[INFP] What is the (Practical) Purpose of INFPs?

[CzeCze]

Edit: I use the word "actually" WAY TOO MUCH.

Me too. I got in trouble for it at work because I used it too much with clients. "It's not ACTUALLY like anything! Just say it plainly" is what my boss told me. I guess spraying "C-level executives" with "actually" was making our company look bad, like it was run by a small army of sorority girls.

 

[Anew Leaf]

Bazinga!

I laughed so hard when I first saw this episode.... I cried with tears and actually collapsed on the floor beside my chair.

I Sheldon.

One of my INFJ friends has a son who is Sheldon...

*goes off to sort out carbon atoms*

[MENTION=1009]CzeCze[/MENTION]: Lol! One of the girls that I work with... we have moments where we talk "valley girl" and say "Ack-shuh-leeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee Life.... Iz.... Hard...." It was funny at first, but now it's slowly mutating our DNA until one day we will say it one time too many and then BAM! We are Valley Girls.

 

[Rasofy]

I laughed so hard when I first saw this episode.... I cried with tears and actually collapsed on the floor beside my chair.

I Sheldon.

hahaha this episode is actually priceless! Did you actually managed to fall off the chair? (Luckily I was watching on my bed )

 

[Kasper]

I texted his wife today asking what he meant by the comment. Apparently he was trying to give me a compliment on that he thinks I am awesome, but then halfway through it wanted to give his ESTJ wife a compliment at the same time and pretty much botched the entire episode. We've suggested that he needs to just stick to physics.

Hehe, kay that I get, I would do the same thing

 

[OrangeAppled]

I think practicality is overrated. But I can pay my bills & clean my apartment just fine. As far as work goes, I don't feel limited by my ability. I feel limited by my strengths; I feel like they'd be wasted in just any job. I also don't want a 9-5 drudgery. I'd rather pursue something impractical that I care about & suffer the consequences than become complacent with something mundane. It's this feeling that impedes me (when I am impeded...not always), not my ability to be practical.

Personally, I am a good worker in that I am honest, get work done efficiently, am very creative in finding solutions for all kinds of things, easy to get along with (no drama at the office for me), don't waste time yacking to co-workers, can be good with interesting details (ie. artwork), have very high standards, learn very fast (everyone says this, but let's not deny the exceptional powers of Ne ), and I take responsibility seriously (which is why I avoid it sometimes ; but I also don't call in sick to go to the beach or whatever). A lot of what I am good at is not what employers look for though, and I see this as a cultural bias, one which fails to note the strengths of a type like INFP. It's not a failing of the INFP to be capable at an occupation though. I've been appreciated over time at every job I've had, oftten becoming indispensable (and disappointing them when I leave); first impressions are the hurdle. I guess my point here is, a main problem is other people's perceptions of what you can do, not what you actually can do.

I also consider these "Fi traits" quite practical:
Van Der Hoop on Fi (paraphrased a bit by moi) - Whether they become artists or scientists....they take great care & precision in their work (or "cause"), in these situations showing the persistence & devotion associated with & used as evidence of Feeling
Even this: -Strength of will....comes to light [in the] strong sense of [moral] duty characteristic of these people, and in their faithful discharge of their duties
- Prove a quiet force that keep respect for morals alive in the world


Van Der Hoop on Ne (stuff I'd see applying to Ne-aux also)- Sudden possibilities become compelling motives which the intuitive mind cannot disregard, and for which it may sacrifice everything else.
- Readily able to grasp the views of others
- the Ne type shows much spontaneous activity and independence
- Have the art of bringing other people out of themselves
- They will discover fresh possibilities where others have failed
- Take pride in seeing the possibilities of accomplishing something which others regard as impossible


And that above is likely why personalitypage says INFPs with developed Ne can pretty much be good at whatever they set their minds to....it provides that ingenuity to find "appropriate outlets" for Fi ideals.

Personality Page on INFP growth:
INFPs who have developed their Extraverted iNtuition to the extent that they can perceive the world about them objectively and quickly will find that they enjoy these very special gifts:

-They will have a great deal of insight into people's characters......These well-developed INFP individuals make outstanding psychologists and counselors. They might also be great fiction writers...
-They will quickly understand different situations, and quickly grasp new concepts. They will find that they're able to do anything that they put their mind to, although they may not find it personally satisfying. Things may seem to come easily to these INFPs. Although they're able to conquer many different kinds of tasks and situations, these INFPs will be happiest doing something that seems truly important to them. Although they may find that they can achieve the "mainstream" type of success with relative ease, they are not likely to find happiness along that path, unless they are living their lives with authenticity and depth.
-The INFP who augments their strong, internal value system (Fi) with a well-developed intuitive way of perceiving the world (Ne) can be a powerful force for social change....

I think the bolded above explains the other main problem, which is not ability, but desire.

Sometimes it's not about a 'specific career path'. Look outside of 'career' when considering what things an INFP can offer the world. I personally think that many INTP's and INFP's have a gift for teaching, instructing, informing, offering fresh insight and perspective into the problems/situation of life - and insight/perspective into life itself. When I mention these things - like teaching for instance - I don't "necessarily" mean in a classroom or even in a group setting. Think about the 1-on-1 discussions you have with your friends and family members.

By understanding who you are and what traits you possess that are unique to this world, only then can you begin to look at careers that will enable you to use those traits. What career will enable you (or give you an avenue) to teach, instruct, inform, offer insight, offer perspective, etc? Writers are able to do those things through their writing. Counselors are able to do those things. Therapists. Speakers. Aquarium/shark tank tour guides can teach, educate, and inform people about the shark kingdom. These are all very real, practical, and tangible careers. People do these things every day and you too have access to these careers. Also remember, however, that your career - no matter which one you choose - will never FULLY encompass who you are. When you go home on the weekends or when you are with friends and family and even encounters with strangers - you are still able to teach, instruct, offer insight/perspective, etc.

Purpose = 24/7/365
Career = 9-to-5 or some other limited amount of hours.

Try to line up career with purpose so that they blend in nicely with who you are and what you enjoy doing.

In terms of career, the talent for one-on-one "teaching" can come in handy too. I at least make a little extra cash doing private tutoring, and I'm pretty good at it, if I do say so myself . I can see many INPs as good teachers for a classroom also, as long as they tap into their Ne "charisma" & have enough down-time to balance the group setting. Academics seems a good area for the INFP who is inclined that way, IMO.

I agree that you can't make your career your identity either; at best, you may get to do something you enjoy and care about in some capacity. But sometimes a job is just a job, and you have to find fulfillment elsewhere. Again, I think need for personal fulfillment is the real issue for the INFP, and why practicality is avoided, not because we're incapable of it.

INFP's make great parents because they are so in touch with their children's feelings.

True, the propensity is there.

Vam Der Hoop: - Emanate calm & security without doing much, expressed in indefinite forms, & having a great but indirect influence on the environment, especially as parents over their children
- A parent of this type can have a greater influence on their child than the devoted & radiant Fe parent, by quietly implanting & fostering their own ideals in them

 

[Adasta]

I have been told countless times in my life that I make people feel secure. I do absolutely nothing to engender this belief in others, they just have it. Something about me (us?) is calming to others. Perhaps ironic because some of the times I've been told I appear calm are the times when I am absolutely bricking it.

Our role in life is often overlooked because it's hard to quantify. We are free-spirited and sage-like and we like that. We enjoy the fact that not everyone sees our wonderful gifts; it makes them more special and more useful to those that do see them.

As someone said previously, INFPs exist to teach. We do it all the time. The problem is that we don't realise it because we are not focused on the exterior world; therefore, our "actions" or "states" are of little worth to us. They are, however, what everyone else perceives. Our role is one of passive strength. People come to us for their own reasons and we do not judge them. That's the difference, I think, between us and many other types. Once someone has made the effort to connect with us, it is rarely overlooked.

I often hear people say I am unconcerned with the practicality of life. Somtimes it gets me down; other times, I know these people just don't know what they're missing.

 

[NegativeZero]

I think almost all of this applies to INTPs as well. INxPs want desperately to be known for their ideas, thus an author or speaker would be the ideal career (that is, if you introverts are willing to learn how to speak in front of people). Unfortunately, it is hard to make a living as an author, and nearly impossible to be a successful one. I can't tell any INxP what to do for a living because that is for him/her to discover, but unless you're a genius or a brilliant writer, find an alternative.

Someone mentioned that teacher would be a good fit. Another good match would be a doctor of some sort, especially for INTPs; I feel like they would make ideal specialist doctors, e.g., opthamologists, neurologists, optometrists, and so on. What do doctors and teachers have in common? They will always be in demand somewhere, meaning they are very practical career paths. I feel especially bad for the INTPs that are not mathematically inclined and the INFPs that are not talented within creative writing. These types tend to be philosophical and genuinely curious, but very impractical.

Number one piece of advice to any INxP? If you're allergic to math, get over it. Your math allergy will screw you over, I promise you. Get it out of the way NOW. I don't care if you have to spend an hour everyday with a tutor during a study hall; it sure beats having to pay for it in college when you're older!

 

[Stanton Moore]

Fuck practicality. I just want to express my ideas, think and mostly, FEEL. What's wrong with that? I don't owe society anything. I pay my bills. My car is paid for. Only in this time and place are some abilities frowned on and others exalted as superior.
My advice: be your sensitive, awesome selves. Artist, dreamers and poets are very important to the world, whatever the dominant paradigm would have you believe.

EDIT: Any INFP who needs a pep talk can PM me. I'll set you straight.

 

[erm]

Their purpose is obvious. They make the other types feel better about themselves.

 

[CrystalViolet]

I don't know what we are for.
Apparently I have a healing vibe.

 

[William K]

I have been told countless times in my life that I make people feel secure. I do absolutely nothing to engender this belief in others, they just have it. Something about me (us?) is calming to others. Perhaps ironic because some of the times I've been told I appear calm are the times when I am absolutely bricking it.

We're human whisperers?

But I can understand what you mean about looking calm outside. There have been times at work where my colleagues would comment that I'm so graceful under pressure when inside I'm like absolutely roiling with thoughts and feelings.

 

[William K]

To answer the OP, not sure if it is considered practical but you could find an outlet to show your rich inner world to the outside. This could be in some form of creative arts (and no, commenting and starting threads on TypoC doesn't count as work ). Even a run-of-the-mill 9-to-5 job could give you pleasure if you know what your strengths/passions are and how to apply it in the right situations.

And I don't know where this stereotype of an INFP who forgets to pay the bills comes from. Yes, we may get into a zone when we are doing something we deem important and lose track of time, but it's really not difficult to set up automatic bill paying with your e-bank account

Oh, and I can vouch for life getting easier as we get older. It's as if we live life in reverse. We hit the mid-life and existential crises so early in life that by the time we survive to the 30s, anything else that can be thrown at us would seem like a piece of cake.

 

[21%]

Oh, and I can vouch for life getting easier as we get older. It's as if we live life in reverse. We hit the mid-life and existential crises so early in life that by the time we survive to the 30s, anything else that can be thrown at us would seem like a piece of cake.

Nice to know!

 

[flameskull95]

I guess what personality type doesn't assure you with are your talents, level of knowledge, or level of thinking or feeling. It's practically just the type of reactions you give life to. I'm def INFP, but I've been considered overly-orderly at times with my work... - in my case it gets work done faster and easier for later. But that's maybe because I'm inclined to be more of an INXP, - I don't know where it came about, but It's probably 'cause I'm a guy who was raised by academics. And yes, INFP girls are called 'lots of fun' while us INFP guys are usually called 'fags'/'weirdos'/'retards' or just 'crazy', I guess that can also be a root of INXPness. By just being an INFP, you're INXP because of they guy standards society imposes on you, most societies more than the rest, and every society is practically dominated by STs, so go figure.

The 'practical purpose' I guess is created when we apply our ideals(which is like our life blood) to the real world, and make an effort out of our lives in doing so. I guess an INFP can amount to any practical purpose they set their minds to when they understand the futility of anxiety, organization/thinking & getting work done to some extent, which would be obstacles in the way of applying our ideals. When INFPs are stressed out, they reflect ESTJs the most practical, down to earth of extroverted types, so that goes to show INFPs can be practical, - and when they rarely are, they are the best at it. But OVERALL, I don't think all us INFPs have one practical purpose, but just traits that can incline us toward, in SOME WAY relative purposes. And it's usually through our ideals.

 

[flameskull95]

They make good trophies. Only the upper class can afford to own and maintain such an impractical thing as an INFP.

Very untrue when it comes to the underlying meaning. INFPs are usually much less materialistic than other types and would be happy growing in any environment that is just understanding of them(which even in primitive societies is possible), and are more likely to reject materialistic qualities and upper class comfort at the sake of others(which is usually the case with the upperclass).

Other than that, - 'ENFP' hey? Shouldn't you be somewhere trying your best to 'fit in' instead of creating a stir?

 

[Qlip]

Very untrue when it comes to the underlying meaning. INFPs are usually much less materialistic than other types and would be happy growing in any environment that is just understanding of them(which even in primitive societies is possible), and are more likely to reject materialistic qualities and upper class comfort at the sake of others(which is usually the case with the upperclass).

Other than that, - 'ENFP' hey? Shouldn't you be somewhere trying your best to 'fit in' instead of creating a stir?

It was a playful joke on the premise that people have to be 'good for something' for someone to justify their existence. Everybody else seemed to get it.

Why don't you put a lid on that ENFP hate and save it for sometime where I truly mean to offend you.

EDIT: Okay... overreaction there, but I will leave it for posterity.

 

[flameskull95]

It was a playful joke on the premise that people have to be 'good for something' for someone to justify their existence. Everybody else seemed to get it.

Why don't you put a lid on that ENFP hate and save it for sometime where I truly mean to offend you.

EDIT: Okay... overreaction there, but I will leave it for posterity.

ENFP hate? nah, that's my INTP counterpart kicking in. Most my friends are usually ENFPs, other than that... are you supposed to 'get it' when I contradict something, you were totally trolling on, only to lead the joke to a sad position.... didn't think so.

 

[Qlip]

ENFP hate? nah, that's my INTP counterpart kicking in. Most my friends are usually ENFPs, other than that... are you supposed to 'get it' when I contradict something, you were totally trolling on, only to lead the joke to a sad position.... didn't think so.

Hmm, I haven't seen you around. Welcome to the forum. I believe our Fi's have already met. :wave:

 

[Anew Leaf]

I read this tonight and had another "aha!" kind of moment. I just read this book too and I am gratified to see that the author is some kind of crazy NF as well.

If you ask my husband my best trait, he’ll smile and say, “She never gives up.” But if you ask him my worst trait, he’ll get a funny tic in his cheek, narrow his eyes and hiss, “She. Never. Gives. Up.”

It took me a year and a half to write my earliest version of The Help. I’d told most of my friends and family what I was working on. Why not? We are compelled to talk about our passions. When I’d polished my story, I announced it was done and mailed it to a literary agent.

Six weeks later, I received a rejection letter from the agent, stating, “Story did not sustain my interest.” I was thrilled! I called my friends and told them I’d gotten my first rejection! Right away, I went back to editing. I was sure I could make the story tenser, more riveting, better.

A few months later, I sent it to a few more agents. And received a few more rejections. Well, more like 15. I was a little less giddy this time, but I kept my chin up. “Maybe the next book will be the one,” a friend said. Next book? I wasn’t about to move on to the next one just because of a few stupid letters. I wanted to write this book.

A year and a half later, I opened my 40th rejection: “There is no market for this kind of tiring writing.” That one finally made me cry. “You have so much resolve, Kathryn,” a friend said to me. “How do you keep yourself from feeling like this has been just a huge waste of your time?”

That was a hard weekend. I spent it in pajamas, slothing around that racetrack of self-pity—you know the one, from sofa to chair to bed to refrigerator, starting over again on the sofa. But I couldn’t let go of The Help. Call it tenacity, call it resolve or call it what my husband calls it: stubbornness.

After rejection number 40, I started lying to my friends about what I did on the weekends. They were amazed by how many times a person could repaint her apartment. The truth was, I was embarrassed for my friends and family to know I was still working on the same story, the one nobody apparently wanted to read.

Sometimes I’d go to literary conferences, just to be around other writers trying to get published. I’d inevitably meet some successful writer who’d tell me, “Just keep at it. I received 14 rejections before I finally got an agent. Fourteen. How many have you gotten?”

By rejection number 45, I was truly neurotic. It was all I could think about—revising the book, making it better, getting an agent, getting it published. I insisted on rewriting the last chapter an hour before I was due at the hospital to give birth to my daughter. I would not go to the hospital until I’d typed The End. I was still poring over my research in my hospital room when the nurse looked at me like I wasn’t human and said in a New Jersey accent, “Put the book down, you nut job—you’re crowning.”

It got worse. I started lying to my husband. It was as if I were having an affair—with 10 black maids and a skinny white girl. After my daughter was born, I began sneaking off to hotels on the weekends to get in a few hours of writing. I’m off to the Poconos! Off on a girls’ weekend! I’d say. Meanwhile, I’d be at the Comfort Inn around the corner. It was an awful way to act, but—for God’s sake—I could not make myself give up.

In the end, I received 60 rejections forThe Help. But letter number 61 was the one that accepted me. After my five years of writing and three and a half years of rejection, an agent named Susan Ramer took pity on me. What if I had given up at 15? Or 40? Or even 60? Three weeks later, Susan sold The Help to Amy Einhorn Books.

The point is, I can’t tell you how to succeed. But I can tell you how not to: Give in to the shame of being rejected and put your manuscript—or painting, song, voice, dance moves, [insert passion here]—in the coffin that is your bedside drawer and close it for good. I guarantee you that it won’t take you anywhere. Or you could do what this writer did: Give in to your obsession instead.

And if your friends make fun of you for chasing your dream, remember—just lie.

I liked it all except maybe about the advice for lying. I am so bad at lying, I still wouldn't get away with it because I would feel guilty, twitching with the "tell-tale" heart of it all... until at some point he'd say "Hey honey can you pass the remote?" and I'd start sobbing about what a jerky miss mcjerkface I am.

In another note, I have started to think about writing!

 

[BAJ]

I liked it all except maybe about the advice for lying. I am so bad at lying, I still wouldn't get away with it because I would feel guilty, twitching with the "tell-tale" heart of it all... until at some point he'd say "Hey honey can you pass the remote?" and I'd start sobbing about what a jerky miss mcjerkface I am.

In another note, I have started to think about writing!

This made me tear up a little because, secretly, I'm one of the greatest artists.

I went to Wal-Mart before reading this, and I bought numerous art supplies. It occurred to me that I want make my own shirts/ clothing. Not the clothing itself, rather, I'd make a whole bunch of orginal t-shirts, like dozens or hundreds. So I bought various paints and dyes.

I wonder if this will just sit there like the kiln, which has sat there since last September.

I also have lots of paint, which only occasionally gets used. Like a few thousand dollars worth of oil and acrylic artist paint.

But, wow, I stop much quicker than 60 rejections. I need to take some vitamins or something.