1. Rare

16Personalities states that the INFJ, or the "Advocate," is "very rare, making up less than one percent of the population." Growing up, I felt as though I were very different from those of my age around me, in some way special. This fact proves that feeling of being an outlier or not belonging to any one group or standard or the "In-Crowd": given that I fit in less than one percent of the population based on how my mental wiring works (and at the time I took the test, it used to be less than two percent), that meant that I was extra special! And still am to this day.

2. Extraverted Introvert

INFJs are considered the extraverted introverts mainly because of how they – we – present ourselves and under certain circumstances. In my case, I am very introverted when it comes to interacting with people I know very little or not at all, whenever I would be at a social event and always tend to seek out the people I already know, and especially when I need a lot of alone-time to decompress from the day's events. 16Personalities says that "friends and colleagues [of Advocates] will come to think of them as quiet Extraverted personality types," and I couldn't agree more!

3. Idealistic/Passionate

While we have the quiet kind of energy around us, it's still energy just waiting to be released, as 16Personalities states, "Though soft-spoken, [Advocates] have very strong opinions and will fight tirelessly for an idea they believe in. … When Advocates come to believe that something is important, they pursue that goal with a conviction and energy that can catch others off-guard." INFJs need to have some purpose that would serve others for the better, and for me, considering that I have grown up reading and loving books, I hope to one day write my books that can leave that kind of impact: encouraging others to read, for both school and personal pleasure!

4. Creative/Original

We are all about the creativity! Imagine what we can come up with to better the world in which we live. 16Personalities weighs in on this with the fact that "Advocates will act with creativity, imagination, conviction, and sensitivity not to create an advantage, but to create balance." Everyone in my life, friends, family, and teachers alike, know fully well that I pride myself on being creative with my projects.

Another fact about INFJ creativity: "Combining a vivid imagination with a strong sense of compassion, Advocates use their creativity to resolve not technical challenges, but human ones."

Aside from all of that though, being creative could in its own way mean being original – and this can tie in with the "rareness" factor – being your own person who makes their own path and decides not to go on any other's. In fact, a good friend of mine put my name in for "Most Original" for our high school superlatives! I mean, someone else got it in the end – someone I knew, in fact – but nevertheless, my friend's vote for me on that category still that really left significant impression on me in how others view me.

5. For the Arts and Humanities

Yep, we are all about the arts and humanities and will do whatever it takes to keep them alive and make them one of the top-most priorities out there! I once protested on campus as part of the "March for Humanities," in order to keep certain arts and humanities courses on the school rosters for teaching; I even made and waved around my very own poster-sign reading, "Where's the humanity in cutting the humanities?" While we weren't entirely successful, I was still a part of something that is worth fighting for, thus tying in with the "idealistic" factor.

16Personalities has my back here: "[Advocates] have a talent for warm, sensitive language, speaking in human terms, rather than with pure logic and fact," extending outward to preferring the humanities and abstract ideas over pros and cons, or right and wrongs.

6. Independent/Private

The "I" in our type name is there for a reason: introverted, meaning that despite how much of an "extraverted" front we may display on the outside, we still need our downtime to recharge after losing so much of that internal energy. It's energy that we need to fight our battles, whether for the world, for others, or even for ourselves. 16Personalities feels the same in that "it is most important for people with the Advocate personality type to remember to take care of themselves. The passion of their convictions is perfectly capable of carrying them past their breaking point. If their zeal gets out of hand, they can find themselves exhausted, unhealthy, and stressed."

7. Empathic

This also ties in with the "idealistic" factor: we have nothing but the best intentions for people as well as feel what others may be going through, which could partly be in that we've been through it ourselves, but mainly so that we need to know what is best for other people to serve them better under these certain circumstances. 16Personalities says, "[Advocates] have strong beliefs and take the actions that they do because they are trying to advance an idea that they truly believe will make the world a better place." So, I think that this is what mainly holds me, as well as almost every other INFJ, back from taking care of ourselves: because what we have to give others and our goals for others, even if it means exhausting ourselves. (I'll come back to this…)

8. Sensitive

So, when we have empathy for others at play, we have sensitivity, mainly when it comes to criticism and conflict: "People with the Advocate personality type are highly vulnerable to criticism and conflict. … Their sensitivity forces these personalities to do everything they can to evade these seemingly personal attacks." Given my strong dislike for confrontation, I would have to agree with this over 100 percent (if that may be possible), which can add another contributing factor of holding myself back…

9. Perfectionistic

Because of our ideals, linking to our belief that everything can be improved (for "advocate personalities are all but defined by their pursuit of ideals"), that's why we often get called the "all or nothing" type, and I don't blame them for this. INFJs are all about not presenting ourselves if we can't do it in the best possible that we have always envisioned. According to 16Personalities, "While this is a wonderful quality in many ways, an ideal situation is not always possible – in politics, in business, in romance." So, while we INFJs can only dream of the (nearly) impossible, the next best thing would just have to do. Therefore, all of this stress of achieving the best and nothing less can contribute to this next and final point…

10. Prone to Burnout

I think that all people of not only the INFJ type, but also the millennial age and just straight-up overachievers alike, have suffered burnout at some point. I most certainly have from my first part-time job and nearly lost my mind over it. To this day, while it's not as bad anymore (I hope), I'm still suffering from the aftereffects of it. Burnout becomes the college student's best friend, and being an INFJ is just another layer on top of it that burnout burns through much quicker. In fact, I took the personality test not too much of a while after I was suffering from the menace that was burnout. If you're wondering if burnout was the main factor behind determining my type, don't worry: I took the test again when I feeling much saner and got the same result. (Phew!)

Anyway, we INFJs know all too well just how much of a burden burnout can be. 16Personalities says, "[The] passion, impatience for routine maintenance, idealism, and extreme privacy tend to leave Advocates with few options for letting off steam. People with this personality type are likely to exhaust themselves in short order if they don't find a way to balance their ideals with the realities of day-to-day living." But to all of the INFJs out there, fear not: it's not just you who suffered from burnout; it's just that it tends to get to us quicker. While I still experience some of what burnout has left behind, I'm still going, and you all should too.