I'm new, and am dying to ask...

[limeo]

I'm just going to go ahead and ask this question, as it has been burning on my mind for a very long time now...

As an INFJ, I have never felt complacent at any job, no matter how good or committed a worker I am. For example, when I was a legal secretary, all I wanted was to be a trademark paralegal (which didn't end well, by the way.. I quit the paralegal job after one month ). Now, after 1.5 years as a massage therapist, I am seriously considering becoming a physical therapist. Massage therapy is wonderful, but the challenge of a PT education is just so tantalizing to my psyche. Granted, there are many challenges within the MT profession - like continuing ed courses, but so many of them are taught by PT's and DO's! Why not just join them, right?!

I don't think there is something inherently wrong with wanting to always better myself, something I know is a hallmark of the INFJ personality... but it's tiresome to never have that "fulfilled" feeling with my career.

Any thoughts? Has anyone else experienced this?

 

[nolla]

Well, my INFJ mom has done the same. She was working in a kindergarten, then she became a nurse, massage therapist and worked with neglected children/teens for some time, then I think there was the crisis telephone job, now she wants to start a hostel on an island... I guess its an INFJ thing, hah... but she's quite happy all the time so, that's what matters, right?

 

[limeo]

Precisely! As long as we're all happy. And, those jobs definitely suit your mother and my tastes.

Sometimes I wonder if I've ever been the only one to feel like this... it's comforting to know there are others like moi Do you think it looks flaky, though?

 

[kyuuei]

Not at all. It's never flaky to want to do more with your talents.

My mother is a massage therapist as well, and considered heavily going into the more medical/physical therapy side of things. It's a different way of using your talents. Furthering your knowledge and career does not mean you block our your former. If it doesn't work out, please take comfort in the fact you are always a massage therapist all the same.

 

[nolla]

Do you think it looks flaky, though?

The only thing that sometimes worries me about it is that her plans seem to me very unfinished and something I would consider more than twice, like with the hostel, if I was doing it, I probably wouldn't because I'd be very worried about how to get it up and running properly before the money runs out. And she is planning to live there too, and the island is really an island with no proper transportation. I'd be thinking about all the trouble with advertisement and getting food there for the people staying in and stuff like that. She doesn't seem to give many thoughts to these things.

But. I am P and she is J, so ...

 

[limeo]

kyuuei, you are so right. I'm always worried how others perceive me... it's not as if I'm interested in becoming a truck driver or something.

nolla - I teeter between a P and a J... those transportation/money factors would probably have stopped me from running the hostel! But the whole 'unfinished' thing rings true for me...

 

[spirilis]

kyuuei, you are so right. I'm always worried how others perceive me... it's not as if I'm interested in becoming a truck driver or something.

nolla - I teeter between a P and a J... those transportation/money factors would probably have stopped me from running the hostel! But the whole 'unfinished' thing rings true for me...

The way I see it... If I'm productive, and making good money, and the schedule works out for me (and there's no major safety issues involved), others' perceptions don't matter too much for me.

 

[kyuuei]

Unfinished plans are simply plans not worth finishing. If you want it bad enough, you try and find a way to make it. If life doesn't want you to have it, you won't. There's always a chance you won't succeed. That's never an excuse to not try though. I say go for it. You're not flaky for trying. ^_^ and Welcome!

 

[iwakar]

I am always entertaining thoughts of change. And sometimes I follow through, which is apparently more often than some people and less often than others.

C'est la vie.

 

[raz]

Unfinished plans are simply plans you failed at finishing. If you want it bad enough, try harder. If life doesn't want you to have it, you're talking to the wrong people. There's always a chance you will succeed. I say go for it. You're flaky for doubting yourself. ^_^ and Welcome!

Fixed in the ISTJ way.

 

[ThatsWhatHeSaid]

Maybe you're addicted to novelty and have a fear of boredom. If that's the case, maybe it'd be a good idea to create an internal agreement whereby you accept some of the repetition in your job, but find ways to innovate and keep it interesting. Either that, or take up 2 jobs.

 

[limeo]

I do enjoy novelty. When I grow up I want to be a police officer, doctor, nurse, a psychologist... my high school guidance counselor didn't know what to tell me after i took that occupation test - according to the scores, everything was an option for me.

It's actually kind of liberating, in a sense.