It’s the 21st century. Life is no longer about just survival. Instead, we’re out here trying to live the best life we possibly can.
Doing that requires knowing yourself, as this allows you to better navigate the world and get the things you want.
One aspect of this is knowing where you fall on the introversion-extraversion spectrum. This is such an important aspect of mental and emotional health that ignoring it will make it impossible to truly thrive.
But once you know your own tendencies, the next step is to put that knowledge to work to make your life better.
If you’re introverted, here are some things you can do to truly thrive:
Time to Yourself: The Key to Success
The most important thing an introvert needs to learn is that time by yourself is absolutely essential. To be able to process the world and your emotions and recharge your energy, you must figure out a way to include solitude in your life.
This is often difficult because social stigmas prevent us from valuing this time for its true significance. But also because the responsibilities and obligations that define our lives force us to spend lots of time in contact with others, which can be quite overwhelming to an introvert.
Therefore, to truly thrive as an introvert, you need to make an intentional effort to include alone time into your schedule. And this time needs to be truly yours. Being in your office working on something doesn’t really count. Set aside a window in your day where you can just be by yourself, recharging in your own energy and preparing for the next thing.
However, to really thrive, you need more than this. You need to make time by yourself more normal, which requires rearranging a few things in your life. Here’s what you need to do to truly live your best life:
Find Income Sources That Align With Your Introverted Side
Over time, as you find more and more time for yourself, and realize the tremendous benefit this provides to your life, you will most likely want more.
To get it, though, you need to be savvy. Modern work culture makes our jobs the focal point of our lives, and most jobs are extroverted in nature.
Therefore, you either need to find a job that allows you lots of time and freedom to cater to your introverted side, or you need to find ways to supplement your income so that you can depend less on your job and make more time for yourself.
Fortunately, mostly due to the internet and the rise of remote work opportunities, there are lots of jobs for introverts that allow them the time and space they need to succeed. But there are also lots of new investment opportunities that make passive income more accessible than ever before.
For example, you can now invest in real estate for less than $500, allowing you to build your portfolio over time without enduring too much financial strain in your present life.
In either case, finding a way to earn money that is aligned with your introverted self is a critical component of thriving in this highly-extroverted world.
Learn the Value of Boundaries
Next to reevaluating your work arrangement and taking steps to find more introverted work, you will also need to take a look at the relationships in your life.
he connections we have with other people have tremendous influence on our decisions, but if we don’t establish good boundaries, they can consume us and wreak havoc, especially for introverts.
If you’re just discovering this side of yourself, there’s a good chance you have some relationships in your life that feel a bit heavy. Now is the time to start setting up some boundaries. Remember, that alone time is essential for you to thrive.
So, if you don’t give yourself that time before interacting with others, you’re just wearing yourself down even more, which is only going to put strain on the relationship.
Establishing boundaries in relationships is not easy, especially if they haven’t been understood or respected before. Therefore, this is bound to be a trying experience. But it’s absolutely necessary for you to thrive in this world, and the earlier you learn how to do that, the better.
Get Used to Being the “Odd Duck”
There is absolutely nothing weird about being introverted.
However, because extroverts naturally project themselves out into the world, and often assume others are similarly extroverted, introverts are constantly ijn situations where there needs don’t align with what’s expected or assumed.
Therefore, as you assert yourself as an introvert and take steps to help yourself thrive, you may get some interesting reactions. But anyone who has a problem with you doing what’s best for you isn’t worth your time.
So, just accept that, to them, you might be the “odd duck” and then just go on living your best introverted life as if nothing happened.