
INFP Self-Awareness: The INFP Journey to Self-Discovery
Self-awareness is not always an easy thing to obtain, for some it seems harder than for others. Self-awareness means digging deep into your own emotions and inner thoughts, and searching to understand what is going on underneath the outer appearance. Sometimes this leads to painful memories, and recognizing certain flaws which we don’t always want to accept. Self-discovery can be a challenging journey, sometimes it is painful and other times it is very rewarding. Ultimately the struggles we endure trying to understand and accept our positive and negative traits, can be an amazing way to grow and become the best version of ourselves possible. The more people lack self-awareness, the easier it is to hurt those around us without meaning to, which is why it is so important.
For the INFP understanding themselves is important, as they need to spend time sifting through their own emotions. For the INFP this is something they certainly need to devote time and energy to, but they might feel fearful of doing so at first. They certainly have a natural sense of self-awareness from being so strongly connected to their own morals and inner emotions, but that doesn’t mean they are aware of everything about themselves. Like everyone the INFP really needs to take the appropriate time to sift through their own fears and doubts in order to understand who they truly are and what they want from life.
INFP Introspection
Being that INFPs are introspective people, this can certainly help them on their journey to self-discovery. Anyone who devotes time to analyzing and spends this time inside of their own minds, is certainly going to be more capable of self-awareness. INFPs are not afraid of being alone for long periods of time, instead they actually crave this time to themselves. Spending time inside of their own inner minds, is definitely helpful for them to understand themselves and their own motives as well. For the INFP spending time analyzing their own actions and feelings is important but it is also natural. The only downfall to this, is that INFPs can sometimes spend to much time being hyper-critical of themselves. Self-awareness and self-criticism are definitely not the same things, and so for the INFP it can certainly turn into this. For the INFP who spends time constantly being hard on themselves and their own choices, they can start to see themselves inaccurately. Instead of seeing all of their positive traits and behaviors, the INFP only sees the bad and they see this in the worst possible way.
Introspection for the INFP can certainly be a good thing, but it can also be their downfall. They need to find a balance, and not only search for the bad things about themselves. They can go from neglecting those negative traits, to only focusing on them. The trick is for the INFP to learn when to take a step back and recognize when they are being too hard on themselves. Self-awareness can be hard for anyone, but it should not only be a painful process. The INFP can learn to see the beautiful things about themselves, and see how positively they can affect the world around them. Being a person who cares about morals and doing what is right and good, is certainly not something to be demeaned or scoffed at. INFPs are capable of changing the lives of those around them, and of making a true difference in the world because of it. The fact that they care so deeply is not a flaw, instead it is something which makes them capable of greatness. For the INFP introspection is important, but they also need to learn where to take action. Instead of always being hard on themselves, they can step outside of that bubble and look at how others see them.
Tools for Proper Self-Discovery
For the INFP introspection is not the only method for understanding themselves better. They need to explore their extraverted intuition, and make time to experience new things around them. The more the INFP can dive into their experiences and really step outside of their comfort zone, they can start to learn more about who they are and what makes them happy. This can help them escape that sometimes negative introspective mode, and discover things about themselves which might even be surprising. Their idealistic qualities are often what causes the INFP to see how they could always do better, but this can turn into something less than healthy. Sometimes they need to step outside of this shell and explore the world around them.
INFPs can also benefit from having people they trust around them who can help them see things more clearly. They often need at least one close relationship with someone who see the good in them and can help the INFP see this as well. Someone who is honest with them always, and who doesn’t allow them to become so critical of themselves and their mistakes. Having a person the INFP loves and admires who sees them in an equally loving light, can be beneficial for the INFP. The more the INFP starts to trust in themselves, the more they can openly become self-aware without being quite so hard on themselves as well. They can start to build this trust by relying on their functions, instead of applying pressure to them in the wrong ways. Trusting in their own process of understanding without always thinking about the outside world views them. While it can be good to have someone close who can help them gain perspective, the INFP needs to trust their own views in the end. They have such strong inner morals and emotions, but sometimes they find themselves doubting those feelings. When they see how the outside world views them, the INFP can feel misunderstood and this makes them constantly doubt their own choices. The more they can trust in their own inner knowledge, the stronger their sense of self-awareness becomes.
This Post is Brought To You By BetterHelp
This is so accurate!!! I’m naturally self-critical, always striving to reach an ideal I aspire to. It has been my experience to focus on improvement to such an extent that I couldn’t tell what made me happy. I’m learning now to pay attention to the things that generate genuine happiness, and do more of that!