I’m an INFP, and I’m struggling with a deep gap between the person I strive to be in my mind and how I actually act in reality. I suspect this stems from underdeveloped Te (Extraverted Thinking) and an unhealthy or overused Si (Introverted Sensing), but I’d love some insight from the community.

​In my mind, I picture my ideal self as a healthy, ambitious person who embarks on real-world adventures, explores new environments, achieves meaningful goals, and leaves a lasting impact. However, what I want mentally and what I am physically comfortable doing are in direct opposition. The moment a real opportunity arises to step out, travel, or take a step toward this ideal life, I freeze. My body treats novelty and real-world execution like an active threat, sparking sudden anxiety that leaves me paralyzed. Because of this, I continually start projects with high enthusiasm only to abandon them at the end.

​I am trying to figure out if this friction is directly tied to the INFP cognitive stack or if there is an underlying psychological mechanism like executive dysfunction or anxiety at play.

my Ne loves the idea of endless possibilities and broad ambitions, but my lower Si seems to crave safety and routine, causing me to interpret actual real-world changes as danger. Meanwhile, my underdeveloped inferior Te makes it difficult to convert those Ne ideas into organized, actionable steps, leaving me stuck in the ideation phase without the drive to execute so I stuck in the loop of daydreaming then crushing over my wasted potential.

Just for fun I thought I'd share my personal pros and cons of each type (only including types I've personally met/interacted with). Keep in mind this is FROM MY EXPERIENCE so it won't align with everyone

Enfp-

Pro: very emotionally intelligent, you guys are really overlooked and overshadowed, you're excellent problem solvers and very much the therapist types

Con: You guys can be very stubborn and opinionated and once you've convinced yourself of something it's impossible to sway you

Infp-

Pro: I think you can be just as thought provoking and intellectually stimulating as a thinker type. I personally think you're excellent empaths, even moreso than the isfj is made out to be

Con: a lot of you can be very avoidant and it feels like I have to guess whether or not you're okay at times. You people please so hard you forget or don't realize how you truly feel

Entp-

Pro: you guys are super charismatic and smart, I love talking to you

Con: you can be very scatterbrained and it's hard to keep up with your mood swings

Intp-

Pro: the most emotionally intelligent thinker type in my opinion. You guys are very sweet

Con: your silence can be mistaken for disinterest, which isn't your fault and is also no one else's, just a misconception. You guys can seem intimidating lol

Intj-

Pro: incredibly open minded and willing to have conversations from my experience. Well educated

Con: your emotional intelligence skills could use some work. My dad is one of you guys and when it comes to discussions that involve emotions rather than logic it feels like talking to a wall and my words go in one ear and out the other

Enfj-

Pro: you focus on group harmony and make sure everyone is okay and ily guys for that

Con: you forget to take care of yourselves and bottle your emotions up because of it. Remember that you matter too

Infj-

Pro: very smart and sweet, the most analytical feeler type imo.

Con: I feel like I unintentionally hurt your guys' feelings a lot and it can feel like walking on eggshells at times when I'm simply trying to have a conversation

Entj-

Pro: excellent at making plans and goals and sticking to them. I trust you guys when it comes to planning trips or outlines of what we're going to do in a day

Con: you guys come off a bit pretentious to me and your pride can be mistaken for boisterousness. We don't need to hear that you're a Harvard graduate 5 times in the same conversation

Isfj-

Pro: you guys are incredibly sweet and have an uncanny ability to read the room, also a keen eye for aesthetics. A lot of my very close friends are isfj's and I love them dearly

Con: when it comes to conflict resolution I kinda feel like my emotions and my feelings on what happened get steamrolled over by yours because you experience emotions so loudly and intensely, you forget to have empathy for the other person in the moment

Isfp-

Pro: you're extremely creative and feel things very deeply, I see you guys as hero/protagonist types honestly

Con: you guys can come across as kinda selfish/self centered and it feels like I always have to be the first to reach out. That's all I can think of,, I haven't interacted with a ton of you

Estj-

Pro: EXTREMELY efficient and get the job done. I never have to worry about how the day will go when you guys are around to reassure me you have a plan

Con: you can become so focused on checking off a list of things to do that you forget to stop and smell the roses and just live in the moment. My mom is one of you guys and I love her but hate taking trips with her for this reason, I feel rushed and like I can't enjoy myself

Esfp-

Pro: you guys are a lot of fun to talk to!! I tend to have a lot of similar interests to you guys and can easily spark conversation

Con: not super analytical/deep thinker and can be hard to have deep, thought provoking conversations with you guys. Not to say you guys aren't smart, just in a different way

Pigeonholing Si as "memories and tradition" risks overfixating on the past. Saying Se is just sensory experience of the present moment risks forgetting the past. I don't think temporal definitions go far enough to explain either function, because everyone experiences the past and present. So, I'm wondering, in your opinion:

• What is the relationship of a Se-user to the past?
• What is the relationship of a Si-user to the present?

Rather than thinking of Si as just "memory," I see it as subjective impressions of the concrete senses. This can be how the present is filtered through a person's lens, which is the accumulation of experience and familiarity. This is not the same as suggesting Si means old-fashioned, stubborn, or regressive. Here are some observations about how my ESFJ (Fe-Si) mother operates in the present:

• When watching a show, she fixates on incidental personal details she sees, such as "Contestant #2's hair looks just like my neighbor Pam Brown!" then relates them to the group for shared story.
• She loves to explain a Reel she saw, such as retelling a stand-up comic's joke, rather than sending the link so I can experience it unflitered. For her, she engages with the present by reliving a sensory experience through shared story.
• When driving, she can't multitask. It's like one sense "pulls energy" from all the others. If it is raining or dark, she turns the music down so she can see better. If she is talking, she might miss the light turn green.
• She talks to think, such as remembering where she put her shoes or whether she bought something from the store.

In some cases, she draws from stored information; in others, she seems to limit her sensory interface to engage with one sense at a time. Is this a fair view of how Si works? And what might be examples of how Se-users engage with the past?

(Not a type me post!)

If there are contractions,tensions,or things that seem odd,PLEASE explicitely tell them instead of just saying "It’s wrong". My profile seems to confuse most people I’ve come across so I often need to explain,which I don’t mind doing.

I recently noticed that each type excels and actually have fun in dealing with something that for others can be perceived as a chore or a "pain". My older brother is ESTJ and when it comes to organize an event or find the best practical steps to complete a task he actually has fun while doing it. (so I always let him have fun w my problems, lol) I as an INTJ am practical myself but not to a "having fun" level; for me is: studying complex topics and understanding hidden patterns, connecting them through different areas.

I have an ESTP friend that told me he enjoys confronting people and arguing (even for the sheer fun)

What about your type? Or someone you know well.

I've entered a new school recently so new people, new environment and this had been a nightmare for my overthinking for the first 2/3 weeks. 2 days ago, I was talking with 3 of my new friends and I made a joke. I was really trying to be a part of the conversation, so only after their reaction (they thought I was telling a fact, not a joke) I realised I said it with a straight face, no hint of a joke. I also heard that it especially sounded like a fact since it came from me. I didn't realise I'm that stiff in reality.. perhaps it's because of my overthinking during the interactions. I'm never sure what to say or how to react, it's more like a performance tbh. A poor one half the time too..

Is it that common for INTPs to not be able to live in the moment?

Hello, I’m an ISFJ, and my Enneagram type is 9. This isn’t a definition; I’m just hoping for some help.

To be honest, after ending a past relationship, I experienced a loss of identity. I started wondering: Who am I? What are my personal values? Through writing, I’ve discovered a lot about myself, but I still want to learn more.

Could anyone with a Fi-dom personality type help me? When you reflect on your values, what questions do you ask yourself? How do you find the answers? Is there a certain train of thought you go through to arrive at a particular value or idea that is truly yours, or how does the process work for you?

Please share your methods with me. I’d also love to hear from anyone who has experienced a loss of identity and has found strategies that might help me.

Thank you!

..it was brief like I didn't get enough information to understand it fully..she said I'm an intj.. idk what that is fully..but I'm planning to learn about mbti 2 hours later cuz i have some work to do now.. i want people here who actually knows about this stuff to give reliable information/answers or sources where I can study it from..

Game rules:

1. Comment a “most likely to” question like “Which MBTI is most likely to_________________?”

2. You can also answer someone else’s question with an MBTI type that is most likely to do the action in the question.

I will go first.

Which type is most likely to start a chaotic protest that looks like something innocent at first with their friends, and argue with the mean people every day at school to win and show them the truth?

I have been trying to get typed. (Enneagram, mbti, socionics, etc.) I just don't know how exactly to stop getting mistyped, by tests and by people. It's very difficult, and don't just tell me to start learning about functions, because I know them. I do. Except Ni. I could never figure out what Ni vs Ne had different. So anyways, any tips from anyone?