Don’t Be Shy

Overcoming shyness is a process and does take time.  But as I stand and look back over the years there are a few things I wish I knew when I was 15 that would have made the process a little easier.
1. Understand your social needs.
Different people have different social needs.  For some people staying home reading [...]

If you are shy, you are not alone.  In fact, I would go so far as to say, you are in very good company.    I was tempted to seek out a list of famous people who describe themselves as shy, but famous people aren’t the only ones who make good company.   Sometime you will be [...]

Years ago I was with a small group attending the filming of a TV show.  During a break, the floor manager came over and said if we wanted we could go and say hi to whoever we wanted.   This was such a surprise and good fortune, yet I didn’t take it.  I felt like an [...]

Recently I received an email asking “how much has my shyness reduced since my teenage years”.    I have talked about my shyness throughout this blog, in particular this post talks about how I reduced my shyness.
The following diagram is mostly self-explanitory.  It shows that since high school my social comfort zone has increased while my desired social comfort [...]

Last week I talked about how you can overcome shyness by challenging your comfort zone.    The first challenge came from the book “The 4 hour work week” by Tim Ferris.  The challenge was to look people in the eye and let them be the ones to look away.   Look them in the eye when talking [...]

In high school I was incredibly shy, the thought of being called on in class and having to answer a question filled me with panic.  With the exception of giving speeches, I did not talk in class. 
So how did I go from this, to starting a debate in class?  Well, after high school I went [...]

At the time I never understood why, but when I was in high school I was great at speeches.   In a couple of classes we had to give a speech, sometimes the topics were given other times we were free to choose.  But either way I would do a great job.    Now you have to [...]

Sometimes it can help to remember why you want to overcome shyness.   A gentle reminder of why it is worth persevering even when it’s hard.  I have two motivating factors that are substantially bigger than all the rest. They are:

1. My children.
2. My life purpose.

Both my motivating factors are interconnected since I consider raising my children as [...]

After my last post which gives tricks to use when you forget someone’s name, a good friend and I got into a heated debate.   Like me, my friend is shy, and she believes her shyness leads her to forget people’s names.   Me on the other hand, I credit my shyness for my ability to remember names.  Here are our arguments:
Shyness [...]

First, I would like to thank those of you who have taken the time to comment on this blog or email me.   One email said they were too shy to comment, but were very much appreciative of this blog.   I’m so happy to hear that my experience, past and present can help others.   
My journey with shyness
Over the past [...]