I always thought I was an introvert.
In high school, I chose computer science specifically because I wanted a career where I wouldn’t have to schmooze. In college I took the 16personalities MBTI test and got INTP. The description resonated. Plus the site said Bill Gates and Einstein were INTPs too. Who wouldn’t want to be in that club?
I hate crowded places. I hate parties. I hate shopping malls. An hour in any of those and I’m completely drained. I love being alone. I love thinking by myself.
So I’m an introvert. No question.
But some things didn’t add up.
If I’m alone too long, I feel empty. I need intellectual sparring, even if it’s just me ranting about my latest idea to someone. I don’t enjoy solo board games. My favorites are all two-player duels or four-player battles. I love competing. Losing is fine.
An introvert wouldn’t be like this.
Then a couple years ago, during yet another MBTI rabbit hole, I discovered that INTP and ENTP have nearly identical cognitive function stacks.
ENTP: Ne → Ti → Fe → Si
INTP: Ti → Ne → Si → Fe
Same four functions. Just a different order. Specifically, the top two are swapped: Ne (Extraverted Intuition) and Ti (Introverted Thinking).
But that swap matters.
ENTPs are more drawn to the outside world. More likely to turn ideas into action. More enthusiastic, more impulsive, more impatient. And they love to debate.
I retook a different test. This time the result was clear: ENTP.
Looking back, it all clicked. I loved being the class clown. I loved sharing ideas. I loved exploring new things. I loved deep conversations.
I also realized for the first time that “extrovert” isn’t one thing. My type of extroversion (Ne) isn’t the social butterfly kind. It’s the kind that needs external stimulation to generate ideas.
If INTP gave me 90% resonance, ENTP is 100%.
MBTI might not be “real.” But it’s useful. Especially when you find a more accurate model for understanding yourself.
One letter makes all the difference
You might think: it’s just one letter. Who cares?
But that one letter changed my entire self-narrative.
For decades, I lived inside the “I’m an introvert” script. Stay home. Wait for others to reach out. Don’t initiate. Delete social media. The friends I still talk to? I can count them on one hand. It all made sense because “I’m an introvert.”
But what if I’m actually an extrovert?
Then I wasn’t “being myself.” I was limiting myself with the wrong label.
We think labels describe us. But labels often define us.
You say you’re “not a fitness person,” so you don’t exercise. You say you’re “bad at socializing,” so you don’t socialize. You say you’re “not creative,” so you don’t create.
These labels aren’t facts. They’re scripts.
So I started rewriting mine.
I started blogging and sharing my thoughts publicly. I joined online communities. I started practicing what Derek Sivers calls “if you have a compliment for someone, tell them.”
I used to wait for people to come to me. Now I reach out first. Not because I changed as a person, but because I changed one label, and my behavior followed.
Maybe in a few years I’ll decide I’m an introvert again. That’s fine. The point isn’t which letter is “correct.” The point is to never let any label hold you back. Pick whichever one serves you right now.
Sometimes, changing your life only takes changing one letter.
