What I Wish Someone Had Told Me About Finding Success As An Introvert Bianca is undoubtedly on to something. Many deep introverts are given poor advice about life, jobs, and careers. They are commonly misunderstood by their peers, and family as well. As an example, extroverts frequently perceive their introverted children as if they are extroverts who are shy. They are not. Telling kids that their problem is they do not get out and mingle enough with others is not helpful if the child finds groups of people draining. It would be better to show the child that individual pursuits whether music, art, intellectual or sport might be a better outcome. Psuedo-team sports like swimming are a good bridge offering the child plenty of time in the water alone, but periods of team activity which helps socialize them into team activities. Much more below. One should not mistake introversion and shyness, as they are not synonyms. The primary difference between introverts and extroverts is that introverts expend energy when in groups, while extroverts gain energy. Conversely, introverts gain energy when alone or with one or two others, and extroverts lose energy when alone. Introverts also tend to enjoy deep analytical conversations about specific issues, often about things, while extroverts enjoy more shallow but broader conversations which usually wind around relationships or people.
These personality traits exist on a spectrum. However, it appears that there are 2x or 3x more extroverts compared to introverts. One of the best ways to live big as an introvert is to understand that you are likely more analytical than extroverts, and you do exceptionally well when faced with problems which require prolonged periods of solitude. If you want to be the first person to Mars, you really should be an introvert. I am an introvert, today a gregarious introvert, although I was not always so gregarious, that was learned. It pays for both introverts and extroverts to expand their ability to exist in the opposite sphere. As far as I can tell, introverts have an easier time of being in groups than extraverts have being alone (extraverts frequently become depressed if alone, while introverts only become tired when forced into group activities). I would suggest expanding your comfort zone but do not think that you as an introvert will become a networking glad-hander, that is unlikely. It is difficult to live bigger than by taking a long, solo, wilderness kayak or backpacking expedition or engaging in something similar. This is something introverts excel at, but extroverts do not. Get out, do something, live big. Crazy Man Biked 13,000 Km From Sweden to Nepal, Climbed Mt. Everest Then Biked Home In the Wake of the Jomon: Stone Age Mariners and a Voyage Across the Pacific I met Göran Kropp in the mid-1990s shortly after he finished his bike/climb expedition, he was a very young man then. I find it difficult to believe he is gone. Jon Turk, John Dowd, and Ed Gillette were a few of my inspirations to become a long distance sea kayaker. Gillette's story is unbelievable, see below. Adventurers are nearly always introverts. Only they can handle the prolonged solitude and stress. No one lives bigger. ("On June 25, 1987, Ed Gillet (3) departed alone from Monterey, California in a production Necky Tofino double laden with 600 pounds of food and gear with the intention of mostly sailing his way to Hawaii. However, it was an El Nino year and the anticipated trade winds and currents failed him. Gillet spent less time using his parafoil sail than actually paddling the ‘Bananafish’. He carried desalinization equipment to ensure a fresh water supply. But when he lost his radio on week two, with it went all contact with the outside world for the remaining eight weeks. When Gillet failed to appear by his predicted arrival window his family flew into a frenzy. They unsuccessfully lobbied the Coast Guard to search for him. Sixty-three days after his departure and four days after he ran out of food, suffering from 40 hours of sleep deprivation and subject to winds and currents driving him north, past the islands, Gillet steered in a hallucinatory dawn into Kahului Harbor and landed on Maui Beach. Gillet lost a mere 25 pounds. Legend has it he survived at least partially on toothpaste. Gillet calls it; “…a life raft experience. It amazes me, when I think back on it, that I didn’t die,” he says. “It doesn’t amaze me that I paddled to Hawaii—that’s more or less a straightforward thing to do. You make the mileage, you paddle your boat, you get there. It’s benign at that time of year: You don’t have hurricanes at the latitudes I was traveling at. But physically, I’m still amazed I was able to withstand that kind of punishment.” Despite advances in technology, Gillet’s 2,200-mile Pacific journey remains so epic none have ever tried to match it. A few kayakers have achieved greater mileage, but not on an open-water crossing of the Pacific.") In career, it pays for introverts to find fields which allow them to work in small teams or alone. It will be difficult for the introvert to function at high capacity for 65+ hours per week in large groups while continually networking, and gladhanding. On the other hand, there are many jobs which suit the introvert. Twenty Jobs for Introverts Perhaps the best thing anyone can do is to understand their personality honestly. While the Briggs-Meyer pretends to do this, it does not. However, Professor Jordan Peterson and his team have created a personality test based on the Big 5 personality traits which can help you assess your essential personality traits. While introversion/extroversion is a critical personality trait, IQ and conscientiousness are likely more vital to understand for work success. Understand Myself - What You Need to Know One parting thought, as an introvert it is a good idea to pair match one's self with a mate who compliments one's personality by completing it not limiting it. While I am an introvert, my wife is an extrovert. I am more open; she is less. We are both off the chart on consciousness and nearly at zero for neuroticism. As expected she is more agreeable, I less. In the end, this division has left each of us in our sweet spot. We each do the things we most enjoy while the other takes care of the things we like least.
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