Life is either a daring adventure or nothing at all.

People with the ESTP personality type (Entrepreneurs) are vibrant individuals brimming with an enthusiastic and spontaneous energy. They tend to be on the competitive side, often assuming that a competitive mindset is a necessity in order to achieve success in life. With their driven, action-oriented attitudes, they rarely waste time thinking about the past. In fact, they excel at keeping their attention rooted in their present – so much so that they rarely find themselves fixated on the time throughout the day.

Theory, abstract concepts, and plodding discussions about global issues and their implications don’t keep ESTP personalities interested for long. They keep their conversations energetic, with a good dose of intelligence, but they like to talk about what is – or better yet, to just go out and do it. They often leap before they look, fixing their mistakes as they go rather than sitting idle and preparing contingencies and escape clauses.

Diving Right In

ESTPs are a bold and brave bunch who are not afraid to take chances or act on their impulses. They live in the moment and dive into the action with an open mind and outward confidence. People with this personality type enjoy drama, passion, and pleasure, not for emotional thrills but because it’s so stimulating to their minds. They tend to make critical decisions based on factual, immediate reality in a process of rapid-fire rational stimulus responses.

This makes school and other highly organized environments a challenge for ESTPs. It certainly isn’t because they aren’t smart, and they can do well there, but the regimented, lecturing approach of formal education is just so far from the hands-on learning that these personalities typically enjoy. It takes a great deal of maturity to see this process as a necessary means to an end – something that creates more exciting opportunities.

Also challenging is that to ESTPs, it makes more sense to use their own moral compass than someone else’s. Rules were made to be broken. This is a sentiment that few school instructors or corporate supervisors are likely to share, and it can earn these personalities a certain reputation. But if they minimize the troublemaking, harness their energy, and focus through the boring stuff, ESTPs are a force to be reckoned with.

The Path Less Traveled

With perhaps the most perceptive, unfiltered view of any type, ESTPs have a unique skill in noticing small changes. Whether a shift in facial expression, a new clothing style, or a broken habit, people with this personality type pick up on hidden thoughts and motives where most types would be lucky to pick up anything specific at all. They use these observations immediately, calling out the change and asking questions even if it makes other people uncomfortable. ESTPs are as direct and straightforward as they come.

People with the ESTP personality type are full of passion and energy, complemented by a rational, if sometimes distracted, mind. Inspiring, convincing, and colorful, they are natural group leaders, pulling everyone along the path less traveled, bringing life and excitement everywhere they go. Putting these qualities to a constructive and rewarding end is their true challenge.