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How to be a healthy, high-functioning, creatively refueling, self-employed INFJ

by Abby Kerr

in Uncategorized

About this column

Oh, my fellow INFJs, wouldn’t we like the answer to this question?

Introducing INFJ business, a 6-week online course to help you create & lead from your strengthsWe know the answer isn’t necessarily easy, but we hope it may be simple. We INFJs tend to overcomplicate things. That’s not said to down-talk us, or to limit what’s within our nature. But if you ask an INFJ, she’ll tell you: yep, she’s wired for depth.

We’re into nuance, complexity, hidden meaning. We seek peace and purpose. We crave wholeness, unity, and gentle direction — and we’re so excellent at making space for others in our world to have just that.

We treasure our clients and know just how to make them feel special and seen. We build beautiful businesses that turn heads with gorgeous, sensitive design, or drop jaws with poignant, just-right writing. We craft programs and services that arrive in our Right People’s Inboxes like gifts.

We’re writers, creatives, counselors and coaches and therapists, mentors and advocates and advisors, healers, and makers of all sorts.

All of this doing is exhausting. Rewarding. And exhausting.

And so we are looking for a more peaceful way to be in the world. But it’s got to be powerful, too.

INFJs love excellence, have a hard time settling, are ever in pursuit of something.

We’re oriented toward the future, but we have to live in the present. Our feet are always finding their way to the next best path — we love the journey.

We love connection — especially, sometimes, on social media — but it drains us, too. (It’s because we’re better at giving than receiving.)

We secretly think ourselves selfish, but no one we know — even our intimate companions and partners — would describe us this way. We have a rich inner world that begs to be expressed, and yet we also go to great lengths to hide some of our most potent truths from other people.

We desire to live and work and lead from an authentic place, but because we have so much natural empathy, we tend to over-identify with others, thus rendering us less authentic than we want to be.

We love the paradoxes. We wouldn’t want to live life without them.

Overextended. Overcommitted. Overworked (by our own hand).

Also: full of grace. Full of wonder. Open to learning.

We’re business owners. We’re brand creators. We’re ready to show up.

We believe in crafting our work in the world according to best business practices (beacuse our “J” loves rules, and wants to do things “right”), and yet — we feel stirred to do things differently.

Perhaps there IS a way to be a more effective, more relaxed, more authentic INFJ business owner.

My fellow INFJs, this new course I’ve created is for you. It’s for me, too.

It’s 6-weeks, content-rich, yet relatively low-impact (it is the end of the year, after all.) $97 USD.

Click here for all the details. I hope you’ll join us.

In the comments, I’d love to hear:

Are you an INFJ? How does your Introverted/Intuitive/Feeling/Judging nature show up in your business?

{ 8 comments… read them below or add one }

Erin Anacker November 20, 2013 at 7:50 am

I’m not an INFJ, in fact, I’m almost the exact opposite (ENTJ). However, just about a year and a half ago, I hired a life / business coach to help me figure out what to do with my life.

I realized through that process that many parts of my personality, critical parts, were not being fulfilled. I was miserable in my business life and needed to make a (big) change. I would have never thought about the combination of personal + business model but am now convinced the only way to creating a business you don’t *hate* is by looking at yourself and understanding what you need in order to be successful.

Love this, Abby. Wishing you all the success in this course. It sounds amazing! I also look forward to meeting you someday soon-ish.

Reply

Abby Kerr November 20, 2013 at 12:51 pm

It’s amazing what freedom feels like when we stop contorting ourselves into a mold! Thanks for the encouragement on the course. I look forward to meeting you, too, Erin. :)

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Kelsey November 25, 2013 at 7:08 pm

I think this class is a fascinating idea! As an INFJ myself, I struggle to balance my overwhelming desire to save the world while trying to make money. I wish it fit my budget to do right now; I hope you’ll offer the course again in the future!

Reply

Abby Kerr November 25, 2013 at 8:39 pm

Hi, Kelsey! Thanks for being here. I’m honored to hear this resonates with you. I’m hoping to be able to offer it again in the future. :)

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Marianne November 26, 2013 at 3:22 pm

I switch on the test between INFJ and INTJ (I sit near the mid-line on thinking/feeling) but these days I seem to lean more and more towards INFJ. So I’m very interested to read this – that love of the contradictions, the nuances, the complexities sometimes feels like a weakness for my ‘brand’. I’m never going to be able to tell people ‘It’s simple to do good in the world’ because I see every complexity – every way in which well-intentioned do-gooders (myself included) can do unintended harm. Do people want the complex message? I find that some people do. And they are my people. xx

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Abby Kerr November 26, 2013 at 3:47 pm

Hi, Marianne —

I knew there was a reason I resonate so much with your POV. I, too, am on the F/T line. (Sometimes I actually feel more ‘T’ than ‘F.’) Your comment makes me think you also have a high Depth value. :)

I hear you with the love of & struggle over complexity. I think that learning to point out & name the nuances, and then elucidate them for people, is part of the gift of being a great teacher. Glad you know your Right People want the complex message. I say: yes, indeed.

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Kelly Wolfe December 26, 2014 at 10:46 am

I wish you would offer this course again! :)

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Keith Britt July 18, 2017 at 7:46 am

Help…. I need help, clarity, understanding. Will you ever revisit this course again? :-/

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