INFP Personality: How to Change the World (with harmony and optimism!)

The INFP Myers-Briggs personality type is known for being an idealistic, open-minded, imaginative, harmony-seeking diplomat. Famous likely INFP changemakers include Helen Keller, William Shakespeare, Princess Diana, and Mr. Fred Rogers. Are you an INFP or think you might be? In this video, we'll explore some ways that you will change the world. Welcome back! My name is Amber Melanie Smith and I am a non-profit founder and executive director and speaker who makes these YouTube videos to help aspiring changemakers with tips and strategies to help you make a difference while living a life of impact and purpose. So INFPs are these pure-hearted spirits who genuinely, authentically believe that there's more good out there in the world than there is evil and will gladly do their part to make the world an even better place. If you're not sure what your Myers-Briggs personality type is yet and you want to find out, I've left a link below in my description to some online assessments that you can take. And if you like this video and find it helpful, please share with friends and give it a thumbs up and subscribe because I make weekly YouTube videos on all things related to social impact, how each person can uniquely change the world, and more. So before I get into exactly how INFPs can change the world, let's just review a couple of their characteristics. So the first thing to note is that INFPs are one of the rarer personality types. They make up about two to four percent of the population. INFPs see the beauty in everything. They really want to create a better world for everyone and have a lot of ideas on how to do so. They're exceptionally visionary and creative, able to imagine a better future for all, and possibly more importantly, are able to communicate that vision for a better future for all with everyone clearly and passionately. Weaknesses of INFPs, however, include being a bit impractical, perhaps being overly reserved or private, and lacking an understanding of detail or logical approaches. INFPs really need to work on tasks or projects that have a direct and deeply meaningful impact on the world as they find very little value in all things mundane. Okay, so let's talk about some ways that INFPs are uniquely suited to make a positive impact in the world around them. Not only are INFPs very imaginative, but they really want others to be able to imagine a better, more kind, more moral, more beautiful world. Their great at inspiring others around them to realize what could be possible, and this is such an important role in a world that can often feel very cynical and complicated and chaotic. So whatever work an INFP is doing to make a better world, it has to be something where they can be creative and work towards creating this better world. It has to be one in which they can form deep relationships with other people, and it really needs to be one where they can work independently and autonomously. A bureaucratic environment where an INFP would be subject to the authority of other people, especially those whose values and dreams don't align with theirs, would be an absolute nightmare. So whether they're working in the for-profit or private sector, the non-profit or social enterprise world, or even helping out as a volunteer, here are some great ways that INFPs can truly make a difference in the world around them. So let's start with the for-profit or private sector. So like their INFJ counterparts, INFPs would really struggle in an overly bureaucratic environment that is corporate or perhaps a government entity. Roles where they can help people on their own, either through a business that they own and run themselves or through some kind of freelancing or independent work, are a more ideal situation for an INFP. INFPs both do not want to be a manager nor be managed by someone else, so like I said, they really need to be able to work in a way that they can do the activity solo or perhaps in a small trusted group of associates. So as an INFP, being able to be creative and imaginative is critical for you, and even knowing that unfortunate truth that you somehow have to make a living, every task you undertake really has to have meaning or significance for you to have a good time, which is actually a really good thing when it comes to setting out to be a changemaker. You really hate the idea of doing any kind of small or mundane task if it's not directly correlating to that work of creating a more ideal world, even if you understand that these tasks might be necessary. I get you. So being a writer, perhaps fictional, allowing others to imagine the possibilities of a better world, or even non-fictional, telling the stories of causes that you really care about, it's kind of an iconic choice for an INFP. You'd also enjoy other artistic and creative mediums like art or photography or videography if you can use those talents to make a better world. Because of their love of forming meaningful relationships, INFPs also might be drawn to the healing arts, something where they can truly help someone else escape suffering. So roles like a physical therapist might be a great fit for you if you're an INFP. Because of the way you view the world, the non-profit or social enterprise realm where the entire purpose of the existence of those organizations is to create a better world might be a logical fit for you. Though, of course, the INFP work style and personality definitely make some roles more suitable to you than others. In the non-profit space, an INFP's love of meaningful relationships and desire to help people meet their ultimate potential might make you very suited to being something like a social worker or caseworker or even interpreter, helping give voice to someone else who needs to be understood. It's a bonus that those particular roles happen to include a great level of independence and autonomy. A few other roles that allow you to have this independence and autonomy while also being creative include other creative pursuits like photography, web design, graphic design, user experience, and others that can allow you to improve the capacity of a cause and tell the story of a cause behind the scenes. Beyond the specific role that you might play, an INFP might also just be drawn to specific types of causes, things that integrate their love of harmony and peace and helping others meet their ultimate potential. So we're talking about causes like arts or music education, combating bigotry or bullying, or improving the lives of children. As a volunteer, an INFP could make a big difference in terms of giving other people hope and inspiring them to be their best. For example, an INFP being a counselor or a mentor to a child or adult in need would be very fulfilling. Like your INFJ counterparts, again, you as an INFP really could find meaning in using your creativity to do things like creating art or music or storytelling or writing or filmmaking to raise awareness about the cause that you care about. Volunteering your graphic design or web design skills would also allow you to use that creativity in an independent setting where you can work autonomously to help the cause that you care about also. To get up close and personal, as an INFP you could be a great volunteer as an interpreter or translator, such as with a non-profit clinic or perhaps an international development organization. Finally, you would make a spectacular volunteer museum curator or librarian. So INFPs, let me know how I did. Are there some other ways that you're out there making a difference that I didn't list or some ways that you're thinking about getting into the change-making world? I'd love to hear about it in the comments. Please leave those below and get a conversation going with me. Like I said, I hope you find this video helpful and please give it a thumbs up and subscribe and click that little bell so you can get the alerts when my next video is up because I do weekly videos here on YouTube once again about social impact, service, leadership, change-making, and basically how to make this a less horrible world. I 100% believe that if everybody just knew their ability to make a difference and were out there doing it, that we simply wouldn't face the problems that we do as a planet. So if you agree, I hope you'll join me and come back soon to check out more videos. In the meantime, if you are on Facebook, don't forget to check out my Facebook group called Change the World or Bust. I'm having some great conversations with other change-makers from around the world and they're about how we can all work together to tackle some of our world's biggest problems. So I hope you'll join me there, check that out, and I hope to see you next time. Thank you so much.