40 Struggles All INFP Personalities Experience

The Idealist

The INFP is one of 16 personalities in Myers-Briggs. INFP stands for introverted, intuition, feeling, and perceiving. They are dominated by introverted feeling, followed by extroverted intuition, introverted sensing, and lastly extroverted thinking.

They belong to the idealist family with the INFJ, ENFJ, and ENFP. They make for a great friend, cheerleader, and dreamer. They have an endless ether of imagination and creativity. They’re truly beautiful, warm-hearted people — and they are like cute little pandas that need quiet time and naps.

They are soulful (and that’s fantastic), but they need help with some of the practical burdens of life. They will be your friend through thick and thin. They can take on the world — they can make everyone smile, and they’re some of the sweetest people you’ll ever meet. We all have our struggles in this world — the following are some of the unique struggles INFP personalities tend to endure.

The Struggle Is Real

1. They have an inclination toward procrastination. The INFP has a difficult time with deadlines, plus they’re eager to please, so they’ll take on more than they can chew.

2. They can be super lazy. If not matured, they’ll never clean their room, dishes will pile up in the sink, and their spouse or roommate will take care of any and all financial concerns.

3. They struggle to say what concerns them. Sometimes this can lead to extreme passive aggression — and for the other person, there is no win to the situation. The INFP’s passive aggression can be manipulative. You’re avoiding finding a compromise or a way to negotiate.

4. It burdens them when they have to do something unkind. Hard conversations challenge their core qualities and disturb their gut. Conflict can deplete them of energy. They may isolate themselves and nap a lot.

5. Difficulty getting their crap together. Between college and getting settled in a career, all of it is really overwhelming. They can do it, but they may change their minds several times when it comes to picking a major or a career.

6. They have a terrible, horrid time getting over someone from their past. They give their heart with devotion and uniqueness. Cutting ties with an ex is really hard for them because they have to reverse engineer core parts of themselves.

7. They will protect themselves in a hidden, isolated, and distraught shelter with a fountain of tears streaming down their face. It would be better for an INFP to talk out their problems with someone, so they don’t slide into depression. Those dominated by feeling and intuition sometimes struggle to express their emotions into words they feel comfortable sharing with others.

8. They are stubborn and have a difficult time seeing where they may be off-kilter. These beautiful souls are the definition of spontaneous. They can get into some really weird stuff. Sometimes this gets out of hand, like having a birthday theme about babies traveling the universe.

9. They had a difficult time expressing themselves as a child, and instead of relying on empathy, they may have been cruel or mean to others, particularly siblings. Their giant hearts are a difficult gift to accept and master.

10. They have a horrid time with theory and trying to figure out its application. Their worst nightmare: being stuck in a room with several intense philosophers. They like creative things, but nerding out on particular streams of thought can be grating.

11. They may think they’re terrible at communicating, and they’ll go through huge periods of isolation. Despite this notion, the INFP is charismatic and is great at making friends. This personality is well suited to make friends with ambiverts who can take them under their wing and help them to speak up more.

12. Their desire to do something is strong; however, their stamina is low. Don’t ask too much of them because they have a small gas tank, and you can overwhelm them by asking too big of a favor.

13. It takes some time to get to know them and to get them out of their shell. They have several defense mechanisms to protect their core. They’re not even sure when they’re in defense mode.

14. They may suddenly give up and quit in fits of spontaneity. They can suddenly decide they don’t want to be in a relationship, scrap an entire project, leave their home, and drop out of school. They often regret these impulsive decisions.

15. They are hyper-creative, but they have a hard time sharing their inner world. They love their inner world, and they hate criticism. If you’re too hard on an INFP, they’ll close off their world.

16. They fold too quickly in conflict. Unfortunately, people can use this to their advantage if they want them to fold.

17. They struggle with developing their intuition and need to be around extroverts to develop it. The problem: extroverts can easily overwhelm them.

18. They dream super big all the time, but they need help when it comes to getting things done. They’re amazing visionaries, but day-to-day stuff can be elusive.

19. They give up easily. If they’re trying something new and they don’t see progress, they get insecure and quit.

20. They can be so overwhelmed by their emotions that they’re unsure of what they want. This can spiral into sadness or anger.

21. Suddenly the INFP is in a new and exciting relationship, goes three sheets to the wind, then gets really negative when the relationship stabilizes and is unsure if it’s what they want. INFPs can lose traction with their romantic relationships because they’re uncertain what energy they want to put into them.

22. They want to be humble, so they won’t give themselves the credit they deserve. They have a hard time with compliments, they worry selling their artwork is too ambitious, and they worry if they express their thoughts… they’ll come off full of themselves.

23. They’re too worried they’ll bother someone. They’re a little too conscientious of other people’s space and boundaries.

24. Sometimes they get too laid back and comfortable — like never getting out of bed, never putting on clean clothes, or never taking a shower.

25. They are usually adaptable and congenial unless one of their ruling principles has been violated, in which case, they stop adapting and become staunch defenders of their values. They will be uncharacteristically harsh and rigid in such situations. This can spook those around them.

26. They are quick to find a personal angle in any critical comment, whether or not anything personal was intended. They tend to take any criticism as a personal attack, and they’ll become irrational and emotional in such situations.

27. They are more irrational than they realize. They might not see how much their emotional logic and spontaneity guide them.

28. A TJ personality is likely to be threatening to an INFP — making managers, teachers, and parents often sources of pain. The INFP needs to be around people who are flexible, gracious, and patient.

29. There isn’t enough time to play and be creative — and there is too much time required for work. They need creative expression, not monotone and doldrum work routines.

30. They may be eager to start something new but quickly lose interest if it takes too much time or effort. This can result in splurges of activity that end in a big bang.

31. They may have problems with confrontation and find ways to avoid it. It would be better for them to approach the problem directly. This will actually help their relationships and make them stronger.

32. They may go through periods of hoarding everything and then giving everything away. They impulsively buy stuff, and they impulsively give stuff away. This can be confusing to others.

33. They are brilliant, greater than they even know. People with this personality may struggle to see their potential. They may struggle with confidence.

34. They can become obsessed with their body and also forget to take care of their body. They give themselves rigorous diets that often won’t stick.

35. They struggle with extremes. There’s a lot of balancing act going on, so they shift a lot. It would help them to take in and sort more information to combat this, but their dominant mode of thinking is through emotional decision-making. This can make it difficult to carry out visions. They have beautiful dreams and should be encouraged to have dreams.

36. They are more crafty than they’re letting you know. They might not say things to your face, but they freely will to others. Encourage them to have better communication. They need to talk directly to people, not behind their backs.

37. They should not be pampered. If you start taking care of them, you’ll be taking care of everything for them. They need to be more self-sufficient.

38. They have an intense hatred of negativity. It can blind them. They’re sensitive to their environment.

39. They can be too hard on themselves. The INFP’s inner critique can run amuck.

40. They are some of the most genuine, important people we have, and yet they often don’t see it. They’re so kind and humble that they don’t see their importance, and so they’ll recline to the shadows or corners. We need more of them in the center and upfront.

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Originally published: https://owlcation.com/social-sciences/30-Struggles-All-INFP-Personalities-Experience