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[INFJ] Do INFJs need a "hobby"? If so, what???

janey_girl

New member
Joined
Feb 18, 2009
Messages
74
MBTI Type
INtJ
My ISTP is obsessed with his motorbike (under his admission - 2am in the garage in his dressing gown sorting out the brakes kind of obsession!) - he says it helps him switch off, helps him recentre and loves the way he is creating something (he is modifying it beyond all recognition)...

I have never really had anything like that - I attempted pastel drawing, knitting, writing a book (I'm 200 pages in), I do exercise but it's not really "fun" it's weight control and interacting with others, I'm trying cooking but I see it more as "survival" than fun. I enjoy studying, reading (usually have about 3 books on the go at once to "reflect my mood") and trying to figure my inner world out (Navel gazing if you like). I love talking to people and pulling apart the universe. Talking to everyone on here is fascinating - never have I encountered so many intelligent and interesting individuals to converse with - sometimes I just read the threads and don't contribute as I love seeing it unfold...

I just don't know whether I could undertake a hobby that would "survive" - I know I would tire of it and it would end up in the back of a cupboard - forgotten... Is this normal for an INFJ? Or is there anything that you do you would like to share?
 

Werewolfen

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Joined
Jun 21, 2008
Messages
286
MBTI Type
INFJ
Enneagram
5w4
Restoring my 86' Toyota 4wd is what I'm doing lately,I love 4wd's , big tires , lifted bodies,going places no one has ever dared to go, I love getting off the beaten path and creating my own. I love the mountains and driving up steep terrain, the next vehicle I get will be an older Jeep Wrangler and I'll fix it up as well. I also like fly fishing for trout wading out in ice cold water. I like riding my mountain bike a lot too. I play guitar almost everyday , I can forget all my problems temporarily while playing guitar. Oh yeah, I've got a punching bag I workout on about 3 days a week, it relieves a good deal of stress and I lift weights off and on. I like going to bookstores , I'm a magazine fiend. I've met a few unusual people in Barnes & Nobles, and I'm really into alternative media and We Are Change.
 

gloomy-optimist

New member
Joined
Oct 9, 2008
Messages
305
MBTI Type
INFJ
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4w3
I jump from hobby to hobby. I don't think I really have one, although, from my experience, I do need something to keep my mind preoccupied or else I end up falling into the deep, dark abyss.

So, don't worry if your hobbies aren't necessarily uniform. It's okay to have a variety ;) What's important is that you're enjoying yourself.
 

Wyst

lurking....
Joined
Jul 6, 2008
Messages
1,662
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4w5
I've jumped around from hobby to hobby too.

The two that I've actually (and surprisingly) stuck with over the years are weight lifting and guitar.
 
P

Phantonym

Guest
I jump from hobby to hobby. I don't think I really have one, although, from my experience, I do need something to keep my mind preoccupied or else I end up falling into the deep, dark abyss.

Yup.

I'm constantly juggling between dozens of things that take up my interest. This has led me to a mess because now I know something about a lot of things but really not much at all about anything.
 
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nightning

ish red no longer *sad*
Joined
Apr 23, 2007
Messages
3,741
MBTI Type
INfj
I've never really done anything "steadily" on my own initiative. There are hobbies I return to time and time again (rpg, fantasy/sci fic novels, sketching etc). It's always done in bursts though. I'll be in to it for a couple months, then I'd need a break or something else catches my attention.

Makes me sound like a P :D
 

Laurie

Was E.laur
Joined
Jan 3, 2009
Messages
6,072
MBTI Type
ENFP
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7w6
My husband can't come up with a hobby to save his life. Sounds just like this thread.
 

the state i am in

Active member
Joined
Feb 12, 2009
Messages
2,475
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infj
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sx/sp
my current hobby is myers briggs.

i give it about 2-3 more months and i'll probably move on to greener hobby pastures, like amateur pornographing or something of the sort. or perhaps organizing spice racks and/or closets. maybe carpentry or the constructing of a variety of mustaches made out of real human hair. or my novel, yes, a real tour de force in the fields of french post-structuralist thought and post-modern deconstructionist literature. probably just smoking a lot of pot tho and eating waffle fries w a nice and tasty aioli (something cracked peppercorn or something smoky?).
 

Tiltyred

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Dec 1, 2008
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Everything I do is a hobby.
 

Eagle

New member
Joined
Mar 9, 2009
Messages
733
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ISTJ
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1w9
Instinctual Variant
sx/so
My ISTP is obsessed with his motorbike (under his admission - 2am in the garage in his dressing gown sorting out the brakes kind of obsession!) - he says it helps him switch off, helps him recentre and loves the way he is creating something (he is modifying it beyond all recognition)...

I have never really had anything like that - I attempted pastel drawing, knitting, writing a book (I'm 200 pages in), I do exercise but it's not really "fun" it's weight control and interacting with others, I'm trying cooking but I see it more as "survival" than fun. I enjoy studying, reading (usually have about 3 books on the go at once to "reflect my mood") and trying to figure my inner world out (Navel gazing if you like). I love talking to people and pulling apart the universe. Talking to everyone on here is fascinating - never have I encountered so many intelligent and interesting individuals to converse with - sometimes I just read the threads and don't contribute as I love seeing it unfold...

I just don't know whether I could undertake a hobby that would "survive" - I know I would tire of it and it would end up in the back of a cupboard - forgotten... Is this normal for an INFJ? Or is there anything that you do you would like to share?

I know I would get bored too.
I have yet to find anything that just *fits* me. I enjoy the out doors, but some of the adventure in that is killed cause I don't get excited about a lot of things. The only thing I can say is that maybe you don't need A hobby. Maybe you just need a bunch of hobbies. That's always possible. Another alternative is friends or people. Living life and enjoying it. People aren't always the same. Interacting with groups and such, there are usually lots of different dynamics. Not prone to get as boring as fast (sounds like it might suit you a bit based on your post). As far as a hobby to do yourself, I have yet to find one that's stimulating enough to do again and again. Sometimes, it's the destination that's stimulating and not the journey. You might just be one of those people. Hobbies are usually about the journey. It's just how things work.
 

Lauren Ashley

Revelation
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Aug 19, 2008
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My hobbies tend to be intangible and I usually stick with them. I suppose it helps that they are multi-faceted subjects that are not so easy to understand.
 

jackandthebeast

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Jan 30, 2009
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IXFX
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tert
Well, I'm an INFx, not an INFJ, but I do that, sort of. I have pretty steady interests in the arts, mythology, and psychology, (and IDEOLOGY <3- [parallel structure unintended]). When things are ideologically consistent and fully explored and in tune with my aesthetic, I have an absolute attachment to them. I also have various thematic obsessions. I do get bored extremely easily though, which I guess is much more pronounced because my sensing is subverted, and i have trouble being in the moment, which makes me pretty much perpetually dissatisfied. So my attention is polar: absolute, yet fickle and extremely particular. Even with the media i love I'm still looking for new ideological nuances to devour. But there are definitely common threads among my interests, and I usually come back to them. Right now, I have an unfinished mannequin I've been working on ittermittently since last January, but my hope is that she will eventually be done. (see photograph).
I'm good at putting things together, but in general I'm not very task-oriented. The only club that I held my attention enough to keep me in high school was Live Poet Society because we mostly didn't do anything. Just talked and wrote poetry and discussed social mores.
 

Siúil a Rúin

when the colors fade
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Apr 23, 2007
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14,037
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I have one major focused area of expertise and occasionally delve into related areas. I'm not really a hobby person. More often than not I don't see the point of just barely engaging in some activity for recreation. I'd rather continue to focus on aspects of my primary skill to get better.
 

Shaggy

New member
Joined
Jan 8, 2009
Messages
45
MBTI Type
INfJ
Creating music = my sanity. I have been writing and recording music for 10 years and it rarely reached a dry spell. More things going on in my life, the more I need it. Music is more so part of my lifestyle rather than a hobby. There has been several other things over the years that has come and gone, but I will always be playing one instrument or another.
Even in writing and performing music I have jumped around from drums, bass, acoustic, electric guitar, piano. I'm not an expert on any particular instrument, but a "jack of all trades".
 
S

Sniffles

Guest
I pretty much jump from hobby to hobby, interest to interest.
 

BlackCat

Shaman
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Nov 19, 2008
Messages
7,038
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9w8
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sx/sp

My friend is a lot like you, will get bored extremely easily and has a high standard for what he does. He used to jump from thing to thing that he was interested in, but he's settled on World of Warcraft somehow. I have no idea how that's kept his interest, it sure bored the heck out of me. And erm... It's impossible to be an X type, just so you know.
 
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