How we develop our personality types

I found interesting articles on how INFJ's develop their personality type during their lifetime. It says that we are drawn to develop different functions at phases. Starting from Ni and Fe then moving down the function hierarchy towards Ti and Se. So the older the INFJ is the more fully the personality is developed and it's easier for more developed ones to access different parts of their psyche. For example many of us young INFJ's are tied to our iNtuitive perception and it's easy to ignore the realities and facts in our search of the big picture.

Older and more mature the INFJ is the more able they are to get the little things done and embrace Ti and Se activities. Get the toilet handle fixed and change the lightbulb when it burns etc. where young INFJ would go weeks and months without realizing the two inch dust layer covering their room
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http://www.infj.com/INFJ_Individuation.htm

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and another one http://www.personalitypage.com/development.html

I found this interesting and quite accurate for me.
Can you identify these phases in yourself now or in the past?

 

Yeah I think so too. However it's pretty good as directional guideline. I guess every INFJ has gone throught nearly similar process of developing functions but as Carl Gustav Jung it phrased 'Every individual is an exception to the rule.'

I think it's pretty darn hard to grow up having Ni as dominant function. Child knows so little about the world and living inside our head in the world of imagination can make childhood a bit surreal experience. Little INFJ's most trusted function is a repertory of endless stream of possibilities which our unconsciousness constantly generates and imagination that is powerful enough to create whole universum out of nowhere. It's almost cruel to put little baby in the world with surviving-package of intuition and feeling. Having practical sensing and thinking type would have made it much easier.

Afterall I'm quite thankful of my type, actually I love it. At times it's so cozy to sink in the Ni-magination world. For me getting deep understanding of the world that Ni produces makes life enjoyable. People can rarely fool INFJ's because our intuition sqeezes out the real intentions of people very quickly, Ni is like authenticity radar. Fe is very people oriented function and I love to create fulfilling frienships. Also my playful outlook on life stems from the depths of the feeling. Life would be really boring if I would just live with hundreds of routines, piles of cold facts and dead imagination.

My Ni-phase 6->12

INFJ's usually have unconvential and rich inner life as a child. I had philosphical and existental thought's and imaginative scenarios that were running on my head all the time. I don't know if this is common for INFJ's but at some point of my childhood the line between the real and the imaginary was quite blurred.

At the age of 8 I had these imaginary mind games like 'everything is just product of my imagination'. At the age of 9-11 I read tons of thick fantasy books and spent alot of time in my head. It was the time when I got my Ni running and developed. I had fortunately close friends and loving parents during my childhood which kept me in touch with the reality.

My Fe-phase 12->18 (and glimpse of Ti)

At the age of 11-12 I got more realistic and payed more attention to what happened outside of my head. I began to understand the world as it is and had pleasure in just hanging out with my friends and doing things together. While I've got older my Fe has grown remarkably but I still have my peculiar and extraordinary imagination that entertains me when I let my mind wander. Fe shows itself in the form of having deep convictions, being social and going the extra mile to make others around me feel at ease.

I feel like my Ni has continued it's developement in the background altough Fe has currently the top priority. I've also noticed that during past two years my Ti has awakened and the urge to understand things (especially people) has grown. Studying MBTI and other personality theories I think is byproduct of my Ti warming up.

 

I've heard it's very common to develop tertiary instead of auxiliary, because it's
orientation is the same as dominant's. I've seen many extroverts struggling to develop
their introverted auxiliary since it requires them to spend time alone and work things
through their head without including other people. It's propably as hard for extroverts
to develop their auxiliary and inferior as it is for introverts.

Possible in some rare cases where the opposite world of dominant function is preferred. In this
occasion person is highly likely to develop as an ambivert. Having satisfying access to both
introverted and extroverted processes. I know one ENFJ with well developed Ti. He is pretty
different from the other ENFJ's I know, he is much more balanced and very intelligent.

I think shadow functions are so individually developed that it's almost impossible to
predict the pattern for it. Your theory of few INFJ's having Si and Te developed
while some of us having Ne and Fi was very clarifying. My INFJ mom have Te and Si
supporting her Ni and Fe while I have fairly well developed Ne and Fi. There's very
little similarities in our behaviour, she is so practical that she appears almost like an
ISFJ.

Could it have something to do with enneatype? More realistic types like 6,5 and 8
would be more inclined to have access on Te and Si. While more dreamy ones 4 and
9 for example could have stronger Ne and Fi supporting their inner life.

 

Yup, I also think these wooden age boxes are too rigid +/- 5 years to each one
would make it more realistic. One can develop his Se when he's 10 and Ni when he's
60 but this indicates which function has the most priority at specific age. Althought
I've been developing mostly my Ni and Fe, my Ti and Se has been with me all the time.

Ti - As far as I can remember I've been interested in structure of things and
breaking things into pieces. It's very interesting how little pieces work together
and create the whole. (Ni + Ti)

Se - I've always been into physical activities where I can impact and create.
I like playing guitar, drawing, basketball, frisbee, trampoline, skiing, driving etc.
(Ni + Se)

As Nobleheart it said we can use our tertiary and inferior functions properly when we have
our dominant and auxiliary running in the background. So when we use our Ti it's the most
effective if we use it trough our Ni and Fe and when we use our Se it comes more naturally
if we include our intuiton and feeling to the process.

Using Ti through Ni and Fe would be something like creating or understanding complex structure
that relates to people. MBTI is the perfect example.
Using Se through Ni and Fe would be something like drawing about people or playing some
musical instrument, music is quite feeling based in it's every aspect.