I’m not the biggest fan of personality tests but after a lot of persuasion, I took the Myers-Briggs 16 Personality Test, which is meant to be fairly accurate.
I consider myself an ambivert. I knew I had more introverted characteristics, so I expected my results to be around 60:40 (introvert: extrovert ratio).
The results came out as 80% introvert, and 20% extrovert.
Interesting. Perhaps I’m not the party animal I thought I was.
When a couple of friends took the test, I noticed the ones deemed to be more extroverted announced their results with great joy and pride. Those that identified themselves as introverts spoke with a whimper and subtle shame.
This is how society thinks. Extroverts are portrayed as ‘cool, lively, free-spirited’ people whereas introverts are thought of as being ‘timid, quiet, unsocial’ people.
In many instances, being labeled an introvert, like me, is seen as a bad personality trait. Why?
Introverts and Success
Many people argue extroverts are more likely to be successful because they are outspoken, confident, and establish more networks. While these traits may be true of extroverts, introverts are just as likely to be successful in their own way.
Consider some of the great leaders of the 21st century: Bill Gates, Elon Musk, and Warren Buffet. These 3 leaders are all introverts, yet they are massively successful.
Introverts are just as likely to succeed in life as extroverts. These are 4 traits that introverts perform better at:
1. Listening
In a society where vocal people are rewarded, listening is quietly underrated. In a group project, the leader is often confident and vocal. Confidence should not be confused with intelligence. The group leader may just be talking for the sake of talking, not letting anyone get a word in edgewise. But because they project themselves loudly and fire off 500 words a minute, we assume they are knowledgeable.
Everyone has an opinion. Where introverts differ from extroverts is when you have a loud, obnoxious person spewing nonsense, the introvert remains quiet. Instead, we listen to everyone’s ideas and analyze them before presenting our own.
The best ideas require input from multiple people and often involve teamwork. Introverts tend to be good listeners, thinking before speaking. This leads to well-thought-out and planned decisions. By collating everyone else’s thoughts and analyzing their benefits and limitations as well as your own ideas, you use this to find the ‘optimal’ solution.
2. Deep Focus
Introverts can concentrate for lengths of time without distraction. Success can be defined in many ways: job promotion, financial independence, and academic performance, but hard work is often an overlapping factor of all.
Too often I hear the quote ‘Work smart, not hard.’
The stark reality is, without initial hard work, it is almost impossible to ‘work smart’.
Take building a small business for example. Initially, it is all down to you to devote hours of research, plan your finances, and establish the networks needed to execute your vision (through hard work).
After a prolonged period of hard work when your business grows, you are now able to outsource responsibilities such as hiring staff and automating processes. In other words, not trading your time for money so you can focus on business growth (working smart).
Introverts are comfortable in their own presence, and do not rely on others to validate their presence.
Hard work is at the core of most success stories; this rings especially true at the start of your journey to success. You are the sole person traveling along that path. A quiet environment is where introverts shine, and they have the self-discipline and internal drive to plow through the hard work — alone.
3. Self-Reflection
Whether we realize it or not, everyone self-reflects. Introverts just spend more time doing it. Self-reflection is often done subconsciously when you’re walking to work or shopping for groceries for example. Whether you call it ‘daydreaming’ or being ‘lost in your own thoughts’, self-reflection leads to increased emotional intelligence and confidence.
A common misconception is that introverts are not confident. That’s not true. Introverts have inner confidence — we don’t boast about our achievements but we are quietly confident we can reach the same goals as everyone else.
Self-reflection also means introverts plan their life better. I subconsciously reflect on multiple aspects of life (career, self-improvement, and family) to identify what I am doing well and what needs improving.
A lot of people say I appear calm, a common characteristic of introverts. Planning is part of this, especially in an intellectual discussion. When you speak without thought, your words come out in an incoherent jumble, mirroring your undeveloped thoughts.
4. Creativity
Introverts specifically carve time out for themselves to pursue their own goals.
Since starting work, I realized the typical routine of a working adult is: work, eat, socialize, relax, sleep and repeat. This cycle continues in a similar fashion for the next 40 years. The same routine saps creativity with every passing month. Most of us are not in a position with flexible working hours, and sleeping and eating are basic survival needs, so we can only ‘make more hours’ in a day by relaxing or socializing less.
Introverts thrive off alone time. Ironically, during these times when no one else is around, my enthusiasm surges, and creative ideas run rampant.
Perhaps in a work meeting, you are perceived to have nothing to offer because you don’t speak up. While everyone is arguing over ideas, you are busy brainstorming and processing them undeterred by their opinions.
Not being easily influenced by others’ opinions means you’re more likely to undertake creative tasks and take risks the vast majority don’t, such as starting a YouTube channel or writing blogs. With less external input, your ideas are less likely to be swayed by the influence of others.
Final Thoughts
I’m not claiming introverts are ‘better’ than extroverts. The world needs a mixture of both to generate the best ideas. But for the introverted readers amongst you, embrace your personality.
In a world where everyone is fighting to speak, drown out the external noise with your own thoughts.
