ARE YOU AN INTROVERT OR AN EXTROVERT? BY ROSLYN ROZBRUCH (FOOD FOR THOUGHT)
I’ve never been the popular girl (or woman), and the older I get, the more uncomfortable I amwith attention directed toward me, so not only do I not want to be the popular gal, but I also make an effort not to be. But I never used to be that way. When I was younger, I consideredmyself to be an extrovert, which leads me to thinking—can you be an extrovert one day and then become an introvert, or vice versa? Recently, Michael and I attended a business seminar led by Roland Frasier. Roland is a very successful entrepreneur who I admire and have learned a lot from. We were excited to have the opportunity to attend a two-day seminar taught by Roland in a small setting of 20 entrepreneurs because, while he has his ownmastermind group, he has other people help him lead them. Before the seminar started, Michael wondered if we’d know anyone attending, and I wondered howmany other women would be in the room. I’ve noticed that the more successful the people are in the room, the less women I see in it. I consider myself to be a woman’s woman. We all connect to people differently, and I happen to connect with women easier thanmen. Or maybe it’s that I’mmore comfortable in nonbusiness settings, so I feel like an introvert when I’m in one. Many men I know are extroverts in a business setting but introverts at a social function. When I attendmasterminds or workshops, as long as there’s one other woman in the room (besides me) and Michael doesn’t leave my side for very long, I’mokay. I was happy to learn that there were three other women in the room, and I easily connected with everyone. Roland is a brilliant man and taught a week’s worth of information in two days. But a funny thing happened a few hours into the meeting. Michael went to the men’s room, and Roland asked for my thoughts on something. Here’s a little backstory: There were no breaks other than a lunch break, so if you needed to use the restroom, you just left the room. When Michael left the room, Roland calledmy name. I looked up frommy notetaking and turned to both sides of me, thinking he must be talking to someone else. I knew no one in the roomhadmy name, but I’mnot used to being called on. When no one answered, he again saidmy name and asked for my opinion. Luckily, I’ve been going to seminars for a while; I’ve been in business for over five years, and I had an answer. After, I thought,“Okay, I survived.”But then, over the next two days, every time Michael went to the men’s room, Roland called onme for my opinion. There were other people in the roomwho hadmore successful businesses thanmine, so why was he calling onme? I knew he waited for Michael to leave the room so I couldn’t say,“Michael will answer that question for us.”By the second day, I wanted to
... whether you’re an introvert or an extrovert or just feel more comfortable in one kind of setting over another, it’s always good to go out of your comfort zone and do the thing you don’t want to do.
say to Michael,“Do you really need to use the men’s room?”But I didn’t. I let Michael leave the room. Over those two days, I sharedmy opinions when called on. My heart raced a little and I was schvitzing (sweating) a little, but I did it, and I left the seminar feeling a little more confident in myself than before I came. What does this have to do with you?Well, whether you’re an introvert or an extrovert or just feel more comfortable in one kind of setting over another, it’s always good to go out of your comfort zone and do the thing you don’t want to do. Because nomatter what, when you walk through that uncomfortable
thing you really want to walk away from, you grow as a person and gainmore confidence in yourself.
–Roslyn Rozbruch
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