As entrepreneurs, we get to try our hand at so many different tasks. But so many of us rule things out before we’ve even tried them, based on an assumption that we know ourselves and we just know we wouldn’t enjoy it.

It has come as a great surprise to me just how nourishing and fulfilling I have found the process of writing. As someone who thrives in conversation and in-person interaction, someone who comes alive in the dynamic of a group and always leans towards team activities over solitary ones, it was a shock to me to discover that writing really floats my boat. How could such a passive, solitary task satisfy someone like me, I thought?

I score high on the extrovert scale when it comes to most things (ENFP on the Myers Briggs Type Indicator - if personality profiling floats your boat). Apparently ENFP’s are the most introverted of extroverts as we love spending time within our own minds. We need this time for all the stimuli and content (that we so love to absorb) to percolate. 

Whether you’re into personality profiling or not, it’s interesting to discover how we respond to different tasks and note how they make us feel.

I learn through doing. I knew I wanted a way to share insights and value with my clients and community but I didn’t know of the value it would bring to me. The writing process for me is like a form of daydreaming, and a blog acts as the perfect container for this. I feel an overriding sense of calm after writing. As someone who is naturally very excitable and high energy, I welcome this state of calm and roundedness. The tonic to my gin, this yin to my yang. 

Saying all this, as a true to type ENFP, I’ll probably get bored of writing the second it becomes routine! 

It’s fascinating how one activity can result in a different energy and outcome depending on the person. Take cooking as an example. It’s often an activity that sparks so many people’s flare for creativity and imagination. For me it is an ordered, meditative, calming activity. I like to follow a recipe and I hate going rouge or ‘being inspired’ in the kitchen. Never have I created a new recipes from scratch. Which is funny because in almost every other activity I engage in, I find myself revelling in the messy, on the spot, just see where it goes mentality. I prefer disorder or order… just not in the kitchen.

When it comes to running your own business, almost every day provides you with a new and not yet tried before task. And if it doesn’t, you can choose to introduce new things into the business.

It’s in the very process of keeping yourself on your toes that you learn more about yourself, which in turn can inform the rhythm and direction of your business.

I really believe the trick is to stay open to the surprises a new task might bring. To be curious and grateful about the discoveries that come with doing new things. Even if you end up proving your assumption right, that’s still a win in my book.

What activities bring a yin to your yang, or a yang to your yin? Perhaps it’s time to try an unexpected activity or task just to see how it might surprise you - like writing did for me. Leave comment in the box below. Or send me a message. I’d love to know.