ENFP Weaknesses: 7 Struggles of Being ENFP

The ENFP personality has been described as such things as “diplomatic champion” and “discoverer advocate”. ENFPs possess wonderful strengths including their ability to inspire, uplift and make others feel understood and appreciated. They are driven by a noble desire for purpose and personal fulfillment. They are also highly creative and strive to hold true to the principles and values important to them. For all these admirable qualities, the ENFP personality may also carry its share of weaknesses that makes life for them difficult at times. Here is a look at 7 of the struggles associated with being an ENFP personality type.

ENFP Focus.

Much like the ENTPs, the ENFP can often spread themselves too thin, scattering their mental energies and trying to juggle more projects than they can realistically handle. Their enthusiasm can trick them into biting off more than they can chew. Consequently, they may often become forced to cancel plans and disappoint themselves and others or force themselves to sleep in the bed they made for themselves simply out of stubborn persistence. In other cases however, ENFPs may struggle to stay focused enough to complete tasks for which they cannot produce a modicum of enthusiasm for like most chores and mundane responsibilities. This may be the predicament that ENFPs more often find themselves in because they have a hard time applying themselves to tasks that don’t mean anything to them personally. Furthermore, the ENFP mind is wired to go off in many directions which can often divert their attention away from most of the tasks at hand and postpone their completion.

ENFP Impracticality & Unrealistic Thinking.

One of the pitfalls of dominant Ne (extraverted intuition) is the propensity for unrealistic thinking. ENFPs can delude themselves into believing that they can, for example, put off work on a project until the last moment where they must then race to get everything done. As an idealist intent on shaping their own destiny, ENFP is inclined to see things as they’d like to see them while overlooking the cold hard and inconvenient truth of reality. Moreover, ENFPs are attracted to new and interesting ideas that might be otherwise impractical or unsound. They maintain such an openness to new possibilities that they may wantonly ignore the complications and flaws that come with them. When ENFPs dismiss the Si warnings of the past or fail to adequately learn from them, they may ultimately set themselves up to needlessly repeat the mistakes of others that might otherwise have been avoided. For ENFP, many valuable lessons in life will be learned the hard way through direct experience.

ENFP Internalizing Other People’s Problems.

ENFPs care about other people on a deep level to such an extent that they can sometimes feel distressed by problems they cannot fix for them. People often turn to the ENFP for advice and comfort and although they are happy to help, generally speaking, the sadness of others can weigh heavily on their psyche and stress them out. It can negatively impact their mood and cause them to be irritable or withdraw from others. Alternately, ENFPs soak up the good energy as well as the bad and so it is in their best interests to hang around positive people who can help keep the ENFP’s mind off the depressing stuff and in high spirits.

ENFP & Grass is Greener Syndrome.

As an Ne-dom, the ENFP is always availing themselves to new and better options and possibilities. For this reason, ENFPs are apt to ditch what they are currently involved with in favor of something better that comes along, be it a better job or better romantic interest. This is not to say that ENFPs have no loyalty, because once they do commit to someone or something, they can be highly loyal. But until they make such a commitment, they are inclined to be coquettish and hard to pin down. ENFPs are in pursuit of their ideal and this can make them very restless and dissatisfied with what they have already. At worst, it can lead them to betray their partner’s trust just to consummate some fantasy with someone else or abandon their responsibility to others so they can satisfy some selfish indulgence. This can lead to foolish decisions they may later regret and deep down, ENFPs crave to find what they are looking for so they can settle down and lead a more stable existence. With time and maturity, ENFPs can learn to appreciate what they have and invest more time and energy into building on those foundations rather than constantly looking elsewhere for the next upgrade.

ENFP Senselessness.

On account of their tertiary Te (extraverted thinking), ENFPs have the capacity for systematizing and regimenting their lives when they need to. Under stress, ENFPs can become obsessive, bossy and fussy about details, much of which may be trivial. Furthermore, when under the grip of their inferior Si, ENFPs can develop undue worries and fears surrounding their internal bodily sensations. ENFPs have a tendency to either pay too much or too little attention to their own physical needs and this can contribute to health problems and psychosomatic illnesses. ENFPs can often be at a loss when it comes to determining which details are important to focus on and which aren’t.

ENFP Sensitivity to Criticism.

ENFPs are inclined to take many things personally because of the way they interpret meanings and read in between the lines of what people say. Their moods and internal feelings carry much influence over how they perceive the words and actions of others and can make it hard for them to be objective about it. ENFPs may sometimes wrongly attribute malice or ill-intent to other’s motives. Furthermore, criticism can be difficult for ENFPs to stomach and they may often feel as though they are under attack whenever they are subjected to other people’s evaluations. Part of this may be due to ENFP’s desire to be liked and their dislike for having to justify themselves or possibly alter their behavior in ways that may offend their individualistic integrity. Performance reviews at work can be a nightmare for them and cause tremendous anxiety. Many ENFPs may need to learn how to better manage their emotions and avoid overreactions and being too defensive in response to criticism.

ENFP Hypocrisy & Contradictory Nature.

ENFPs have the capacity to understand multiple points and perspectives allowing them to shift between different viewpoints when it suits them. For ENFPs, many of their principles are highly conditional and relative to the situations or moods they are currently experiencing. For this reason, they can often seem to contradict themselves or behave hypocritically. ENFPs love to wax philosophical and share inspiring and uplifting insights but when it comes to their own lives, they may not always appear to practice what they preach. ENFPs are known for being a walking contradiction in many ways such as their independence and need for space coupled with their boredom in solitude and need for companionship. They can have competing desires to go and live in the moment but also the need to hold off and process their feelings and soak in the meaning of it all first. ENFPs have a duality to their nature that makes them a bit of an enigma even to themselves.

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Jetta Moon

Jetta Moon is an artist, writer and astrology blogger with a passion for creativity and psychology. He is also an enthusiast of MBTI theory and loves to research and write about what he learns. Jetta's background in creative writing has helped develop a unique and insightful perspective on the zodiac, which he shares with readers of this blog.