Introverts ~ INWARD MENTAL FOCUS
(30-50% of population)
recharges energy in alone-time
prefers small social gatherings with deep intimate conversation
does not enjoy small-talk or large social gatherings with superficial interactions
The word introvert means 'turning inwards'. We thrive in mentally processing information in DEPTH. In fact, depth is one of our favorite words. We like to take things in, churn them around, take them apart, put them back together, and ultimately figure out FOR OURSELVES what they mean to us personally. In order to do this, anytime we gather information from the *outside world* we need large amounts of alone-time and quiet-time to process that information in our own *inside world* to make sense of it for ourselves.
7 Traits of an Introverted MIND
We need lots of alone time so we can we think, over-think, think about our over-thinking, and come back to our original thinks.
We think in straight lines, which turn into circles and spirals, and then back into lines. In the outside world these lines and circles and spirals move way too fast and we need to slow them down. Alone time slows things down.
When we spend too much time in the *outside world* we need more time with our *inside self* to process and organize the outside stuffs.
We are energetic sponges that absorb everything we see, sense and feel in the outside world, so we need lots of alone time to organize all that input information.
We do our best thinking in nature, or writing, or uninterrupted talking (usually to ourselves)
We don't like advice for two reasons: one - advice is just more information we have to process and two - we have probably already thought about that advice and processed it for ourselves already.
Our inward mental focus means that we function best when we do things our own way, as if they idea was our own idea in the first place.
How Introverts Learn
The Hobbit (my husband) has been telling me that my writing and work should be less "teachery." He says that people don't like to be taught. Every time he suggests this, in his many creative ways, I turn into a 10-year-old kid, plugging my ears and singing Mary Had a Little Lamb to drown him out.
I shut his suggestions out because I cannot shut up the teacher in me. Heck, I have a Master's degree in teaching, and I have spent my entire career teaching in some form or another.
I don't want him to be right. Because if he is right, doesn't that mean I have to be wrong? My entire career of teaching is wrong?
But he is not wrong.
And neither am I.
In fact, my plugging ears behavior is proving his point. He's trying to teach me a better way to teach, and I don't want to be taught.
I'm an introvert, so I immediately rejected his advice (trait #6). And then his voice and suggestions ping-ponged around in my head (trait #2) on my morning dog walk . And then it spilled over into my journal (trait #5). Until I had sufficiently over-thought my thoughts (trait #1) and come to my own conclusions (trait #7).
And, I know he is not wrong.
Because I prefer to teach through stories.
When I taught high school, I started every class with story-time, and centered the "lessons" around story-time. Heck, the definition of education is "to pull out from within" not to stuff you with information and tell you what to do. It was the story-time part of the lesson that my students remembered and talked about the most.
I'm telling you a story right now, and this story is going to stick in your head more than the listicle or definition information (especially if you're an introvert).
Are you an introvert who is over-thinking? Do you want some clarity on the lines and spirals that ping pong in your head?
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