From Introverts to Extroverts…?
I’ll be the first to admit that Steve Pavlina produces some great stuff, but now I’m a little torn. Today, while browsing through the archives, I came across a post from 2005 titled: How to Go From Introvert to Extrovert. To be honest, I was kind of ticked as I started reading the article, especially because I am comfortable with my introversion. I am not a social butterfly, but can be if put in the right situation, granted I am drained at the end. I don’t lack social skills, I’m not exactly comfy, but I can hold my own. Perhaps I do overvalue my online friendships, but I have more of a kinship with them than with acquaintances in my area.
Steve then goes on to give introverts advice for becoming extroverts. While this is great advice for those who want it, I just don’t get it. I am comfortable with who I am. My coaching clients are comfortable with who they are. We aren’t social outcasts who sit at home eating bon bons watching life pass us by through our window. Neither are all introverts sitting in the shadows waiting for life to happen. My husband and I are both introverts and successful entrepreneurs out to change the world, one business owner at a time.
Extroverts and introverts are wired differently, with distinct chemical makeups. Extroverts lack dopamine and have to work to replenish it. Introverts produce excess dopamine and suffer from overload. I am a believer that there are stages in your life where you can be borderline and perhaps shift all together, but it is not realistic to think that all introverts can automatically (or with hard work) shift from introversion to extroversion. Just like it’s not realistic to think that all introverts and dying to be extroverts. 
Becki 
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Big Thank You!
Wow!
So THAT’S why I’m so completely drained after those in-person networking events! I’d begun to wonder about it, and this post really brought it home to me and reminded me that no matter what my family or anyone else says…I’m an *I*NFP. Not an ENFP…and that’s all there is to it
Okay, this really isn’t the most well thought out comment in the world, but let me tell you…it really makes me feel a little better about my personality.
It gets confusing when everyone INSISTS you’re an extrovert but you know better!
I agree Jen. I “can” be a social butterfly just like the next guy, but in the end I gain my energy from my alone time.
Becki