At the heart of every Intuitive personality type is creativity and abstract thinking. Intuitives are especially skilled at drawing connections between random things and using this ability to come up with new ideas and methods. This is the way they like to live their lives.

The opposite of the Intuitive way of thinking is the cookie-cutter approach - using the same approach or style every time rather than paying attention to variation and individual differences. Sensors tend to prefer this approach. These personalities are practical and task-oriented. They dislike abstract and open-ended tasks and prefer to follow tried-and-tested ‘cookie-cutter’ processes. 

When you bring together these two personality types and ask them to follow the same methods and processes, you’ll see a clash of different minds. Intuitives will always struggle to approach challenges the cookie-cutter way and there are very specific reasons for this. Here are six of them. 

1. You’ll get bored

Intuitives are interested in things that are unusual and new to them. They love learning and using their creative brains. That means a cookie-cutter approach will be extremely boring for any Intuitive personality type.

If you try to do things the same every time, you won’t feed your natural desire for novelty and variety. In fact, you need to create high levels of variety to internally stimulate and entertain yourself. Leave the tried-and-tested methods to the Sensors!

2. You’ll always wonder “what if…”

You can’t switch off the part of your brain that is always questioning and searching for new solutions. If you try to take a cookie-cutter approach to your life, you’ll be left wondering what could have been.

Take a task at work. You have an idea for how to do it more efficiently, but your team leader tells you to follow the normal process because that’s the way it’s always been done. What if your method was faster? What if your method meant your company could afford to invest in other things? What if you’d discovered a new, revolutionary process that had never been invented before?

While there are many times in life that you’ll be forced to take a cookie-cutter approach, you’re never going to find happiness in a job or environment that forces you to do that. Your mind constantly questioning the world around you and that’s the way you love to live.

3. You’ll feel dissatisfied

Intuitives excel at joining together seemingly random concepts and ideas into a cohesive whole. Always using the same tropes over and over on repeat doesn’t work for them. If you’re stuck in a cookie-cutter world, you’ll never be satisfied. The chances are, you will be left wondering ‘what if’ and be frustrated that the process you followed is at odds with your instinct.

To find fulfillment, try to find a space that lets you use your creativity to the best of your abilities. You’re energized by change, risk and novelty, so don’t try to squash that or change the way you think.

4. You’ll get into conflict with others

For Intuitive personality types, there’s also a risk that the cookie-cutter approach will lead to conflict with other people. You’re interested in big picture ideas and blue-sky thinking. A cookie-cutter approach is the opposite of what you want.

When you mix this into a team setting, you can start to rub colleagues and team members the wrong way. Always questioning why you have to do it ‘that way’ when others are perfectly comfortable doing it ‘that way’ can make you look like a know-it-all or someone who is trying to rock the boat for the sake of it. But the truth is, you’re not going to do your best work if you feel like you’re stuck in a hamster wheel. Your teammates will probably notice your constant complaining and less-than-enthusiastic approach to tasks. This can lead to conflict and frustration that can cause a lot of problems for you.

5. You’ll hate the routine

Repetition and routine don’t sit well with Intuitive personality types. Intuitives enjoy learning and theorizing rather than executing detailed processes and projects. A cookie-cutter approach removes the opportunity for creativity, leaving only the nitty gritty day-to-day tasks and routine. This is not ideal for Intuitives who need variety and surprise to stay engaged. Let’s face it, you’re just not cut out for routine!

If you’re in a job where you have no opportunity for creativity, try to find other ways to mix up your day-to-day routine. Shake up your mornings with a new activity or introduce unusual hobbies to your evenings or weekends to give you a chance to use the inventive and artistic sides of your brain during your leisure time.

6. You’ll be itching to test new ideas

Your Intuitive personality type won’t just switch off because you find out you have to do a certain thing a certain way. You’ll always be brimming with new ideas and theories and you’ll be desperate to try them out or share them with others.

Being in a place that doesn’t let you experiment will feel suffocating to you. You’re always going to feel like you’re not able to truly be yourself and that’s one of the hardest parts of being forced to follow a cookie-cutter approach, whether that’s at work, in your life or in everyday tasks.

Let your imagination run wild as an Intuitive!

If you identify with any of these classic struggles of Intuitive personality types, you’ll know how important it is to be in an environment that lets you use your imagination and natural inventiveness to the fullest. Intuitives are big thinkers with a creative, curious streak. They’re always looking for new ways of doing the same old things and love to theorize about ideas and philosophies.

A cookie-cutter approach may work for some - but it’s certainly not the right method for you. If you’re stuck in a job, relationship or place that requires you to live your life in a cookie-cutter way, it might be time to make a change.