INFP

I started this blog post over two years ago and am going to just publish it without much editing.  I have a lot of these blog posts I have never published that I will just publish any way.  New text is in red - old, original text from March 24, 2014 is in black:

My therapist, Jennifer, suggested I take a personality test to help focus our sessions to the way I think, feel, act, and live.  I thought this was a great idea.  Jennifer sent me a Meyers-Briggs test to take via email.  It took me six weeks to take the test.  No real reason why I didn’t take it except that I would never remember to take it.  The test was a small detail in my life that was easily ignored.

It turns out that the test was a large detail in the big picture of who I am, how I think, what I need, and how I act.  I guess I should have paid more attention to what my therapist was asking me to do.

Meyers-Briggs Test Results

My personality type turns out to be one of the rarest types in the world.      I can be classified as a dreamer without much of a doer inside of me.  Jennifer explained to me that INFP types are world changers when provided with the right support network.  I can’t picture myself changing the world but I do know that I am definitely a dreamer.  I spend a lot of my time inside my head thinking of new ideas and how to make them work.  I rarely vocalize or write down my ideas for fear of judgment and disapproval. 

The Center for Snake Conservation is one of those dreams.  I thought, planned, schemed, and dreamed about the CSC for over 10 years before I did anything about it.  I was scared the whole time to even consider that I could do anything remotely similar to my dream.  It took an absolutely miserable job and serious depression for me to found the CSC – I had to escape my situation and the CSC was the only dream that provided what I needed.

Here I am 3 years later (5 years now) and the CSC is still just a dream.  I daydream daily about being the first paid employee of the CSC but that is all I can do.  I lack the ability to make it happen.  I still need to find the doers that will help me change the world.  I have found a few doers but the next step is to learn delegation so I can do more dreaming and how to market/fundraise for the CSC.

Let’s talk a little about what it means to have the INFP personality type.  Below I list the strengths and weaknesses of an INFP type from the website 16personalities.com.  After each trait, I have written how the strength or weakness fits in my life and has made me who I am today.  Clearly, I never got around to writing about how each strength or weakness fits my life today.  Oh well - I am going to publish this anyway - extremely out of character for me.  Let's just say that I fit the descriptions below much better than the glove fit OJ and we all know he was guilty.  I can forget to eat or drink for hours and hours if out looking for snakes.  :)  

INFP strengths – copied directly from 16 Personalities (http://www.16personalities.com)

·       Passionate and energetic. INFPs tend to be very energetic when it comes to causes they believe in and are willing to fight for. They may be quiet and even shy in public, but their passion should not be underestimated.

·      Very creative. INFP personalities find it easy to interpret signs and hidden meanings – furthermore, their well-developed intuition has no difficulties connecting the dots and coming up with interesting, unusual ideas.

·       Open-minded and flexible. INFPs dislike being constrained by rules and do not seek to impose them on others. They tend to be fairly liberal, open-minded individuals, as long as their principles and ideas are not being challenged.

·       Idealistic. INFPs are perhaps the most idealistic of all personality types, believing that people are inherently good and everyone should do their best to fight evil and injustice in the world.

·       Seek and value harmony. INFPs do not want to dominate and work hard to ensure that everyone’s opinion is valued and heard.

·       Can be very dedicated and hard-working. As mentioned above, INFP personalities are both very passionate and idealistic. Not surprisingly, they can also be unbelievably dedicated to their chosen cause or an organization. It is unlikely that an INFP will give up simply because everyone else has abandoned the cause or it is getting difficult to keep going.

·        

INFP weaknesses

·       Too altruistic. INFPs may be so focused on doing good things and helping other people that they may neglect their own needs. Alternatively, they may fight for their chosen cause ignoring everything else in life.

·       Dislike dealing with data. INFP personalities are very much in tune with emotions and morality, but they are likely to have difficulties when it comes to dealing with facts and data, e.g. analyzing connections or finding discrepancies.

·       Difficult to get to know. People with the INFP personality type tend to be private, reserved individuals. They are also likely to be quite self-conscious.

·       Take many things personally. INFPs cherish their ideals and find it very difficult to accept criticism, taking such comments very personally. They also tend to avoid conflict situations, always looking for a solution that satisfies everybody.

·       May be too idealistic. INFP personalities are prone to being too dreamy and idealistic, especially when it comes to romantic relationships. They may idealize – or even idolize – their partner, forgetting that no one is perfect.

·       Impractical. INFPs do not really see practical things as important. They may even forget to eat and drink if they are doing something that excites and motivates them.