#entp mod

The first thing you need to do is recognize is you are an Enneagram 7 and all of this is ‘normal’ for them in lower health levels. To overcome this, you have to ‘grow up’ as a 7 and stop allowing fear of commitment or quick loss of focus from dominating your life. You have control over yourself, you are not utterly helpless to your whims (said the Fi user who has a moral tone of ‘you make your own choices and messes and you have to get out of them’ ;).

7s have to learn to be open to the scary idea of commitment to reap the dividends of hard work.

Read the 7 profile and see how allowing yourself to ‘run away’ from commitment (which includes not finishing or devoting yourself to any project) can hinder your life. Once you recognize WHAT you are doing, and WHY you are doing it, you can develop the power to STOP YOURSELF from doing it, or from allowing ‘excuses’ or fear to run you away from good things.

ENTP Mod. : Charity is right. Here is also where the judging functions come into play. With Fi, you can eventually weed out that which you aren't personally passionate about/ those goals which don't align with your personal values. With Ti, you can see a chain reaction of the patterns in your life, and determine the most effective path to help yourself using logic to streamline your processes, make it more elegant.

Slow the hell down. Force yourself to stop running toward the future and live right now. Repeat the mantra of ‘right now is all that matters today’ a 100 times an hour if you have to. Be present. Be invested. Bring yourself into ‘now.’

My co-mod is a 7w6 ENTP who suffers from a lot of the same issues; I will nudge her to offer her two cents to this post, in regards as to what she is currently doing about it. Basically, she had to talk herself into getting a permanent job rather than talking herself out of it. Once she got into it, she realized it didn’t suck as much as she feared. Her brain is her own worst enemy.

I had to talk myself into this job. I gave myself lots of reasons why I would love it. It might sound a little unrealistic going in with pre set expectations but at least you will not go in blind. Making a pros cons list is always a good idea. It helps to sift through your multiple ideas, and narrow down the ones which can really work. Test out the feasibility of your ideas, opportunities before hand. Talk to people, do your research. Just remember that things will never be as bad or boring as you think them to be. This is a cliche but something which helps me in the mornings when I know I have boring work to do is "Get up, dress up, show up. Never give up." Also it helps to live from day to day. Don't worry too far into the future, you never know what variables might upset your plans.

Work-wise, a 7 needs to travel, get the ‘high’ of meeting new people, and not to be involved in sheer detail-driven grunt work. They need challenges to work toward and obstacles to overcome. Pick a career that offers you all of that. If you do not, you will have a string of 6 months at ___ jobs that do not look good on your resume. Find a career in something that you feel passionate about, that offers some kind of mental stimulation.

ENTP 7 co-mod is an attorney who loves to find ways to ‘get around things’ in the law.

ENTP Mod. note: Always try to remember the root of your passion when you feel like defecting from one option to another. If you must leave, leverage what you have learned in one place and how you can dress that up to make your hopping about look good. That's what I did, and it worked for me. Some of the reasons I love my job are the constant intellectual stimulation, creative aspects of it, my love for criminology pays off, meeting interesting people. Sure there are sucky days when you have to deal with the bureaucratic demons. But that won't be every day. Unless your role requires you to do something like it. In which case I would suggest that you avoid picking up detail heavy, low Si or adherence related work which will make you feel miserable and frustrated. Try to pick something that plays to your strengths, improve your weaknesses. Compete with nobody but yourself. Every day you are better than you were, yesterday. Even with a little effort. It is important to not give up. It is so hard for 7s but we have the gift of rationalizing. So instead of using it as a mechanism to justify dropping things, use it to tell yourself why you should stick around. You as a 7 can make most things fun. So find little tricks and ways to make the work day fun. Whether it is achieving small, impactful targets or making games out of small, low stakes things. Also, having money and being able to live nicely is fun. Nobody is gonna pay you if they think that their money will be wasted on training you if your pattern is just leaving jobs. It took me a long time to develop this perspective but I am glad I did.

I (ENFP 6w5 sp/so) chose a career in magazine editing, because it gives me time to do what I actually love, which is write novels. I’m afraid I can’t give you advice from my own life that would work for you, because a 6w5 sp/so is far more focused and driven to finish their projects than a 7w6, which means I push through ‘the boring, tedious bits’ of projects regardless of how ‘excited’ I am. It’s not fun to edit a book 7 times, but I still do it. I force myself to show up to work, to sit there for 3 or 4 hours, and commit to X amount of words, pages, etc.

Do you think it’s “fun” for me always to keep this queue stocked, or to type up characters at the end of a long day because the queue is low? Or go back and update old profiles and move them from this blog onto wordpress? No. I hate it sometimes. It’s boring as hell. But I committed to it, I will see it through, even though looking into my “to update” folder makes me want to scream. I tackle huge projects one step at a time. I’m disciplined but I can procrastinate at work, rather than doing whatever needs doing.

Which really is the bottom line. You want to finish things? Just do them. Force yourself to show up and do the work, even if it’s “boring.” Most of life isn’t fun. Paying the bills isn’t fun. You do boring stuff to make a living, so you can have the money to do fun things. If you do not learn to do it, whether or not it is fun, you will wind up ‘stuck at home this month, because I have no money.’

That frustrates a 7 even more than being bored at work.

Accept that your fear of commitment is a fear-driven lie.

You are not going to get trapped by committing to something or someone. Head types massively over-think things and allow fear – in the 7’s case of “missing out” on better things – to dominate their life. Admit it’s fear. Admit that allowing fear to ruin your entire life is stupid. Then do something against the fear. Do the thing fear tells you not to: commit and work at it. Fight the urge every day to leave. Stick it out, and prove you ‘can’ to yourself.

Middle functions. You’re in college so you should be seeing either some Ti analyzing or Te “buckle down and set goals and get this schoolwork finished by the deadline” kicking in. Are you more inclined to self-doubt and beat yourself up like a young FiTe user after ‘failing’ to organize your time efficiently or to make excuses and blame external circumstances like a young TiFe user?

My Fi has always been strongly evident, though I didn’t know what it was at the time. Things that set off a NOPE response in me vs. the ‘rest of everything, which I don’t care about.’ The intense sensitivity as a child. The compassion for other people and especially for small animals. The understanding of emotional dynamics and how people ‘feel.’ The constant angst between caring too much about people’s feelings and being low Te blunt or rude when I’m having an off day. The ‘going away from everyone’ to deal with my feelings in private. I have always fiercely, Fi-ishly known what I like and do not like, and have no ability to ‘tolerate’ things that I do not like. Once, I didn’t like half the people seated at my table at a public event, so I shut down completely and did not say a word to anyone at the table for two hours. My Fe friend also hated them, but smiled and charmed them all. Lucky girl. She can fake her feelings. I can’t.

An excerpt from "The Path Between Us" by Suzanne Stabile. This is an important but to note because as much as the stress behaviours are... well, stressful, they result in growth and restoration of equilibrium. So don't fight your stress behaviours. Know that you are drawing on the mechanism you need to make things happen, or just slow down as the case may be (especially for Threes). This was a huge lesson for me because every time I went to my 1 line, I used to think that it was thing that needed to be actively countered, and fought with more 7 mechanisms. That was not at all helpful, rationalizing and avoidance sunk me quicker than I might not have, had I gracefully acknowledged and embraced the 1 ish need for routine, discipline etc for my zany mind.

Dirk Gently - ENTP - 7w6 9w8 3w2

Amanda Brotzman - ISFP - 6w7 8w7 4w3

Todd Brotzman - ESTP - 9w8 7w8 3w2

Bart/ Project Marzana - ENFP - Insufficient data, could be some iteration of the 468/486/648/684 type.

Suzie Barton - ESFP - 4w3 cp6w7 8w?

The Mage - ENTP 8w7 7w8 3w2

Hugo Friedkin - ESFP - cp6w7 3w2 x (not enough data to make out his gut fix)

Gordon Rimmer - ENTJ - 8w7 cp6w5 3w4

Ken Adams - ISTP - 5w6 8w9 3w4

And finally, best for last...

Farah Black - ISTJ - 6w5 1w2 3w4

I used to do statutory compliance, mergers and acquisitions, labour and employment dispute resolutions, arbitration, and IPR filings. I was a senior associate in a corporate law firm. Pay was good, but this is severely restrictive detail oriented work. You don’t get to play around. There is a pre - established format or set of rules to follow, and that is it. No creative or lateral thinking there.  So I switched over to litigation. Criminal litigation, to be specific. It plays well into my strengths, and as defence attorneys, there is a far greater chance of playing within the systems, finding loopholes which is exciting, meeting accused and/or criminals (always a delight to meet weirdos). Another thing I love about my job is that I am able to synthesize my knowledge across multiple areas of interest, use it to find or create connections, examine for logical consistency in memorandum of facts. Just by using these cognitive functions, I was able to prove on two separate cases that our client was being framed falsely even though the evidence lined up. The facts didn't line up, it just didn't make sense. So being able to deconstruct is a fun thing. No two days are ever alike, there is lots of variety so I never get bored. That is a big plus for a 7. However the idea of working at any place for years on end gives me the creeps. I rather think about it as picking up skills for the next big thing in my life. As much as I love to extrovert about, I am grateful that my colleagues find no need to incessantly chat. Your degree of orientation towards, and ease with people interaction is an important factor too because it can be quite draining at times.

A typical work day involves lots of reading, research, drafting, often client meetings and...dreaded filings. Filings is when you have to go battle the indifferent bureacratic demons whose sole purpose in life is to delay everything as much as possible. I look forward to the automation of these jobs, wherein it will be faster and more efficient to deal with emotionless, competent non slacking robots who won’t need lunch breaks. Today however is a kick in the pants kind of day because filings require stitching, and I can’t stitch for the life of me. My low S + 7 means that I am struggling to even thread the needle. *end of rant* It is important to consider various factors while choosing your type of legal setting.

Some important factors would be geographic location, ease of transitioning within the career, further plans of studying or working abroad, pay scale, preference of work culture. Don’t make decisions job - wise, rather weave into a bigger career and life goals picture (not so far as Ni users might but incorporating measured risk along with exciting, dynamic work). Typology has helped me  lot in figuring out what I want, because you make better choices when you know yourself, and are able to shape your goals accordingly. For example, the RIASEC and Big 5/ OCEAN are good places to start off along with Enneagram, and MBTI. Based on your RIASEC profiles, you can narrow down areas of law which might interest you. The ONET work profiles are quite useful, they give a lot of practical information that you as a 7 might just skip over. Above all, no matter how brilliant you are, just remember that grunt work is crap, you will hate it, but you gotta do it. All areas of law will have these minor annoyances. Also, it depends on whether you want to choose a boutique law firm, big law, work as in house counsel or as Government counsel. Choose wisely, and divergently. Maximize your work areas as much as you can. As an ENTP 7 you are more of a generalist than specialist, so make connections between inter lapping areas of law, read a lot. Seriously, READ A LOT.

For example, if you want to be an advocate for free speech, it could take you a while before you get to your ultimate goal. Look at what kind of firms handle the body of work you want to do, whether your work style lines up with theirs. If not, is it flexible? Familiarize yourself with the fundamental procedural aspects as that wouldn't vary vastly across the board. Also have a strong foundation in theory, because everything else can be applied contextually and decided on a case to case merit basis. In the above mentioned example, media law/entertainment law work is typically undertaken by big law. So before you can get a bite of that juicy pie, you will probably have a lot of contract drafting and negotiating to do. If you ever find yourself bored doing something, ask yourself what kind of an add on it is, to the Big Picture. Try to make a game of it, or find ways to liven it up. You won't find that hard as a 7.

Not sure if this helps, hit me up if you have more questions. Good luck!

I have known some 4s and the sad truth is that they will never allow themselves to be fully happy, unless they are at a healthy level of development. Happy people don't attract rescuers. Happy people can't cling to the martyr tag that they solely identify with. When they integrate towards their one side, they use their individuality, creativity and talents for a greater good. They seek out a purpose to channel that energy into instead of being moody and self absorbed. One also brings a semblance of order and discipline, thereby freeing them from the cycle of "woe is me" patterns. The minds of fours can be heavily emotional and muddle, the connection to One helps them organize themselves, and their thoughts better sequentially. What does happiness mean for a 4? Would love to hear from others.

- ENTP Mod.

Yes, and no. I haven't engaged on FB, but I have witnessed with some degree of amusement, the hilarious and heated exchanges that go down. I did personally engage with her on Personality Cafe and that was... interesting. I will tell you this though, we share dissenting views on instinctual variants and the accuracy of visual typing.

Gosh, all the possibilities! I have a ton of favourite pairings, some of which are canon and some of which are not. Some of them are romantic pairings, while others are not. So, don't @ me. In no particular order, here are some of my favourite pairings.

1. Rhett Butler (7) and Scarlett O'Hara (3) - These two Positive, Assertive types complement one another perfectly. His freedom loving nature and expansive generosity gets through to her cool, calculative, attention seeking personality.

2. Simba (3) and Nala (6): As cubs, their rapport is adorable since her seven wing lends itself easily to go along with Simba's sense of exploration and curiosity. As an adult, she is able to draw on his 3's growth connection to 6 helping him realize that he has to come home and fulfill his duty.

3. Marianne (4) and Colonel Brandon (1): Here is another example of a couple where one's type happens to be the growth point of the other. Brandon is able to balance out Marianne's dramatic nature, while providing stability along with the companionship she seeks. Colonel Brandon helps temper Marianne's fiery nature, eventually managing to protect her from her worst instincts.

4. Dylan Reinhardt (7) and Lizzie Needham (1): Fraught with tension over his typical 7 like skipping over the rules, these two types eventually come around to understanding and respecting one another. Dylan begins to appreciate how being meticulous and rule oriented Lizzie is, while Lizzie is able to benefit from Dylan's expansive, fun loving and unique insights at crime scenes.

5. Nymphadora Tonks (7) and Remus Lupin (6): Lupin is typically negative and looking at all the possible ramifications of bring with her, but ultimately she is able to bring him out of his head and let himself be happier, reconnect with his lost marauder self.

6. Jane Lane (4) and Daria Morgendorffer (4): These two outsiders are able to understand one another so well and be sensitive to each other's emotionality. Daria's five wing provides some grounding to the flamboyant Jane, while Jane's extroverted three wing brings Daria in touch with the more practical and social engagement side of teenage.

7. Detective Conan (7) and Shiho Miyano (5): Shiho is able to frequently reign in Conan's rather reckless behaviour at times but she amuses herself at his general buffonery and appreciates the way he is able to make connections all across the board. Conan on the other hand respects Shiho deeply for her intellect and unique perspectives. While they may not always see eye to eye, they are able to celebrate their differences and work together brilliantly.

Shame is the core emotion or driver of the Image Centers, i.e. Two, Three and Four. The way an individual would deal with shame would mostly be dependent on their image fixes. A two would externalize it and distance themselves from the shame by placing their value on another individual. A three would repress it, deny it and reframe it as a positive or learning experience. A four would deeply internalize the shame and use it to paint the tapestry of their identity with darker shades, and wallow in that. But for the rest:

1- Set higher standards, evaluate self and situation determined to make things right.

5 - Retreat. Will hoard more data till they feel confident enough to act again.

6- Be hard on themselves, analyze what went wrong a thousand ways, and be fearful about how their actions may have rocked the boat.

7- On the surface, zip. Nada. It won't register. But an aware 7 will feel it enough to make amends or do something good. However an apology might not be forthcoming.

8- A deeply aware 8 will take stock of their actions and how it hurt someone, make reparations because they care.

9- Retreat. You won't hear from them for a while. They need time to process it.