INFP Success: How Can INFP Become Successful?

Can INFP be successful? You bet. You may not be Johnny Depp or William Shakespeare, but you can also lead a successful life according to your perception of success.

For the INFP personality type, the Internet has become a vent and an instrument to connect with other INFPs.

While there are INFPs who would inspire you each day, I also stumble across troubled INFPs who struggle personally in their situations.

Some feel unmotivated and doubt their purpose in life. Yes, these emotions are valid and you have the right to feel that way.

But despite the uncertainties, INFPs can still achieve fulfillment and success, too. INFP and success can go together, regardless of how you view yourself right now.

What does INFP success look like?

I believe INFPs can reach success despite personal struggles. But then I paused, success is relative, right?

My view of success may be different from another INFP. And so, I posted a question in my social media account asking, “As an INFP, what does success look like for you?”

Fortunately, a number willing INFPs gave their response. Here’s the result:

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1. Peace and Happiness– 22.5%
2. Freedom – 17.5%
3. Financial stability – 17.5%
4. Making an Impact – 5 12.5%
5. Personal Growth 12.5%
6. Traveling 10%
7. Dream Career – 7.5%

22.5% see “Peace and Happiness” as the ultimate success, followed by “Freedom” and “Financial Stability” with 17.5%. The pursuit for their “Dream Career” came in last with 7.5%.

Let’s elaborate their answers more:

Freedom

INFPs are free spirits who want to lead their own lives. Freedom, for them, means working in an undemanding job, a career they love, with flexible work hours, and freedom to deliver creativity.

Here are some of their answers:

• “Freedom to do what I want.”
• “A job that I love and is not demanding”
• “Live a comfortable life.”

Financial stability

Reality hits. We’re all here not dreaming, but hustling for money to survive. 17.5% of INFP respondents desired to get out of the rat race and be financially stable. 

Making an impact

INFPs’ idealism can cultivate change once it gets through people. No wonder INFPs see influence as success.

Whether as a teacher, a social worker, or a therapist, INFPs want to see people do better. They want to instigate change.

• Making an impact
• Finding their purpose
• Instigating change

Traveling

INFPs desire to see the world, travel to their dream places, or even relocate from where they are right now.

Nature-wise, I always loved Japan, and I know I’m not alone in this one.

Personal Growth

Personal maturity, completion of a plan, or just living to be their best every day… 12.5% of the INFP respondents answered they want to see themselves grow and be at their best.

• Personal Growth
• Completing a project
• Live at my best every day

Dream Career

At a young age, INFPs stick to their dream careers. Some even get an academic degree to be an architect, artist, or educator. Some dive into the medical field. Reaching such status is a form of success for some INFPs.

Peace and Happiness

Most of INFPs responded with “happiness” and “peace”. According to them, happiness lies in the simplicity of life. For them, it’s a success to have their family with them, or fish on a lake without a care in the world.

Indeed, peace and happiness are the generalizations of everything INFPs desire.

• Simplicity of life
• Having their family around

8 Tips for INFP to Live the Success they Envision

Now that we have a clear view, let’s break down some tips on how to be successful as an INFP.

Disclaimer: INFPs are still individuals who triumph and lead different lives. These tips may not specifically work for you, but I have high hopes these will give you insights.

Here are 8 INFP Tips for Success. Let’s start:

1. Embrace your spontaneity.

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INFPs daydream a lot. You know, with novels to movies to scenarios that never happened.

But aside from fiction stories, INFPs also daydream about winning, initiating, and trying out strategies they heard or read from the books and media.

If INFPs haven’t realized, they usually mirror plausible ideas and see how it resonates with them. INFPs are naturally curious beings.

Such curiosity adds to INFP’s ability to see possibilities after possibilities, thus, making them spontaneous, itching to try the knowledge they come across with.

However, here’s the blight. Spontaneity is often tagged as indecisiveness which gives a negative impression to people.

Unfortunately, such glaring eyes who think “focusing on one skill is the path to success” intimidate INFPs into believing that spontaneity, being a jack-of-all-trades, and harboring multiple interests is lousy and fruitless.

However, for INFPs, who can visualize multiple futures from one standpoint, see a single direction or a routine as pure torture. INFPs learn through exploration and application, not by closing the doors and focusing on one path.

That said, I suggest INFPs must not suppress their creativity and random interests. Embrace spontaneity and welcome new ideas.

Say, work on your day job, but also feed your creativity on the sides. Go for a run if that’s what you wanted this morning. Write that book chapter. Learn drums. Try baking. Sell products. Make a Youtube video.

INFPs learn better after physically immersing themselves in their visions. Honoring your ideals and interests eventually leads to more compact knowledge later in life.

You become wiser and more proficient without your notice. You learn hacks most people wouldn’t know.

After months to years, you will realize how significant your experiences are. If you move with a purpose and do not give in to society’s norm, that is.

Moving on, this tip extends to my tip #2.

2. Jump in. Don’t be afraid to try and try.

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INFPs love to try new things. With such impulse, INFPs tend to collect information people wouldn’t normally know about.

They try, get redirected, try, think of something else, try, and idealize another. That’s how INFPs work.

With this, INFPs realize where to step in, and where to step out. As you experience multiple paths, the choices narrow down and your decisions become firmer over time.

I always go by my saying, “when in doubt, I do everything out.”

Instead of overthinking, I jump in.

If it didn’t work for me, well, at least I tried. Gotta check it off my list. If I got bored, it’s fine, too. I’ll get back to it sometime.

But what if did work? It’s a jackpot. I’m like, yup. I like doing this. Gotta explore more.

I might be oversimplifying but that’s the gist of stepping out and trying new things.

I pursue blogging and self-employment now after working in customer service, sales, tech, and education. I found a career that resonates only after a few trials and errors.

Am I happy right now? I am! But would I settle in this career for good? I’m not sure.

I know my INFP mind will reel with new projects someday, so my options are always open.

Yours are reeling, too. Keep it open. Don’t suppress yourself.

3. Find a job you love and personal growth follows it.

According to the MBTI® Manual, the INFP personality has the highest percentage of people dissatisfied with their career.

Obviously, it’s because INFPs cut portions of themselves to fit in society’s standards. Truth be told some jobs aren’t fit for an INFP. Those jobs never utilized your strengths. Thus, it makes you feel empty and unmotivated every day.

Finding a career you love, regardless of people’s opinion of it, motivates you to see multitudes of paths.

For an INFP, find a career you never get tired of. What interest or hobby do you keep coming back to? What interest never left you since childhood?

I suggest you explore that. There’s a high chance people can be experts with what they’re interested in while growing up.

Growth follows when you shine in what you do.

Another thing, I’m not a fan of “working out on your weaknesses.” People must nurture strengths rather than patch up weaknesses.

Related post: INFP Career: Finding the Right Job for INFP

4. Go out of the clouded space. There is more to life outside than living inside our heads.

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INFPs love comfort – peace, keeping a small circle of friends, avoiding conflicts, and such.

But at some point, INFPs should also look beyond their four walls if they want to succeed.

A few weeks ago, I decided to be active and do sports, so I invited my closest friends for badminton. It went on regularly for a few weeks.

Later, some acquaintances started messaging me about playing. Regardless of whether we’re close or not, I joined them.

We didn’t talk about our lives, but I know we made a connection because I feel like I can message them anytime.

As an INFP who always had my guards up, this scenario gave a self-reflection. I realized how vast the world is, and how people are easy to reach out to.

Depth is beautiful, yes. We always seek meaning. However, INFPs must also realize there’s beauty in living in the moment.

Going out there and making connections doesn’t have to be monumental. You can start by:

• Complimenting acquaintances through social media
• Inviting your friends to bring their other friends
• Looking outside of yourself and start living in the moment

If INFPs are great thinkers by themselves, what more if you go outside and see more of the world in action? 

5. Create a passive income.

INFPs want to live comfortably, leave a demanding job, and still have money. Sounds ambitious, right? Certainly. However, the good thing is, it is possible.

INFPs can reach such success by building a business or passive income stream.

Passive income is money generated without your 24/7 presence. Money accumulates while you’re asleep. On the other hand, active income is where you get paid in exchange for a job, service, or product. Unfortunately, if you stop working, you also stop earning.

If INFPs want a comfortable life (and financial stability), passive income is the way to go.

You can opt for passive income ideas such as:

• Rental income
• Affiliate marketing
• Starting a blog
• Starting a Youtube Channel
• Selling your own designs

Are you an aspiring writer? Then, here are more passive income ideas for you.

However, sustainable passive income streams don’t happen overnight. 

It requires initial hard work. Like, 2, 3, or 5 years? So you better eliminate the desire for instant gratification if you really wanted to gain financial stability in the next few years.

I would suggest working on a 9-5 job while building passive income streams on the sides.

Passive income starts slow but can get better, earn better, through time. It’s worth the hard work.

6. Envision and insert action.

When INFP leaves self-doubt, power begins. They have the power to filter collective ideas and shape them into their own idealism. In short, INFPs provide creativity, originality, and inspiration. They can create new philosophies, too.

A vision of perfection accompanied by action is a powerful combination.

7. Balance productivity and procrastination.

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Have you ever written a personal schedule, only to realize, it took you longer to plan rather than to follow? I relate! To be honest. I’ve had sticky notes of my schedules on my wall, but it’s plain decoration.

Procrastination is a huge issue for INFP.

But at the same time, procrastination is also vital. You read it right. Procrastination is part of the recipe for success.

How?

Procrastination levels burnout. Remember when you were pushed to the extreme and you think nothing else but to leave the situation? Unfortunately, when that happens to INFPs, they really do leave and never return.

That said, don’t push yourself to the point where you wouldn’t want to step back at the situation again. Instead, rest.

Pressure allows you to get moving.

Procrastination allows you to recharge.

If you want to overcome procrastination, I’ve written a blog post on how I healthfully do it.

8. Divide achievement into small pieces. Count success per day, not per milestone.

One issue about INFPs – they look at their dreams too far ahead.

We tend to visualize what success would look and feel like. We feel the sensation. Imagining success is ecstasy even for those who haven’t taken a step yet.

Unfortunately, many dreams wait in vain. None was ever materialized.

So instead of imagining the end result, divide your achievements into little pieces.

For example, if you’re writing a book, celebrate every time you finish a chapter instead of looking far ahead on the book completion. Because the tendencies are, you will get bored of waiting once you see how far reality is compared to your visions.

Also, accept boredom as part of the whole process. Not everything you do will be interesting along the way. But it’s essential to take one step at a time.

Conclusion

How to succeed as an INFP?

If you want to succeed as an INFP, then you must not suppress the creativity in you. Do the hard part, which could be working 9-5 jobs, but also work on your creativity at the sides. Build passive income streams. Meet new people.

You won’t get out of the rut if you don’t do something new.

INFPs can succeed by gathering collective knowledge and make a new path out of it.

Is it blogging? Freelancing? Music? Solopreneurship? Digital products? Inspiring students? Mentoring people? 

Whatever your talents are, use them to help people, to further your cause, or make some money out of it.

The world we live in today values arts, mentorship, and information more than ever. Ride on the opportunity.

Aim to be someone that reflects your strengths. Don’t let society define who you’re supposed to be.

Keep moving, my fellow INFP.

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You may also like: 

• 6 Differences Between Healthy and Unhealthy INFP Behavior

• 5 Healthful Ways INFPs Overcome Procrastination

• 6 Powerful Self-help Books for INFP Personality

• INFP Intelligence: What Makes INFPs Smart?