The Mystic’s Insights: Understanding The INFJ’s Rare Personality Type

When I was younger, I realized I had an uncanny ability to see through people. I could pick up on their energy and read their motives and intentions. I never took any situation or incident at face value; I read deeply into everything happening around me, often connecting each situation to a bigger event. Whenever I mentioned it to others, they’d often think I was just blowing smoke and mostly disbelieved me. But that was okay; I later learned that people often discredit, disbelieve, avoid, and sometimes even fear what they don’t understand. And honestly, there was no way for me to prove anything anyway. It was just my word, and you’d have no way of knowing if it made sense until either the situation played out or the person I warned about finally showed their true colors.

This weird intuition, which I liked to call my “6th sense,” followed me throughout my life. Eventually, I stopped sharing my insights with people because I thought, “Why bother? They’ll never believe me and will do whatever they want anyway.” It was their right, after all. I also found it difficult to connect with people and was often misunderstood, so I tried to avoid interacting with others whenever I could.

Later, when I discovered my personality type and how rare it is (less than 2% in the world), I learned that my uncanny ability was part of what makes me unique. Imagine my relief when I found out it wasn’t all in my head; my heightened intuition was real, and some even called it a “superpower.” Okay, “superpower” might be a stretch, but still, how cool is that? Anyway, long story short, my Myers-Briggs personality type is INFJ, nicknamed “The Mystic” (by the way, if you aren’t sure what your personality type is, take the Myers-Briggs personality test to find out). Being the rarest type out there, this contributes to the difficulty we have in finding similar people and connecting with others. I would, however, like for people to get to know us a bit more, and maybe that could help with understanding someone like me, if you care to. With that said, here are some facts and things to note about people with the INFJ personality type:

Small talk drains us

One thing about us is that we are going to avoid small talk! It’s not that we can’t be bothered; it’s just that it leaves us feeling quite empty and unfulfilled. We much prefer connecting on a deeper, more meaningful level, engaging in conversations that encourage deep thinking and reasoning. We like discussions where people can share their perspectives openly and freely, and we can debate different viewpoints. These passionate conversations may sometimes get heated, but they make us feel very alive, especially when we can still end on good terms.

We are highly intuitive

When we say we have a “gut-feeling,” we’re not just doing things blindly… okay, maybe we are, but with good reason! This one is quite difficult to explain. We are strongly in touch with our inner “spirit-man” (as I like to call it), which leads us to make decisions based on what that feeling tells us. Most people believe it’s crazy to act and make decisions mainly on what we’re feeling rather than logic, but it’s more than just a feeling for us; it’s an instruction and direction that only we can make sense of and understand, and it has never led us astray. Similarly, it is this intuition that allows us to read people and their motives without them even having to verbalize them. As soon as there is a shift in an environment or within someone, whether towards us or in another way, we pick up on it. We may not always say it, but trust me, we know.

Nothing is taken at face value

INFJs, when telling you about an event or situation that happened, will often include other little instances that they connect to the bigger picture. This is because no situation is looked at in isolation; instead, we believe all little instances are ripples that eventually connect and form the major event. When you see and understand situations or life in general the way we do, you’ll realize that they often do connect. Many times, I’ve seen little things happening many times, even in the slightest, so minuscule they’re hardly noticeable, and I knew right away that something major was going to happen. Whether good or bad, I feel it instantly, and when the major event takes place, I’m often like, “Yep, I knew it!” The problem is, sometimes when I point these things out, I’m met with objections. Either they think I’m going overboard with my reasoning, seeing things that aren’t there, making a big deal out of nothing, or just plain crazy. But we know what we feel, and we know what we know. Others don’t have to agree, but it doesn’t take away from the fact that it’s there and it’s real. You may choose to believe what you will.

We are deeply empathetic

Our empathetic characteristic scares me sometimes. We feel and understand so deeply that we can literally feel another’s pain and involuntarily take on their emotions. We share their burden and often soak up their feelings to the point of overwhelming ourselves. Still, I don’t know about other INFJs, but this excites me because I get to understand what others are going through on another level. I usually use these opportunities to learn more about people and different situations. But make no mistake, we’re no superheroes. After such interactions, we often need a lot of time alone to unpack all that we’ve soaked up and recharge. Even though people generally feel comfortable opening up and sharing with us, we usually have a very difficult time doing the same with others. It’s not that we can’t offer them the same courtesy, but more so because we carry a lot, and we’d much rather take on your burden than replace yours with ours. We are very cautious with who we share with and what we share. Generally, when we share, it’s because we feel “led” to.

We tend to be impulsive, especially under stress

When heavily stressed or overwhelmed, we may do wild things just to make ourselves feel alive again. For me, I might chug a whole box of ice cream, spend all my money on something nice that I don’t necessarily need (money always comes back), book a last-minute flight to somewhere with no plans whatsoever (my favorite), take a long drive with no particular destination in mind, and sometimes, at the very extreme, I might even want to fight with someone just to feel a rush. That’s if left to our own devices. However, when we have someone we value and care deeply about in our corner, they usually act as an anchor (often unbeknownst to them) to keep us grounded and stable, as we start to think more about them.

Advantages of having a rare personality type:

1. We’re rare, truly one of a kind, and I don’t think there’s anything greater than that.

2. People who don’t fit in our lives automatically filter themselves out for us, which I genuinely appreciate.

3. The connections we make are deep and meaningful, providing us with a life of quality and substance.

Disadvantages of having a rare personality type:

1. It’s difficult to find people with similar interests.

2. It’s often hard to connect with people.

3. We are easily misunderstood.

4. It’s challenging to have meaningful conversations with others.

There are more things to share about INFJs, but let’s face it, you’re not actually going to go through all of them, and I’m not going to let everything out of the bag in one go. But these are the key and most basic things you should know. Also, if you happen to be a “Mystic,” please let me know! It’s very difficult to find other people with the same personality type, and I’d absolutely love to connect with you!

And this is where I close for now. Until next time, my lovely friends and readers, keep doing good and stay safe!

Big up yuhself! :D