Does the thought going to a party where you don’t know anybody energize you or freak you out? If you chose the latter, you are definitely an introvert. As an introvert myself I can tell you that a common misconception is that we want to be alone, but that is not true. While an introvert doesn’t necessarily want to be the life of the party, that doesn’t necessarily mean we don’t want to go to the party and/or have no desire to connect with other people. So what’s an introvert to do? How about fake it ’til you make it?
A recent experiment asked self-described introverts to step outside of their comfort zones for a week and do something much more extroverted – engage in conversations with complete strangers. If you are an introvert, that may have just made you break out in hives! But an interesting thing happened – when the introverts made it a point to strike up a conversation with a stranger each day for a week, they felt a lot better about themselves. Their overall well-being improved. And when they went back to their introverted ways, that good feeling went away.
Let me say this – being an introvert isn’t bad (and neither is being an extrovert). But any time we can step outside of our comfort zone – especially when it means connecting with people – we grow … and we grow, one of the by-products is we feel better about ourselves.
**Eric has his Masters in Counseling and when he’s not on the radio, he works as a private practice counselor**
Photo Credit: Getty Images/Patat
