities are exciting, tantalizing, and motivating. Every moment is an opportunity for something new. Your love of possibilities drives you to explore and invent.

Other people tend to see ENFP types as fun loving, enthusiastic, kind, supportive, optimistic, future-focused, spontaneous and action-oriented.

You almost always have a new idea in the works and are full of curiosity. Your way of thinking might seem completely random to others but there is a certain logic to the way your brain works. It diverges into multiple scenarios and then into sub-scenarios with lightning speed. In this way, the ENFP creates a map of possibilities and feels into which one is worth pursuing.

Since there always seems to be an abundance of possibilities, ENFP types tend to have a positive slant on life. You are naturally people-oriented and often want to help others get out and discover their own potential. You love helping others see what their possibilities might be. You are a natural champion of other people. You authentically want them to reach their potential. You naturally see who they could be and probably can’t help but cheer them on. You want them to be their best self because you’ll know they’ll be happier in that place.

At times your awareness of possibilities can be paralyzing. There are so many roads to take, how can you choose just one?

But it’s not just possibilities. Exploring different ways of doing things helps you find patterns that connect seemingly random things together. Your need for variety helps you see the similarities that seemingly disconnected things share in ways that others might find surprising or funny. 

You have a rich imagination which is often fueled by contact with other people and with the world around you. Others might see the concrete details in front of them while you see the world around you as a springboard for a myriad things that might just happen. They appear in your mind like rough sketches, not fully formed, but with enough of an outline that you can see the potentials. 

Your gift for seeing potential also helps you see what might be missing in regard to existing patterns. Your mind can often see what’s missing and fill in the blanks. Just as you are an experimenter in life, you are also highly analytical. 

When working with others you likely appreciate it when they:

  • Allow you to take an iterative rather than linear process.
  • Honor that it is helpful to let your imagination roam, even if initial ideas may seem disconnected or unhelpful. You treat this as a warm up phase.
  • Give you tasks that involve entertaining new ideas and concepts.
  • Allow you to explore better ways of doing things. Allow that the present routine might benefit from improvement.
  • Find someone else to do routine maintenance or detailed tasks.
  • Allow you to exercise variety in ways of working. Even if that variety doesn’t seem to have purpose for them, it keeps your mind and heart engaged in what you're doing.

Underneath that mind full of possibilities you have strong feelings, sometimes volcanic, that erupt out of you - maybe when you least expect it. You also have a strong sense of personal values and you may not be able to help being vocal and active in helping to create a world that is more aligned with these values. Although you may be focused primarily on possibilities you also have a deep heart which might serve like a keel on a sailboat; keeping you focused and upright as you make your way through life. You value personal authenticity for yourself and those around you.

You may especially appreciate it when people:

  • Give you time to decide on important decisions even though you're quick to create and explore.
  • Be real with you. (You can probably tell better than most when they're not being real).
  • Ask, "How are you feeling about this?", or "What do your feelings say about this?"
  • Honor how important your personal perspective is.
  • Give space for emotional content.

On the balance, you tend to be more heartfelt and spontaneous, though you are able to shift into a more empirical state of mind where being objective and achieving objectives become important.

Since each moment presents new possibilities, you tend not to take the linear path to achieving results. You prefer, instead, to discover your path as you go. Tasks that include repetitive and predictable work can often be excruciating. Your relationship with following prescribed ways of doing things is likely to be rocky as those kinds of activities are the opposite of that spontaneous way of living that makes you feel alive.

ENFP Quotes

“I always say: ‘Don’t make plans, make options.’” - Jennifer Anniston ENFP

“There’s nothing I know for sure, because I know for sure that things change.” – Ellen DeGeneres ENFP

“We keep moving forward, opening new doors, and doing new things, because we’re curious and curiosity keeps leading us down new paths.” - Walt Disney ENFP

"It's a wonder I haven't abandoned all my ideals, they seem so absurd and impractical. Yet I cling to them because I still believe, in spite of everything, that people are truly good at heart." - Anne Frank