Living in an Extroverted World

You are at a party and you see your group of friends hanging out with other people and having a great time. That's cool and all but you want to meet other people as well. You eventually come across a guy who's by himself for some particular reason and you're curious to find out, so you walk up to him to start to chat. As you both talk, you notice that he doesn't speak much, however he does follow social cues. As you try harder to make him say a word or two, he becomes boring to you and you tell him you have to go just to hide the fact that you wanted to avoid an awkward conversation. So who was that weirdo? Well...you've just met an introverted person (not weird).

In today's world, we live in an extroverted environment where we encourage people to be socially outgoing, work together as a team, and make as many connections with different kinds of people. This idea doesn't sound so bad at first glance, but in action all of this can be overwhelming for some, such as introverted people. If you like to converse with people or make a lot of friends and acquaintances, you are an extrovert. If you prefer to have little conversation with people and have a small close group of friends and the desire to be alone at times, you may be introverted. The world consist of 1/3 of introverts making more than half of the population being extroverted--thus living in an extrovert's world.

Introverts:

• Think before they speak
• Introverts live in their minds, so when they speak with others they tend to study the person that they are speaking with and think how they should react as a response. This can make introverted people struggle in having long conversations as they try to find words to reply. Extroverts in the other hand are good at carrying long conversations without having to think so much.
• Are quiet
• But not all the time. This varies between person to person but typically introverts are quiet. They don't necessarily seek the spot light or the attention of the group.
• Value solitude
• Most introverts enjoy their time being alone such as reading a book, playing video games, or any activity that involves just yourself. Of course they don't like being alone all of the time! Like extroverts, introverts need to have social interaction as well but not as much as their extroverted counterpart. Introverts don't require as much social simulation to feel satisfied. Too much social stimuli can tire down a person and to recharge, introverts spend their time alone. Extroverts are the opposite, they recharge by talking to people and feel uneasy when they haven't spoken to a person or being alone for some time.

Introverts are one of the most misunderstood personality traits, where people sometimes mistake them for being shy. People misuse shy, quiet, and introvert interchangeably. Shy means that a person has social anxiety and quiet means that a person doesn't really say much--it's pretty straight forward. There can be outgoing introverts and shy extroverts.

Some famous introverts that we know of include Bill Gates, Ghandi, Abraham Lincoln, and Einstein. Knowing that these four men are known for their smarts and/or leadership skills, there are studies that suggest that introverts may be potentially smarter than extroverts. Although the data varies, it's just that most known successful company leaders happened to be introverts.

When it comes to social gatherings like school, work, or anywhere in public, the world seems hostile for introverts when it comes to socially interacting with people that they do not know. This may sound odd and anti-social for extroverts, but for introverts it's a nightmare. In schools when the teachers urge students to work in groups, an introvert may not like it much as an extrovert would. They may sometimes prefer to work alone if they can. When applying for jobs, most places prefer a worker with an outgoing, extroverted personality because they believe that these kinds of people are better at engaging customers than of introverts--which may be true...

So when you see an introverted person, please consider the following when speaking to one.