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[Fi] It's possible to go from an INFP to ENFP. I think I've found a way of my own to.

flameskull95

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314
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It all started with the deep melancholic states that we INFPs go through when we're alone.

I started to notice the application of Fi that i did with everything, everywhere. Especially in these isolate moments.
I noticed that a lot of my dreams were consistent with other people's expectations. And this at some point i viewed as annoying because being consistent with other people's expectations gave me this feeling that I was being 'fake' and not being altruistic, and just seeking 'fame'. Like sometimes I would just listen to a certain song to imagine all the ways other people would react if I had sung it in front of them in school.

Which is also kind of a reflection of how much I consider other people's expectations in school as well.

Well then, I started to seek alternatives to my imagination, and when I listened to those certain songs I applied it to my past (Si) and this made those melancholic views that I always had about the past, much more bearable. It's pretty peculiar at the same time, that I also started to look at conflict in a more positive light and started to think rationally about a situation whenever some sort of conflict arose with other people. Like a sort of militant training of my inferior Te or at least my shadow function of Ti (I think it's more of my shadow function to be honest).

This gave me much less inhibitions as an INFP I think, so I started to seek inspiration around me, and started to view situations in a light where I played my own role, and avoiding it was 'not an option'. I actually noticed that I was the 'life' of the situation when I started to converse with other people and i was 'the one making the jokes'. Which usually never happens as an INFP, because I was way too shy.

I don't know what it is, as an INFP, I hoped that I could one day apply myself and be the talkative one for once. Like an ENFP.
I felt ENFPs lived the life that I wish I could, the life that inspires others and handles situations rationally. The life where the champion with a heart strives.

Now I feel like I've left all these amazing emotional depths that drove me to altruistic things and values that I had. Like it's almost as if I'm hanging onto them so dearly now. It feels like I'm in a struggle to win back my Fi with my Ne, but it's barely coming back like it used to. Like I drove away myself, and I'm not sure what I've done. I feel numb.

Any thoughts? Have I developed my Ne, or have I just unhealthily developed my Ne and shadow functions by numbing Fi, and changing who I am...? I honestly don't know what to think right now.
 

Joehobo

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Dec 29, 2009
Messages
293
MBTI Type
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9w1
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sx/sp
This is a quick response, dont have alot of time to reply fully. It's definitely a combo and I think you almost answered your own question, spoken like an INFP! I very much doubt this is you turning into an ENFP, just engaging your auxillary, disengaging Si, Te taking the reins, and blocking Fi. I'd say its a little imbalanced and all you really need is time for some POSITIVE self reflection, and to console those melancholic feelings you had especially if Si was feeding Fi negativly previously. With that being said it appears your Fi is making a resurgence. Inhibitions don't always stick when you have perception changes. I am much more extraverted than I was, say two years ago.
Could you elaborate on the "numbness"?
 

flameskull95

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MBTI Type
INFP
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This is a quick response, dont have alot of time to reply fully. It's definitely a combo and I think you almost answered your own question, spoken like an INFP! I very much doubt this is you turning into an ENFP, just engaging your auxillary, disengaging Si, Te taking the reins, and blocking Fi. I'd say its a little imbalanced and all you really need is time for some POSITIVE self reflection, and to console those melancholic feelings you had especially if Si was feeding Fi negativly previously. With that being said it appears your Fi is making a resurgence. Inhibitions don't always stick when you have perception changes. I am much more extraverted than I was, say two years ago.
Could you elaborate on the "numbness"?

Yeah. I think there may have been too much negative feedback (?) from an Fi-Si connection in my personality type.
By numbness I meant that I feel like I've numbed my Fi with my Ne. But I'm guessing that's natural..? I don't know really, there's so much understanding and depth I had when I was in that loop. It was like I could just pick up a pen and write an essay just with the deepness of feeling I felt and that I could put all this imagery in my text and "lessons" to be learned could be communicated through this text. Now it feels like I can't be bothered with as much, maybe that's due to me realizing the fact that I could do that (developing Ne)?

I'll take your tip, but does anyone else have any suggestions?
 
Last edited:

RaptorWizard

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How energetic are you, and do you keep that energy contained within like an inner flame, or do you let it burst outwardly like an explosion?
 

skylights

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Extraversion and Introversion are purely about where you focus and initiate chains of thought... I was a fairly quiet, shy, and sensitive child, which was why I typed as INFP when we took the MBTI in school. But my thinking process has always been NeFi.

It sounds like you've forced yourself to become more externally socially engaged, which can be useful, but there's nothing about it that makes you ENFP, nothing about it that makes you inherently makes you better, and there's definitely nothing inherently better about ENFP than INFP. The champion's life has its own pitfalls that an INFP does not experience, such as losing one's bearings in a vast sea of ever-changing information, being too quick to be persuaded, being too quick to run to the next thing, being willing to sacrifice everything we have for the possibility of one new thing.

It's good to develop Ne-Te but let that Fi dominance bloom. It's a gift, not a problem. Learning to balance it is key to being a stable person but it's also part of what makes you you. And barring huge life-altering trauma, it's really never going to change, so there's no point in forcing it. You're always going to be infinitely better at being yourself than at attempting to be someone else.
 

flameskull95

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How energetic are you, and do you keep that energy contained within like an inner flame, or do you let it burst outwardly like an explosion?

Recently, it's been explosive. Which is weird for me when I look back at it, because I usually never have the courage to project it outward like that.
 

flameskull95

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Extraversion and Introversion aren't about your social graces but about where you focus and initiate chains of thought. I was a fairly quiet, shy, and sensitive child, which was why I typed as INFP when we took the MBTI in school. But my thinking process has always been NeFi.

It sounds like you've forced yourself to become more social, which can be useful, but there's nothing about it that makes you ENFP, nothing about it that makes you inherently makes you better, and there's definitely nothing inherently better about ENFP than INFP. The champion's life has its own pitfalls that an INFP does not experience, such as losing one's bearings in a vast sea of ever-changing information, being too quick to be persuaded, being too quick to run to the next thing, being willing to sacrifice everything we have for the possibility of one new thing.

It's good to develop Ne-Te but let that Fi dominance bloom. It's a gift, not a problem. Learning to balance it is key to being a stable person but it's also part of what makes you you. And barring huge life-altering trauma, it's really never going to change, so there's no point in forcing it. You're always going to be infinitely better at being yourself than at attempting to be someone else.

What you're saying is totally true. I have a feeling my thought process is still Fi-Ne like it used to be. And I have no problem with Fi, the weird thing is that I'm actually weirdly, longing for Fi in a way.

It's like that Fi-Si loop thing that I was in was more of a drive to be me than I could have possibly imagined Ne to be. I also get what you mean that Ne is more information-based. I think a became much more confident/extroverted when I started to think about what the possibilities are surrounding a situation.

And again, I'm not trying to force Ne over Fi or Te over Fi. It's like it's stuck now, as in I have to expend more effort to recollect myself from a social gathering, when I'm alone. I know it's odd saying this, (and I'm know I'm still a melodramatic 4w5 - that won't change anytime soon), but it's like I have to expend more effort to use my imagination, and I don't pay attention as much to social expectations or standards like an inferior-Si type would.

So basically what I'm saying is that it's weird, but I'm not saying I'm ENFP. I'm just weirdly a lot like an ENFP now than before.

Edit: And I just know you still think I'm a jerk after that thread I started , and I'm really sorry. But people change, and that was me being a jerk. Sorry :(
 

Standuble

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I do not believe type change is possible, not even for I/E transfer. My understanding has always been that a function is just a generalised term for the various brain cells/synapses and neurons specific to that area. The more "dominant" the function the greater the level of complexity and intensity of neuron connections and cells becoming an area of greater amounts of resource which the brain utilises. To become an ENFP by its definition you would technically need to have the amount of resources in your auxilary function area to exceed your dominant. The top four functions do experience growth as your brain develops over time so a type change would likely need little to no growth of the dominant and massive growth of the auxilary which naturally IMO would not happen (outside of brain trauma which could damage and lessen the ability of a dominant function.)

Please be aware too that cognitive extraversion is likely different from social extraversion. Extraverted functions are limited to certain areas of the brain (Je = top left, Pe= top right) however the theory of introversion/extraversion in a social sense is that connections between neurons are longer/shorter than the other and this is consistent across most if not all the brain.
 

skylights

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What you're saying is totally true. I have a feeling my thought process is still Fi-Ne like it used to be. And I have no problem with Fi, the weird thing is that I'm actually weirdly, longing for Fi in a way.

It's like that Fi-Si loop thing that I was in was more of a drive to be me than I could have possibly imagined Ne to be. I also get what you mean that Ne is more information-based. I think a became much more confident/extroverted when I started to think about what the possibilities are surrounding a situation.

And again, I'm not trying to force Ne over Fi or Te over Fi. [...]

So basically what I'm saying is that it's weird, but I'm not saying I'm ENFP. I'm just weirdly a lot like an ENFP now than before.

That's interesting, then, and I'm guessing you'll be better off for having strengthened your aux and inferior functions. I think both NFP "selves" can be found in discovery, but I think for the INFP it's discovery of everything via the self while for ENFP it's discovery of the self via discovery of everything. I also feel the need to "return" to Fi sometimes... I think it draws us inwards. The same is probably true for Ne, that it draws us outwards, and when we've gone too heavy in either direction, we need to rebalance ourselves. I don't see functions so much as individual processes but more as a theoretical system of cognitive patterns, with balance and harmony being essential to harmony and growth.

It's like it's stuck now, as in I have to expend more effort to recollect myself from a social gathering, when I'm alone. I know it's odd saying this, (and I'm know I'm still a melodramatic 4w5 - that won't change anytime soon), but it's like I have to expend more effort to use my imagination, and I don't pay attention as much to social expectations or standards like an inferior-Si type would.

Do you mean your Fi-imagination? That's an interesting phrasing to me because personally I think I use more Ne in imagining than Fi. So it's harder for you to get back to your Fi-ness now?

Also, I'm not sure what you mean about paying attention to social expectations or standards like an inferior Si type... as in ENFPs don't pay much attention to that, and now you find yourself not paying much attention either?

Edit: And I just know you still think I'm a jerk after that thread I started , and I'm really sorry. But people change, and that was me being a jerk. Sorry :(

If it's any consolation, I have no idea what you're talking about. I assume based on your wording that it was something controversial in the past, but I don't remember it. :]
 
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