72% Introvert, 100% Social Butterfly: Rewriting the Rules of Personality in Business
Psst… introverts, ever feel like you’re living in a world built for extroverts? Like you’re a fish trying to climb a tree in the corporate jungle? Well, you’re not alone.
In fact, if you’re reading this, you are probably one of us (A YouGov survey found that 38% of American citizens are introverted, compared to 22% extroverts. Plus, you clicked on this article about introversion, so…)
Let me tell you a bit about myself. My ideal Friday night? I’m at home playing Baldur’s Gate 3. Perfect hike? Just me and maybe one other person. Awesome weekend? One where I don’t have to leave my front door at all.
Sound familiar?
Here’s the thing though: I’m also one of the leaders of Hong Kong’s largest weekly running group, with 150–200 people showing up each time. I can give a speech without breaking a sweat, and then dive into the cocktail party afterwards, chatting away like it’s no big deal.
A friend of mine was pretty confused when the MBTI topic came up. “Wait, you’re an introvert? But how are you not shy? How can you talk to people so easily?”
That’s when I realized there’s a big misunderstanding about introversion that needs clearing up. So, here we are.
The Truth About Socializing: It’s a Skill, Not a Trait
If you think you’re not good at socializing, it’s not because you’re an introvert. It’s because you haven’t spent much time socializing. Sure, being introverted might be why you haven’t practiced much, but it’s not the root cause.
Now, what about the fear? Yeah, there’s a reason why introverts often seem shyer — it’s usually the fear of what others might think of us.
But this fear is separate from whether you enjoy being social or not. I got over that fear, but I still don’t love huge gatherings. I’m not going to tell you to “just stop being afraid” — that’s about as helpful as telling someone to “stop being sad”. But if you want to work on it, books like “The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck” or “The Courage to Be Disliked” might give you some good food for thought.
So, how do we tackle this? It’s pretty straightforward:
- Stop believing that introverts can’t be good at socializing. It’s just not true.
- Recognize that the fear of socializing is a separate issue from introversion.
- Practice socializing more to get better at it.
Reframing Social Skills: Why You Can Get More Practice Than You Think
Improving your socializing skills is probably easier than you think.
Consider this: you’re likely to spend way more time talking to people throughout your day than you would practicing a hobby like knitting. Even if you really loved knitting, you’d be hard-pressed to put in 10000 knitting hours as you naturally do interacting with others.
From Theory to Practice: My Journey from Having Lunch Alone to Breaking Out of My Comfort Zone
Let me share a bit of my own story. In high school, I was that kid who had few friends, ate lunch alone, and never joined any clubs. But during college, I had this “aha” moment about socializing being a skill. So, I downloaded the Meetup app and started going to all sorts of networking events.
The result? I made some great friends and even landed my first job through these new connections. All because I decided to treat socializing like a skill I could improve on, rather than some fixed part of my personality.
The Bottom Line: Introverts Can Thrive Socially
Being an introvert doesn’t mean you’re destined to be bad at socializing. It just means you recharge differently. With some practice and a change in mindset, you can become pretty great at socializing while still enjoying your quiet time.
It’s not about changing who you are — it’s about expanding what you can do.
#Introversion #PersonalDevelopment #Networking #SocialSkills #CareerGrowth #MBTI #16Personalities #INTPThoughts #ExtrovertedIntrovert #SelfImprovement #GrowthHacking
