EMBRACE BEING AN AN INTROVERT!

Shake off the ‘shy’ label to turn your personality traits into an advantage!

- AMBER BRAMBLE

Gwyneth Paltrow is one and so is Amy Schumer. Barack Obama, Mark Zuckerberg and Bill Gates are all part of the club, too. In fact there’s no doubt the world is full of successful introverts. But in a society that so often celebrates big and bold personalities, it has to be said that introverts sometimes suffer from an image problem.

Mindset coach and self-confessed introvert Jessica Williamson says it’s true that introverts run the risk of feeling misunderstood or overshadowed when compared to their extroverted counterparts. “Being an introvert in our society can often be associated with having a lack of confidence, having less fun or being less successful,” she explains. ‘

Williamson says it’s time to bust those myths. “You can make an impact without having to be the loudest one in the room,” she explains.

ARE YOU AN INTROVERT?

One key problem, surprisingly enough, is that many people simply misunderstand what an introvert is. “In a technical sense, introverts are people who get their energy from being alone, rather than extroverts who get their energy from being around other people,” Williamson explains.

YOU MAY BE AN INTROVERT IF …

• You enjoy time alone

• You prefer 1:1 deep conversations over small talk in groups