Last update: Augusts 25, 2015
There are many who believe that being introverted is a flaw, but that's not the case. Introversion is a personality trait that indicates a deeper process of thoughts and emotions, a preference for quiet places, a low level of stimulation and a numerically modest company.
Carl Gustav Jung was the first to work on the extroversion-introversion dimension; he defined the introverted person as one who focuses on his own inner thoughts and feelings.
There are many introverted people; however, society judges them, giving more value to contrary behaviors, that is, of more active, restless, flashy, reckless and sociable individuals.
Introversion is even confused with shyness. In reality, the latter is characterized by the feelings of discomfort and anxiety it causes, for the negative self-criticism and fear in most group events.
Being introverted has its advantages. Susan Cain, a lawyer and writer, talks about it in one of her lectures, helping herself with a mysterious suitcase, of which she does not reveal the contents until the end. Susan's is a real defense of introversion and introverted people.
Tell us how as a child she was introverted and loved to read, since, with his family, books were considered a priceless treasure. His own books continued to be incredibly important throughout his life; at that point, Susan begins a new story connected to the books and the contents of the suitcase.
It is an intelligent story, full of metaphors: the icing on the cake of the conference. Instead of telling you about it, we suggest you watch the original video in English.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c0KYU2j0TM4
With more than ten million hits, this conference is a real pearl of wisdom, especially for those who want to free themselves from the inferiority complex they suffer from just being introverted.
Curiosity about introversion
In the proposed video, interesting data on introverted people are shown, including:
- Introverts bring great things to both the social and personal spheres. They are more prudent than others, they risk less compared to extroverts; in most cases, are excellent leaders or bosses, because their decisions are always well thought out.
- Introversion paves the way for great creativity. Great religious figures like Jesus, Buddah or Moses needed a desert around them to conceive their ideas and then give them to the world. There are many people who need to be alone to create great ideas.
The fact that children do group work is very educational, but it is equally important that they work alone. This type of exercise is especially important for extroverts, so that they meet up with themselves more often and can develop their creative potential.
- Susan Cain believes that the point of balance between extroversion and introversion, i.e. ambiversion, is the most recommendable attitude.
Make the effort to immerse yourself in yourself and get to know yourself better, to discover things around you and your interiority. Next, you need to make another effort to open up to others and share your thoughts. Depending on whether you are an introvert or an extrovert, one of the two exercises will be more difficult than the other.
- Why are introverts judged so negatively? For Susan, the answer is found in Western societies, particularly in the US, where the culture of "personality" has established itself. Businessmen are successful people, who can't help but be extroverted to get what they want, primarily to make contacts. This idea leads us to believe that being outgoing is the best thing that can happen in life, in truth it is not like that at all.
What are the benefits of being an introvert?
We hope that both reading this article and listening to the conference have contributed to no longer making you suffer from your introversion. It too has its advantages, including:
- Be more creative;
- Having more listening skills;
- Be more cautious and thoughtful;
- Having a more intense connection with your inner world (thoughts and emotions);
- Risk less;
- Be more sensitive, calm and introspective.
Finally, we recommend the book "Quiet. The Power of Introverts in a World That Can't Stop Talking ”, by Susan Cain”. We hope you enjoy it!
