THE FIRST STEP TO OVERCOMING SHYNESS

I know some people and I like some of them, when I'm around them I'm quite popular and funny and I get the impression that they like me.

But then there are the other people, the ones I don't know, they're everywhere....

Credit: Isle Valfre

I think I had a particular brand of shyness, to see it in action it did not appear as shyness, the impression I left with people was mainly that I was rude or ignorant towards them.

It was a personality trait of mine that I was not particularly fond of so I decided one day to take a small step and challenge myself.

This simple step was to embrace short human interactions that would end quickly. That was it, my challenge.

To give you an example, 
instead of looking at my phone while in an elevator or a queue, I would look up and have a quick conversation with another person. Simple small talk about the weather or our surrounding environment helped to draw me out of my shy shell.

When each interaction was over I felt a small sense of achievement and I liked that feeling. Sure some of the conversations were a little painful when I met someone with nothing to talk about or was perhaps as shy as I was. But I still felt better for having made the attempt.

The more I embraced these interactions the less uncomfortable they felt and now I feel a lot more confident in myself personally.

It's a small step to take but done over time can reap great benefits.

Thanks for reading.