Being shy can be very uncomfortable for the one who is and the people around him/her. Being shy can be very limiting, especially when it’s your personality type. It can hold you back from achieving so much when you’re in a social setting where socialisation is a prerequisite for survival.
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Shyness can cut you off from doing so many things such as sales, negotiations, public speaking, and even asking for help when you’re in grave need of it. This experience makes you suffer from social and chronic anxiety. 4 out of 10 people live in
shyness. However, the good news is that you can overcome shyness. In this article, we shall examine 7 tips for overcoming shyness.
- Don’t Explain Your Shyness Away
People are aware that you’re shy. Even if they’re not, it’s a great disservice to go about advertising your shyness. This has a way of affecting your psyche to either make you a pity party or tolerant of your weakness. Most often shyness is not written on the face, therefore don’t make it seem as if you’re the only person in the whole world that’s suffering from
social anxiety.
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Avoid Total Isolation
It doesn’t get better isolating yourself if you want to overcome shyness. You might not be comfortable in large gatherings. However, you can have a pal, a talk mate or generally make your siblings your best companions. Get involved in family discussions. Most often, you can look for a small group to belong to just to express yourself occasionally.
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Play More Board And Indoor Games
Playing indoor games, especially board games like ludo, chess and monopoly can get you talking. Since it’ll involve some competition, you might find yourself laughing, arguing or simply talk.
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Avoid Self-Sabotaging
Most often, people who’re shy think worse of themselves. They feel they are not loved and they’re not capable of being loved genuinely by people. Their pessimistic view of themselves believes that they’re weird since they talk less. The way out of this is to believe that you are worthy of love, care, and affection. Look around you, spot good people and associate with them.
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Know Your Strengths
Knowing that you have strengths – they could be skillset, talents, character – can give you bargaining power, sense of worth, confidence, which makes up for your shyness. For instance, you might be shy, but being a talented soccer player can give you some sense of self-worth and help hold little conversations as possible. Remember, you’re shy, not stupid.
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Stay Far From People That Downplay Your Unique Character
Staying far from people that make light of your shyness can save you from wallowing in self-pity and belief that your unique character of shyness is a disability. Steer clear of people that treat you as abnormal because you’re shy. It’ll help you build your confidence.
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Don’t Define Yourself As Shy
Being shy is not the only personality you have as an individual if you do your findings. If you’re smart and intelligent and athletic, let people define you according to these strengths. Replace words such as: ‘she’s is a shy a girl.’ with ‘she’s an intelligent girl.’ When people define you by your strength every day and time, it can help you overcome social anxiety and shyness.
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This article was first published on 29th August 2021
nnaemeka-emmanuel
Nnaemeka is an academic scholar with a degree in History and International Studies from the University of Nigeria, Nsukka. He is also a creative writer, content creator, storyteller, and social analyst.
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