#infp tip

INFPs are idealists. We have a clear mental image of what we could be, big goals, big dreams, big ideas.

We can be very hard on ourselves because of this ideal image that’s always in our head. Life is made of highs and lows, and great accomplishments and big fails.

And it’s normal. 

The problem with putting too much importance on your mistakes is letting it affect your self-esteem.

You are not a failure because you forgot your friends birthday, because your project never got accepted, because you hit your toe on the table.

What I really want you to remember is: Everybody fucks up. 

A little bit, or a whole lot. 

The difference is they don’t hate themselves for it, they don’t think they are failures. They see it as what it is: a mistake. They stand back up and they keep going. 

Let people adapt to you sometimes. 

 INFPs will often adapt to other people and not the other way around. 

 You have to keep in mind that you have the right to go your own way. 

For example today I was taking notes of a colleagues comments on a project. This colleague was speaking very fast. Instead of slowing him down, I was adapting and taking notes way too quickly, missing important information at the same time. What I should have done is asking him to adapt. Keep writing at my own pace and asking to slow down or wait a little bit when I needed. Both of us would have benefited from a better result in the end.

This is just an example but there are so many situations where you should take a moment to ask yourself : am I adapting too much? How would I prefer to do this? Etc.

Introverted types process information differently than extroverted types. For us “I"s, our natural preference is to think deeply before we come to a conclusion and exteriorize a thought. On their side, extroverts will express more spontaneous thoughts, and correct them on the way.

Naturally, a more spontaneous personality will be more used to making mistakes, and will feel more at ease finding last minute solutions and turning quickly back on their feet.

This is not something we introverts are used to do.

And most of the time, it will result in us having a harder time getting back up after messing it up.

Often, a small mistake will feel like a huge one. And we can feel paralyzed and helpless when we do something wrong.

Remember that it’s ok to be wrong, it’s ok to change your mind.

Expressing your current opinion does not make you tied up to that opinion forever.

You have the right to evolve and fall down and get back up and learn on the way.

Take it easy, have fun, and be kind to yourself.

Introverted people have many great strengths, such as the ease to think deeply about abstract ideas.

But the world is made of both introverts and extroverts, so we should learn from other personalities if we want successful and harmonious relationships.

Here are some things that can be really helpful for an introverted person to learn:

1. Take the habit of putting words on your thoughts. Being a person of a few words is a great thing and the fact that we think a lot before we speak can save us from many troubles, but we have to be careful not to be TOO silent - leaving all our thoughts to interpretation. For better or for worse. Sometimes we are very excited or happy and we will feel it strongly but it won’t be very apparent to the outside world because we will not necessarily jump around or smile exaggeratedly. It’s a good thing to simply say what we feel, without going against our natural tendency, simply state your feeling “I appreciate that you trust me and put me on this project.” “I’m very happy to see you.” Introverts are usually very observing of other people. We will decode feelings in the smallest details of another person’s body language. Maybe that’s a reason why we don’t feel the need to express so much, thinking it’s obvious that we feel a certain way, but it’s not obvious to everyone. Keep some control on how people see you and the things you express by simply putting words on them.

Different types have different strenghts.

The problem is being not aware that there are people who have different default modes than ours , and evaluating other simply on our own functions.

To an “S” type, the “N”s can appear slow. When they ask simple questions on tangible, concrete, sensing subjects, INFPs are one of the types who will have a long mental process, because they think primarily about more abstract concepts and make tons of links in their heads before getting to the point. The Intuitives, on their side, can see Sensors as lacking depth, and seeing things too literally.

Try to see beyond your first perception of other people. INFPs are great at seeing things from the perspective of others. Use this skill to go even further and try to understand where other people’s thoughts come from. <\p>