The Comprehensive ENFP Survival Guide

by Heidi Priebe

If they fail to find their career adequately challenging or interesting, the ENFP is likely to leave their job to pursue alternate possibilities.

ENFPs tend to grasp the big picture with ease, but have trouble narrowing their visions down into smaller, workable doses.

Since disciplining themselves to follow through on long-term goals may be difficult for the ENFP, they may elect to hold themselves publicly accountable for completing mini-tasks. Because the ENFP hates letting others down, he or she is likely to feel particularly motivated to complete a task if others are holding them accountable for it.

the excitement of a new idea provides a temporary high that is difficult to match.

Despite the carefree attitude that ENFPs naturally exude, our feelings run deep and our health has the potential to plummet, as with any other type.

The thing about Ne is that it kind of likes it when things go wrong – it sees everything in life as a challenge. This is what makes us one of the most optimistic types as well as one of the most self-destructive.

After getting fired or dumped or duped, the ENFP may actually feel more inspired than they do drained.

I had that nagging feeling ENFPs tend to experience when they know that they’ve left something emotionally unprocessed.

But I didn’t particularly want to process my personal or professional failures, so I resolutely ignored them.

Despite the fact that ENFPs are the most introverted extroverts, they are ultimately more comfortable dwelling in the realm of ideas and possibilities than they are in the realm of feelings and sentiments.

They consider their emotions to be highly private and even what they do share with the outside world is often a careful orchestration of how they would like to be perceived. ENFPs are not naturally emotionally expressive when it comes to what they feel deep down – but they are naturally in touch with those emotions. They just require a great deal of alone time to process and reflect on them.

In many ways, our type is perpetually childlike. Our emotions are intense and volatile and we think that we’re the masters of our own Universe. That we don’t need what other people need. That we can work all day and play all night and be fine, because we are not like other people.

When we feel as though we’re coming undone, the ENFP’s natural inclination is to ride the wave of our feelings – indulging in the negatives and enthusing over the positives. We exist in a perpetual state of highs and lows – and what we need to learn to do is stay peacefully on middle ground. We use the excuse that we never feel that middle ground – it simply doesn’t come naturally to us. And that’s true.

It’s unglamorous to admit that the majority of our struggles are born out of a simple lack of self-neglect. But they are. And if we truly want our moods to stabilize, we have to engage our extroverted thinking and introverted sensing to take concrete, definitive steps toward managing them.

Most ENFPs report some interest in writing or journaling when they need to process their emotions. When it comes to a simple, inexplicable bad mood, most ENFPs report that spending time around loved ones picks them up

This type throws themselves wholeheartedly into relationships and will do whatever is necessary to ensure that both partners are happy, healthy and growing together. ENFPs are open-minded, explorative lovers who may engage in relationships with various different types over the course of their lives.

ENFPs may be hopeless romantics but they’re intuitives first and foremost. This type craves a partnership that keeps them intellectually challenged and inspired in equal measure. Their version of romance is a late night debate that introduces them to a whole new way of looking at the world. This type is attracted to intelligence and they are best suited with a partner who shares their undying intellectual curiosity.

ENFPs tend to jump quickly into short-term relationships, but wade slowly and indecisively towards serious ones. They are the masters of keeping their options open and relationships are no exception to this rule. This type fears that by entering into a serious relationship they may be neglecting future possibilities for better partnerships. They may also miss the feeling of having all potential romantic options available to them.

They may choose to remain single for an extended period of time, explore various romantic options and spend years pursuing short-term relationships before they feel as though they have a good grasp on their options and are ready to decide on one long-term partner.

As a rule, ENFPs almost always see the best in people.

ENFPs are both sincerely loving and indiscriminately opportunistic. They feel genuine emotion for others but are ceaselessly attracted to exploring all the options available to them.

‘Peace’ was not a feeling I had ever striven for – to the point where it shocked me that she suggested it as an option. I wondered what peace meant. I wondered what it felt like.

The thing is, as ENFPs, we can sometimes get so obsessed with dwelling in our extroverted intuition (that is, examining all the possibilities out there) that we forget to pay our introverted feeling adequate attention and therefore are shit at making decisions based on how we feel.

For ENFPs, the decision itself is the hard part. Once you’ve made it, your extroverted intuition will jump back into play and make sure that you’re making the absolute most out of whatever option you’ve chosen.

The ENFP works as something of an idea-generator, whereas the INTJ works as something of an idea-optimizer. Together, they are an intellectual dream team.

are laid-back on the surface but intellectually intense,

ENFPs find themselves drawn to this type because of their confidence, independence and drive. ESTJs find themselves drawn to the ENFP because of their vision, enthusiasm and intuitive reasoning skills.

The ENFP may grow frustrated with the ESTJ’s reluctance to open up emotionally. Conversely, the ESTJ may struggle to understand the ENFP’s rapidly changing emotions.

ENFPs strive in structured environments but are not naturally adept at creating them.

“I love how optimistic I am! No matter what goes wrong, I can find a way to get over it and move on with my life… always onto bigger and better things.

“I like getting irrationally excited over everything… like the smell of springtime or a new flavor of tea.

Some people don’t understand my enthusiasm about strange little things but it’s honestly one of my favorite parts of being an ENFP!”

“Two words: Endless optimism.”

“I LIKE THAT LIFE IS MESSY! There, I said it. I know most people want to walk down a perfectly straight path in life but I don’t.