How common is it to shift from one type to another?
I think in the last year I've shifted from an INFP to an INFJ, which for me is positive, but may also have some drawbacks. I recognize that there are conscientious, focused INFPs, and there are open-minded, flexible INFJs. However, I think I've experienced a pretty fundamental personality shift. This may have been instigated by some degree of trauma, or a shift in my worldview.
Through my teens and 20s, I had a lot of luck, and I had my head in the clouds. I'd dream about all my ambitions, and I'd count on some degree of luck to get me to where I wanted to be. I got into the college I wanted, then the grad school, as well as work and volunteer opportunities in Africa. But then, after grad school, it seemed like suddenly that luck stopped. I couldn't find a job in my field, and I fell lower and lower, to the point where I was working a labor job with addicts and ex-cons near my hometown. Frankly, that was terrifying. I still don't have the job I want, but I'm doing better now, and for the last few months I've been recovering, getting more focused, and and building myself back up. A lot of this is just maturing - I now feel, on a very deep level, that if I want anything I have to work for it, it isn't just going to come.
Part of my personality shift has to do with control. Where before I was open to letting opportunities come, now the feel of being out of control scares me. I feel, on a very deep level, that to get things I have to make them happen. I'm more focused, more determined, and less distracted. However, I also find that with that focus, I'm also slightly less open-minded than I was before. Before I was happy to entertain any idea, where as now I don't have nearly as much patience for ideas I don't find useful or valuable - I'm focused on going after the ones that are really valuable. I'm also a lot more focused on time - whereas before I thought I had all the time in the world, now I feel that I'm working on a deadline. My goals are more practical - rather than dreaming about goals that could one day happen, now I'm focused on making those dreams a reality.
The other thing is how I relate to these types when I read about them. Now, when I read about INFP, it no longer feels quite like me - the freeform quality of P now feels slightly alien to my philosophy of life. Now articles on INFJ resonate with me.
I think in the last year I've shifted from an INFP to an INFJ, which for me is positive, but may also have some drawbacks. I recognize that there are conscientious, focused INFPs, and there are open-minded, flexible INFJs. However, I think I've experienced a pretty fundamental personality shift. This may have been instigated by some degree of trauma, or a shift in my worldview.
Through my teens and 20s, I had a lot of luck, and I had my head in the clouds. I'd dream about all my ambitions, and I'd count on some degree of luck to get me to where I wanted to be. I got into the college I wanted, then the grad school, as well as work and volunteer opportunities in Africa. But then, after grad school, it seemed like suddenly that luck stopped. I couldn't find a job in my field, and I fell lower and lower, to the point where I was working a labor job with addicts and ex-cons near my hometown. Frankly, that was terrifying. I still don't have the job I want, but I'm doing better now, and for the last few months I've been recovering, getting more focused, and and building myself back up. A lot of this is just maturing - I now feel, on a very deep level, that if I want anything I have to work for it, it isn't just going to come.
Part of my personality shift has to do with control. Where before I was open to letting opportunities come, now the feel of being out of control scares me. I feel, on a very deep level, that to get things I have to make them happen. I'm more focused, more determined, and less distracted. However, I also find that with that focus, I'm also slightly less open-minded than I was before. Before I was happy to entertain any idea, where as now I don't have nearly as much patience for ideas I don't find useful or valuable - I'm focused on going after the ones that are really valuable. I'm also a lot more focused on time - whereas before I thought I had all the time in the world, now I feel that I'm working on a deadline. My goals are more practical - rather than dreaming about goals that could one day happen, now I'm focused on making those dreams a reality.
The other thing is how I relate to these types when I read about them. Now, when I read about INFP, it no longer feels quite like me - the freeform quality of P now feels slightly alien to my philosophy of life. Now articles on INFJ resonate with me.
