balance

First see “How Your Mind Makes Decisions”

Introverted Feeling (or what we’ve nicknamed Authenticity) is the part of us that asks, “Does this feel right to me?” When we need to make a decision that is true and honest to who we are, it’s Authenticity that guides us. When you understand how an action or word will impact the subjective human experience or when you feel conviction, you’re using Authenticity as decision-making criteria.

Example:

There is a famous story in the Hebrew Scriptures of the Bible where three young gentlemen are faced with either giving worship to a god they believe is false (according to the religion and culture of their youth), or dying in a fire. Their conscience does not allow them to do even a single act of worship and so they are thrown into a huge furnace. In the story, an angel is said to protect them from death as reward for their loyalty.

The magical elements of this story aside, the willingness to die for a conviction or belief is at the heart of Authenticity.

Authenticity-driven people are far more driven by personal conviction than any other consideration. In fact, it is sometimes difficult to motivate an Authenticity person unless they are personally touched or inspired. Once committed, however, they are a powerhouse and oftentimes unstoppable.

This often takes them in idealistic directions, believing something to be possible because they first felt it on the inside. Outside considerations are not nearly as interesting or compelling as internal feelings, and so they are often strangers – or even blind – to metrics. Something can be done because they believe it can, and others will stand in disbelief as an Authenticity person moves mountains to accomplish a vision.

At best, Authenticity is a true inspiration to others, congruent with all of their inner voices and aligned toward a mission.

At their worst, Authenticity people are fickle, unable to tell the difference between something feeling ‘wrong’ or it simply feeling ‘bad’. Unable to deal with any internal negativity, Authenticity can become impossible to please and project all their internal discomfort onto friends and family.

In order to make the best decisions, Authenticity people should remember a couple of things. First, believing in yourself and in the power of convictions is your gift, but it can easily turn ugly if idealism is all you can accept. The best way to keep you from entering an unhappy world of disappointment is to keep a strong grip on reality. Ask yourself what is actually happening, not simply what you would like to be happening. A good exercise is to remove the word “should” from your vocabulary and your internal dialog, replacing it with the word “is.”

Be careful not to mistake convicted for right. There are times when you may believe something to the core of your being and still be wonderfully and fabulously wrong. Keep an open mind and stay observant. You can make amazing things happen as long as you don’t lose your grip on reality.

Authenticity people tend to have a blind spot in Effectiveness.

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40 comments

  • Joanne scott
    • Joanne scott
    • May 25, 2021 at 3:17 am

    Seems like all I do 8s sleep and dream. I have no motivation to even lift my head. I can’t express myself no one listens . So I just keep quiet. Then get in trouble for keeping quite. Nothing grabs me or motivates me anymore. Let alone inspires I’m just mawh boring.. about anything … everything!

  • Dilley
    • Dilley
    • January 21, 2021 at 3:00 pm

    This hits home 100%!! Artistry has been a go-to for all of my life and I can’t stand having people around when I’m in the middle of working because I don’t like commentary.

  • Naomi Wright
    • Naomi Wright
    • August 21, 2019 at 3:02 pm

    Hi Martina, maybe a piece of my life can explain it. My husband is an ISTJ and his co-pilot is Effectiveness. His dad is an ESTJ which makes his pilot Effectiveness. So my husband’s whole life growing up was how is this getting the job done? Right now we are in confined quarters and it is so hard for me as an ENFP to do the mundane everyday things and get them done everyday. It bothers my husband to see things not getting done and he starts to get irritated. The more irritated he gets the more frustrated I feel and I start projecting my frustration on the children and on himself. If unchecked I can start taking out my frustration on the children and not appreciate the genuine attempts they make at school or chores making their little lives miserable. I have to stop myself because I can become irrational and be stiff as a board to my husband well after the fact. I can even attribute his genuine attempts to please me or make me laugh as digs or inauthentic compliments. Whenever I feel myself getting into that I have to take five and pull away. I pray, read or replay Scripture in my mind and ask the Lord to help me. That gets me back on base and I can then choose to either keep going down the path of frustration and projection, or let it go and start this situation over with what I truly believe is a right attitude.

  • Halimah Bello
    • Halimah Bello
    • August 18, 2019 at 8:25 pm

    Wow thanks for that encouragement, do you find you are as effective as your ‘effective’ colleagues.

  • samera kachacupt
    • samera kachacupt
    • June 27, 2019 at 9:11 pm

    as in STATE…i mean MODE…and i do not have the first clue why

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