hehe, i was about to say, your concerns sound totally 4w3, until you said it yourself!
elfboy, i like being an ENFP because we're sort of the "rainbows" of the MBTI, if that makes any sense. we don't really have that same aura of "separateness" that INFPs do because they do tend to keep to themselves, and maybe that makes it harder to see how we're very much individuals in our own right. but i've never met an ENFP who wasn't stunningly unique and upstanding in their own right.
and no offense at all to INFPs, i think you are awesome, but i'm gonna say some of the more negative aspects of the type here for comparison purposes.
just because you are a less rare type (and bear in mind that 3-4% is still pretty darn rare, and also that those numbers may be skewed) - doesn't mean you are a less rare person individually! especially as an ENFP, it's all the different overlapping facets of yourself that make you so unique. ENFPs often encompass such wide ranges of being that no other type even comes close to. can you even picture individual ENFPs being very alike? not at all... we all have such different senses of style. and being an E, the world gets to see that more!
and like satine mentioned, that often gives us the ability to be excellent communicators even across huge divides. we can translate a complex scientific document into language for a 4 year old because we have such an ease of being, an ease of finding similarities, to be able to understand and communicate "universal meaning", if that makes sense.
eh. depends. i think i'd say "badass" and "classy" totally describes both an ESTP and ENFJ i know well, and they're certainly not introverts by any means. but what they are, is self-confident and self-aware. on the other hand, i know introverts who are super awkward. my best friend in high school is almost definitely an INFP, and she's pretty awkward. i would not describe her - and no offense to her, because there are lots of other wonderful things about her, but - i would not describe her as either badass or classy. plus plenty of ENFPs really aren't all that socially extraverted - remember that extraversion in the MBTI is totally a cognitive descriptor. it just means you're primarily attuned to things outside yourself.
so if you're into the "strong and silent" image, go for it. being a protector and advocate certainly goes along with that... one of my good friends says that if you're on my bad side, you're screwed, cause you're never gonna win that argument... such is the intellectual gift of Ne-Fi-Te. you just have to choose your battles wisely...
but MBTI isn't a box, it's just a description of how your mind works... it doesn't make you
not who you want to be; it just describes how you think. it's easy enough to keep yourself pure and innocent if you want to be, but... well, i'm not really convinced it's a good thing to be very innocent. better to be knowledgeable.
regardless, i think that there is a childlike purity to many ENFPs - a way of not being jaded, of taking the world as it is and accepting it as it comes, and seeing the best in it. it's like a sort of purity despite knowledge... it's untouchable. in truth, i find more of this sort of purity in ENFPs than INFPs, who tend to be a little "darker" and more easily fall into depression. i have read somewhere that ENFP was foundd in a certain study to be the type considered to have the best coping skills of all 16. i feel like that fits in here - it's all about attitude.
same deal again - if you decide you want to live that way, there is nothing about ENFP that stops you. plus, like satine mentioned, think of pocohontas. i would certainly say she was badass and classy, and certainly heroic. and she was a princess. the attributes that made her like that were not removed from ENFP. her badassness and her class came from her devotion to her ideals - she was anchored strongly inside. she bore herself with confidence and dignity.
the only big difference between her and the little prince's personality was his greater focus on feelings and needing special individual relationships and her persistant drive to explore. but look at what it did for her - it helped her be more open and connected to the changing world. satine made so many good points, i'm citing her again
-- but like she said, ENFPs tend to be more IN the world, bringing themselves to the world instead of having to have the world come to them. in a way, that open concern is very prince-like - at least the way a good royal should be - dignified, yes, but also aware of their world and open to it. pocohontas was so in tune with her world and so completely understood it that she was able to communicate its importance to outsiders. and what more is the purpose of a noble, if not to be a figurehead and a protector?
ah, yes. i struggle with this - i'm not very self-motivated. it's not for lack of want, but for lack of decisiveness. i kind of enjoy most things, so it's hard to decide what i really want most. anyway, what i've noticed that i do (and not consciously) - is to surround myself with people who motivate me to be a better person. i tend to gravitate towards people who are acheivers, who are impressive, who are well-respected, who have an impact on the world.
and then there's the flip side of this, which is that being introverted can mean being somewhat reality-removed. when you're very self-motivated, sometimes you fail to adapt to external standards. you hold yourself to your own standards too much, and you run the risk of feeling disappointed with yourself even when everyone else thinks you've done an awesome job. and who really wants to live like that?
outside of all that... we're varied, interesting, engaging, creative, caring, flexible, immediately see the big picture, are good in crises. we bring ourselves to the world and we try to make life better for people. we're firm in our ideals and that helps make a better world, but we're also adaptable to many situations and always up for an adventure. it's part of the downside of being like this that your life can sometimes feel like it's always about someone else, but if you're feeling down like that, just give yourself a good Fi boost - dress how you want, act how you want, do things you love, fight for your ideals. wear your favorite color, eat your favorite foods, study your favorite subject. focus on the things that define you and just enjoy being who you are.
still, possibly my favorite thing about ENFPs is that we make people see the best in themselves - have you ever noticed, how others tend to "light up" around us? i think there is something very special there
(incidentally - i have a lot to say about this subject because i have had so many of the same thoughts. lol)