Introvert Pride

You know that negative voice inside of you that tells you you're not good enough from time to time? The one that attempts to remind you of your deficiencies while glossing over your strengths? The voice that says you ought not to take risks because you will surely fail? We've all been there. It can be like being forced to sit through a terrible commercial or song because your remote control has ceased functioning.  What is an introvert to do when these negative thoughts arise? Here are some valuable strategies for keeping them in check: 1. Silence such thoughts by exclaiming "I'm not listening to you!" and instead focusing on the attributes that make you a wonderful human-being: intelligence, empathy, a hard work ethic, humility, decency, and so on. 2. Give your inner critic a name to reduce its potency ("Uh oh, here comes Greg the Grouch again"). Doing so will give the feeling of being one step ahead so that you may stop the thoughts in their tracks.  3...

Call any introvert words like "nerd" or "geek" and you're bound to get a surprising response -- that is, if you intended to come off as insulting.  Indeed, we are likely to reply with a zealous "thanks!" But why would introverts like me not take offense to being labeled a nerd?  After all, in pop culture -- namely sitcoms like Saved by the Bell and Family Matters -- nerds are portrayed as losers who spend all their time studying and who couldn't land a date to save their lives.  It's because we recognize that our intellectual inclinations -- devouring books, writing prolifically, consuming educational films and documentaries, virtually living at museums -- makes us unique. We can't help but to seek intellectual stimulation any way we can. Our curious minds demand it; if not, we get bored and lose total focus.  That's not to say the average person doesn't do these things every now and then. But most introverts make a pastime -- a way...