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I recently read a book called The Introvert Advantage: How to Thrive in an Extrovert World by Marti Olsen Laney Psy.D.  I have always known I was an introvert, but I was never sure it was a good thing.  The book has helped me to see that there are some good things about being an introvert. At times this books almost sounds like was written about me.

There are seven major traits of an introvert that I could really identify with:

• I often find myself in meetings were I freeze up when put on the spot during meeting where I may be a subject matter expert, but for some reason cannot think fast on my feet.
• I often feel like a tortoise sounded by much faster and quicker people. My communications are often slow and deliberate.
• I am generally really annoyed with interruptions and constant shifts in our plans. I don’t like to interrupt others, I figure because I hate interruptions others probably do too.
• If I get over stimulated I often want to “Zone” out watching TV or surfing the web mindlessly.
• Last year after my wife read my performance review, she summed it up “sounds like you are an Introverted Genius”.  I thought the same thing could be said of the Unabomber.
• I suspect some people have a perception of me as being aloof and disconnected but with an incredible amount of knowledge.
• I absolutely hate the phone. When I was growing up my parents ran a business out of our house using our home phone. You just never knew who was going to call. I still have this loathing towards the phone.
• I often feel drained after social events and big crowds.  They do not energize me they leave me drained.  Most of the time I enjoyed these events but just felt drained afterward.

There were other traits that I do identify with but the eight of them above have been the ones that bother me the most.

In the past I have taken Myers-Briggs temperament tests before and always came up as an Introvert.  So I it is no surprise that that I recent took the test and got an ISJT as a result.

From the book here a few summarized points about the introvert’s brain:

• Introverts tend to use the parasympathetic nervous system.
  • Sometimes it requires more effort to get motivated or moving
  • Sometimes react very slow when under stress
  • Enjoys more breaks and relaxation time to refresh
  • Generally have a calm or reserved manner and never panics
• Introverts have great memories but
  • Sometimes it takes longer to retrieve information
  • Often feels it is better to sleep on an idea
  • Often forgets things that they know well when put on the spot
• Introverts tend to
  • Shy away from too much attention
  • Zone out when over stimulated
  • Surprise others with a wealth of information that is stored in their brains

I have also noticed that my children seem to be introverted too. Sometimes they display some of the behaviors from the list above.  I suspect that they too may feel that being an introvert is difficult but I hope that see that is not a bad thing, it is just different from a lot of the population.

I look forward to exploring my introverted personality more and seeing how I can play with it as strength rather than as a weakness.

If you are an introvert, can you relate to any of the points above?