Feeling too quiet, insecure, shy or ‘weird’? Do you feel like the only black sheep amongst tons of white sheep? Do you suffer from Comparisonitis sometimes, comparing yourself to extroverts all the time? I totally get you! I WAS you once… but it turns out that I have a TON of Silent Superpowers… ? and so do you! And often these give you a great advantage over extroverted colleagues and friends or family. You just don’t know it yet ?
Sometimes it can truly feel like there’s just a lot of things you CAN’T do being an introvert, right? We’re not so good at random chit chat, we overthink more than extroverts do, and we are mostly not as assertive or outgoing as most extroverts.
BUT: there’s so much that we CAN do being our great introverted selves! We need to be focusing so much more on that, instead of on the things we can’t do. It’ll only give you more frustration if you try to become someone that you’re not, and you never will be… because you’re born this way, baby.
So here goes, I’ll just be going through a list of:
15 things Introverts are AWESOME at:
- Creative – creativity is obviously seen in extroverts as well. There are tons of extroverts who are also creative, BUT: a lot of the most creative people in the world were found to be very introverted. It is in a sense useful to enjoy your own company, when you’re trying to write a book for hours or finish a work of art. Plus: creativity can be seen as a superpower in itself, whether for introverts OR extroverts…
- Good listeners – yes, we do make great listeners! We don’t talk as much as extroverts do, or… well, not as much small talk at least. We can be quite chatty and bubbly with the right few people around us. But in general we talk less than extroverts do and we don’t FEEL like talking as much all day long. Which makes us good listeners as a result! You might know some people in your social circle who come to YOU whenever something is going on in their lives, right? Even when you don’t always feel like it.
- Observant – Since we’re more quiet and reserved, there’s more room to sit back and observe. And soak up all the information it provides us. Observing is useful in so many ways – for example, it can provide insight in people’s behaviour. This insight can later be used to influence a certain situation. Which might’ve otherwise turned out bad. We can never change people – but observing surely helps to turn things around and make sense of a situation.
- Having a strong work ethic – or just plain able to ‘keep on going’, even though the job is just a little boring or even tedious. Employers will LOVE you for this! (And it’s also very VERY useful when running your own business!)
- Rarely getting bored – we prefer to spend time in our own minds – wondering, thinking, perceiving, analysing, processing, daydreaming… really now: does that EVER get boring?! And besides, we have all our introvert-hobbies to do: reading, writing, listening to music, creating, designing, cooking or baking, exercising (alone), meditating, doing yoga or WHATEVER it is we love doing!
- Comfortable alone – we have a preference for recharging our batteries by spending time alone 🙂 ‘Nuff said. Awesome Superpower there and a GREAT advantage over extroverts.
- Comfortable in silence – as a result of being comfy alone, we are also more comfortable in silence compared to extroverts. We don’t really mind if we’re with some other people we like or love, and no one is talking for a while. We can entertain ourselves and love it when others can do the same thing whenever they’re around us. Speech is silver, silence is golden is what we live by mostly.
- Ability to Recharge – and since we LOVE being alone, and rarely get bored, we don’t rely on other people to recharge our batteries. Whereas extroverts NEED other people around them to recharge. They actually get drained if they don’t socialise often.
- Being authentic or original – this doesn’t count for all introverts obviously because of course there’s also enough insecure introverts amongst us! But most of us do have a strong sense of self. Of principles. Of who we are and what really matters. (Even if we don’t always act on them…)
- Insightful – since we’re often observant, along with that generally comes insights. Insights in situations, in people, in relationships and in understanding the world as a whole. We can use the past and the present to try and predict the future (as accurately as possible). And we might be overthinkers, but the deep thinking gets us places too!! It helps reaching goals and having visions. And keeps us focused and motivated.
- Patience – a bit of overlap here with having a strong work ethic, because you need patience for that too… generally speaking you could say we have a lot of patience: with other people, with our work tasks, when figuring out the solution to a problem, while reading a book of 600 pages or for example while creating a great work of art! Patience is needed for all of those things. We are trained in this since BIRTH (LOL).
- Self-reflection – we naturally reflect on ourselves and our own behaviour. Making it easier to figure out who we are, what we do and don’t like, and consider your thoughts and emotions before simply blurting them out (like some extroverts can impulsively do). This will prevent others from getting hurt, which is awesome-sauce. Of course, like with all Superpowers, don’t OVERDO it… but this just comes naturally, it’s so easy for us right?!
- Awareness – we often notice details way faster than extroverts do. Which is obviously useful in any situation, whether that’s in a social situation or at work. Our brains are just wired that way! Attention to detail is great, because you will be able to prevent certain upsetting situations or drama from happening. Sounds like a Superpower, doesn’t it??
- Super Memory – ok, so personally I’m a bit lacking in this area (due to ADD-symptoms and past burn out) LOL. But, in general introverts have better memory than extroverts. Research has shown that the frontal lobe of the introverted brain has increased blood flow. This means that introverts are better at planning, organising, executing and have pretty good memory.
- Analytical Skills – a lot of introverts are great analysts. Makes sense, right? We live inside of our heads more than extroverts do. We are more familiar with (over)thinking stuff. Analysis is a big part of that. (It gets interesting when emotions start meddling with the analyses though!)
See? Lots of great traits huh?!
Out of these, what do you think are YOUR Introverted Superpowers? (Don’t be shy or try to normalise things! I know you have these in you 😉 )
With love, xo,
Jamila.
P.S. Need help with reducing stress and insecurities first, before you start working on fully developing your Silent Superpowers? Check out our free online Community.
