Don’t Be Shy

How do you deal with being shy on a day-to-day basis? Overcoming shyness takes time and it is certainly worth taking some steps to overcome but in the meantime you still have to deal with shyness on a daily basis.   If your shyness is stopping you from taking action and find yourself feeling down here are a few ideas that help me; they might help you too.

Know you are in great company.

This is just another way of saying if you are shy – you are not alone.   93% of people experience shyness at some point with about 40% of people experiencing shyness to a level that affects their lives.    I wanted to point out the large number of people who are shy because it can be easy to feel like you are the only one who has these problems.   So know that you are not alone, there are lots of people who experience the same feelings and thoughts that you do.  And of course there are some very cool, nice, kind and generous people who are shy.   

Give yourself time and space.

Being shy is not easy and sometimes it can be very overwhelming.  I have certainly felt this many times.  I find the best thing is to give myself the time and space I need.  Many shy people are also introverts and they need to have some alone time each day.  If you are both an introvert and shy make sure you allow yourself time to regroup and gather your thoughts.  Doing this means you have more energy to deal with others.

Realise you can overcome shyness.

Sometimes you can get so caught up in being shy that it can be hard to see that this is something you can overcome.  Age is sometimes all you need overcome your shyness; the more experiences you have means there are now more situations that you feel comfortable.   But others need to take active steps to slowly extend their comfort zone and ‘practice’ social skills.  Either way shyness can be overcome.

Take your mind of it.

Don’t give your shyness more power by constantly thinking about it. After a bad day you may find yourself dwelling on being shy.  Because this is only going upset you instead keep your mind busy with a hobby that you are passionate about.  Find a book that absorbs you, practice a sport you love.  It can even be something as easy as listening to music or watching a movie.   As long as you are now no longer thinking about your shyness then we have success.   

Think about what you can do.

Think about what you could do next time.  For example, if you have come home from a party where there was a group talking that you wanted to join, but your shyness took over and you didn’t say anything.  First take some time to regroup, get some sleep.  Once you have settled think about what you could do next time you are in that situation.