When an introvert cares about someone, she also wants contact, not so much to keep up with the events of the other person's life, but to keep up with what's inside: the evolution of ideas, values, thoughts, and feelings. Laurie Helgoe More Quotes by Laurie Helgoe More Quotes From Laurie Helgoe As an introvert, you can be your own best friend or your worst enemy. The good news is we generally like our own company, a quality that extroverts often envy. We find comfort in solitude and know how to soothe ourselves. Laurie Helgoe envy worst-enemy solitude Introverts are collectors of thoughts, and solitude is where the collection is curated and rearranged to make sense of the present and future. Laurie Helgoe good-advice introvert solitude Reading is like travel, allowing you to exit your own life for a bit, and to come back with a renewed, even inspired, perspective. Laurie Helgoe exit perspective reading Introverts process information internally, and we don't like to express our thoughts until they are fully formed. Laurie Helgoe introvert information process Your nature is not the problem. The problem is that you have become alienated from your nature -- from your power source. Laurie Helgoe source problem Quiet is might. Solitude is strength. Introversion is power. Laurie Helgoe solitude might quiet Let's clear one thing up: Introverts do not hate small talk because we dislike people. We hate small talk because we hate the barrier it creates between people. Laurie Helgoe introvert hate people An extrovert is more likely to share immediate reactions and process information through conversation. Laurie Helgoe extroverts information share Introvert conversations are like jazz, where each player gets to solo for a nice stretch before the other player comes in and does his solo. And like jazz, once we get going, we can play all night. Extrovert conversations are more like tennis matches, where thoughts are batted back and forth, and players need to be ready to respond. Introverts get winded pretty quickly. Laurie Helgoe nice player night I am rarely bored alone; I am often bored in groups and crowds. Laurie Helgoe crowds groups bored Isn't it refreshing to know that what comes perfectly natural for you is your greatest strength? Your power is in your nature. You may not think it's a big deal that you can spend hours immersed in something that interests you-alone-but the extrovert next door has no idea how you do it. Laurie Helgoe doors ideas thinking Some findings reveal extroverts as more adept at reading nonverbal cues, and attribute this to the extrovert's greater interest and experience with social interactions. Another line of research using subliminal images of facial emotion found introverts to be more sensitive to the differences, and hypothesized that this may be why introverts regulate the amount of incoming social information. Laurie Helgoe differences research reading Introverts like being introverts. We are drawn to ideas, we are passionate observers, and for us, solitude is rich and generative. Laurie Helgoe passionate solitude ideas Introverts keep their best stuff inside—that is, until it is ready. And this drives extroverts crazy! The explanation for the introvert’s behavior—and there must be an explanation for this behavior, say the extroverts—is that he or she is antisocial, out of touch, or simply a snob. Laurie Helgoe extroverts crazy stuff With public speaking, practicing congruence is very helpful - allowing the words to be expressed with the face and body. It helps to think of simply "turning up the nonverbal volume." Laurie Helgoe body faces thinking Introverts are generally more sensitive to low-intensity stimuli - they are mentally alerted to inputs that extroverts may miss. Laurie Helgoe input missing may When a quiet introvert talks, heads turn, and that's power. Laurie Helgoe introvert turns quiet Though introverts are drained by interaction, we can take immense pleasure in watching the scene around us. Laurie Helgoe introvert pleasure scene Introverts paradoxically pull away from culture and create culture. Laurie Helgoe introvert culture Extroverts are more responsive to high-intensity and "happy" stimuli, which may be why an extrovert gets frustrated at the less "readable" face of the introvert. Laurie Helgoe extroverts frustrated may
