Is Your Ambition Higher than Your Intelligence?

First, ENTP Fights Long-term Ambition

You likely got to this page by googling, “Why have I not yet found success, even though people tell me I’m intelligent?” Or maybe, “Why can’t I reach my potential?”

ENTPs are constantly inundated with a tsunami of ideas. On top of this, many are diagnosed with ADHD because our behavior manifests similarly in interest-driven motivation, creativity borne out of chaos, absentmindedness, bored distractibility, and perfectionism. We jump from task to task or avoid the repetitive plod needed to master a topic. We hit the wall of tedium and cannot push past, and this makes us pause. “Why am I not reaching my potential — am I not intelligent?”. We begin to turn to online IQ tests, ask our friends if we are dumb or crazy, doubt our skills, and struggle to pinpoint them at all, minimizing our accomplishments. If you made it here because of this, please believe me when I say…

Second, YOU ARE INTELLIGENT!

How do I know? Well, if you are an ENTP, you are curious, and curiosity is a huge indicator of success and intelligence. Curiosity drives us; we want to understand processes and foundational concepts deeply. It’s why we see amazing ENTP actors, like Tom Hanks. That curiosity drives our exploration of perspective. It allows people like Tom to fully explore an emotion from a different character’s internal motivation.

Out of every hundred people you meet, you only meet 3.2% like you (according to the MBTI institute). When this happens, it’s likely going to feel good when you discover that you are not crazy. Moreover, it is acceptable, even valuable for you to experience life and processes the way you do. Different is good, different represents a new perspective and a new perspective effects change.

When dealing with my missed potential, one of the not-so-comforting tropes I’ve heard is, “Well you are smart, but maybe you just haven’t found your passion”. That can be exhausting to hear. There are underlying themes that buzz in the background of interest driven activities. Mine are media (i.e. writing, podcasting, vlogs), systems thinking (Engineering, design, and research), and people (I love to learn about what makes them different from me, their internal motivation, etc.) If you’re feeling lost, it may be helpful to look at some the underlying themes in your own interest projects.

Finally, It Doesn’t Matter

My answer to your question about your IQ is, who cares? What should really matter is whether your ambition for a certain goal matches the intensity of your curiosity about it. If you can find where those align, you will do great things. If you can’t find where they align, you will still do great things, just on a smaller scale. In the meantime, let your curiosity continue to enhance the breadth and depth of your intellectual capacity and ride that giant wave of ideas to your own version of success.

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Christine

Hi all, like many of you, I've been an ENTP my whole life. I have experienced the pleasure of changing my major several times, quitting a PhD, starting (but not finishing) a novel, and finding a career that actually suits me. I'm here to share the outcomes that come from NeTi decisions with hope that my journey will help you discover (or avoid) your own interesting path. Thanks for being here; if you like my stuff hit me up @forsakingfaith on Twitter, don't mind the podcast, it's an old passion project! Much Love
Also, I do love coffee - Cheers!