Introvert Power: Why Your Inner Life Is Your Hidden Strength (Reduce Anxiety and Boost Your Confidence and Self-Esteem with this Self-Help Book for Introverted Women and Men)

The book, Introvert Power, has all the characteristics of a good speech. It informs, educates, entertains, convinces, and induces action. And the book is best judged when completed; that makes it like a good pizza, which is also best judged when it comes out of the oven. This book increased in its value and interest to me throughout its presentation. Words that come to mind when thinking about the book include challenging, inspiring, intellectually honest (even if it might hurt), practical/applicable, interesting, easy-to-read (not pedantic), and predominantly research-based. I would add: authentic and personal (the author’s journey from childhood). Here’s one example of why the book is inspiring: There is a testimonial sent to the author by a high-school junior female on how the book helped revitalize her life and uplift her perception of her introverted personality. That testimonial was sent recently sent to my ISFP grandson, who is a high-school junior, and who has struggled interpersonally with the extroverted world. He will be receiving a paperback copy of the book within the next few days. If I were still conducting introductory MBTI feedback workshops for organizational groups, I would include the author’s two-page segment entitled, A Culture of Interruption. This resource article would be beneficial to all participants regardless of their organizational role or title. The article offers proactive suggestions to help introverts deal with potential interruptions/interrupters and provides suggestions for managers that would make their cultures more introvert-friendly. The section entitled The Conversation Conundrum is brilliantly written. It vividly illustrates conversations between extroverts and introverts that often leave the introvert wondering, “What happened?” These conversations are analyzed from a third-party perspective, and strategies are suggested that enable the introvert to begin managing future conversations more effectively. The book simply resonated with me, still a student of psychological type, thirty years after being licensed as a certified user of the MBTI instrument. And it has the ability to reach and have a profound impact on introverted teenagers. I’m sure glad that we crossed paths!!!

Fun book to read for both introverts and extroverts. Here's what I learned from it... -The field of psychology labeled introversion a disorder until recently -America is an extroverted society equalling more murders, but Japan is an introverted society equalling more suicides -Depression commercials appeal to introverts because society tells us we should always be happy -Pharmaceutical companies, especially those that make pills for depression have a hard time selling them in Japan, where introversion and reflection are respected. -Introverts prefer a neutral state of being than an excited state that extroverts prefer -Introverts prefer dry humor and melancholic music and intimacy vs large crowds -People aren't depressed, they are unexpressed. People overindulge when they underindulge their creativity. Easy read. Teaches you how to navigate a social situations and gives a great history lesson on how introversion.

In "Introvert Power: Why Your Inner Life Is Your Hidden Strength," Dr. Laurie Helgoe prescribes what ultimately turns out to be Freedom, your own personal freedom -- by giving you the power to be who are, and to do what you know deep down is intrinsically right for you to do. Greta Garbo, the great beauty of silent and talking films, sought that freedom. As the characters she played in her movies, she frequently said, "I want to be alone." But in real life she said, "I never said, `I want to be alone.' I only said, `I want to be let alone.' There is a world of difference." After relatively few films, she fled that life, and retired to seclusion at age 34, never married, and lived till age 84. On a less elevated level, a good friend of mine said to me about going to his large gym: "I just want to be left alone. I don't want to talk to anybody. I don't go there to socialize. I go there to work." He found it amusing that one member there has a reputation of being the "mayor" of the place, and who is hard to avoid, actually "stalks" people, and engages with many. If you back away, the guy doesn't take it kindly. I counseled my friend that a good place for being undisturbed for half an hour at the gym is on the treadmill. But, when it comes right down to it, I said, he could just stop going there at the times he knows the harrier is usually there. Not all problems are quite so simple. Dr. Helgoe knows the ropes. She's a professional, and an introvert. She has the tools to show you that the Extrovert Extreme goal of our modern American culture does not have to be yours. She'll show you that other strong national cultures are just the opposite, as in Japan and Scandinavia, especially in Finland. The doctor advises that it is okay to be standoffish, to not like chitchat, to avoid it. It's okay to spend your time thinking. To hate the telephone, and Skype. It's okay to prefer reading and writing. And if someone catches on that you do write, it's okay to beg off chores that they want done. If an acquaintance is writing a long memoir and wants you to "survey" what he has written and to do his rewriting and editing for him, you can say no. You can be blunt enough to direct him to people who do that for a living, for pay, and say you are not interested. He wants you to step in and do it: Just say No. Are you caught in the grips of an unending talker? Dr. Helgoe tells you to: Just walk away. Turn around and walk away. Walking away is okay. Do it. Literally turn around and walk away. You do not have to be imposed upon. Dr. Helgoe is straightforward. Does the world demand that you believe and recite mantras you know to be false, mantras that others want you to recite with them weekly to be part of their group? Decide that you will stop saying the mantras. You are not in a madras school with its mindless repetitions. You do not have to blindly repeat the mantras you know are not true. You can leave. In matters large and small, Dr. Helgoe gives you the insight, the courage, and the independence, the strength, to be yourself. You will benefit and the world will benefit. Freedom to be yourself is Dr. Helgoe's prescription. It can be life changing.

I just discovered that I am an Accessible Introvert. I thrive onstage and as an entertainer and yet require quiet to refuel. Large crowds and wild parties and night clubs have always felt like sandpaper on my soul, however, I have pushed myself to be "out there"... Except for the times when I literally retreated to the ashram. The meditations. The weekend at the monastery in Big Sur. Everyone thought I was somehow weird and so I did, too. Until now. Whew! I have financed my artistic career in the past few years with network marketing, in which I have been very successful and which I love, and yet I literally got to the point where I would start "my time" for reading, journaling and writing at 10:30 every evening and go till 2 or 3 a.m. every morning...arising promptly at 8 a.m. and being on phone calls all day without a rest. I love people and truly love helping people, but became so exhausted and baffled by my need and my behavior that I came to a crossroads. Network marketing is a fabulous profession. There is lots of positive and extrovert energy. I now realize that I a an Introvert (or as I like too think of it - Introspective. I have this huge channel inside me that sources to the Infinite.). If I spend too much time in the crowd trying to pretend that I'm an Extrovert my senses literally start to shut down. However, I just spent the last weekend with 5,000 amazing, joyful, enthusiastic screaming people with loud music and constant cheering and was able to show up as an Introvert...journaling my own thoughts in my notebook rather than just taking in everyone else's thoughts. I did not feel overwhelmed by the outside...I journaled to myself that I was just at The Circus. The Circus is a wonderful place...it's all God. All part of the beauty of life. Not to be resisted...but I don't have to go on the roller coater if I don't feel like it. I can enjoy the clowns (and maybe even be one) while enjoying the clown's sadness and pathos at the same time. I came home feeling refreshed, rather than drained. This is a first. I recommend this amazing book to anyone who might feel the need for silence and introspection and especially if you live and work in an ebullient and outgoing social whirl. It will give you the insight and the tools you need to stay strong in your introversion and the wherewithal to step back multiple times during the day to refuel your sacred inner self. It will also show how you can show up in the raging crowd empowered by your stillness...holding to who you are like a light house in the midst of raging seas. It feels great. Enjoy!

Wow. What a great book. The author can go on a bit sometimes, but when she's talking about something that really opens your eyes, you're glad she does. I was always heavily criticized by my family for wanting to read a book during "extrovert" activities, and they said I was weird and pushed me to be just like them. I always felt pretty awful about wanting to do the things I wanted to do--color and read and not just talk to people all. The. Time. This book was extremely freeing, especially since she talks a little about HSP, or highly sensitive people. Turns out? I'm one. Not in the most extreme way, but I can't handle loud noises or bright lights in restaurants, hate shopping malls unless they are empty, and can't stand uncomfortable clothing or itchy wool. As in, REALLY can't stand these things. I have always felt so guilty about being irritated so deeply by things like that, but it turns out that it's just the way I'm made--I'm not a bad person. Those same skills make me extremely intuitive when it comes to reading people and environments, and I've become a lot more open to understanding and embracing the way I am instead of hating myself for it. This book has been a gift to me, and I know I will read it off and on for years. It's a comfort to know you're not alone, and that nothing is wrong with you if you want to be.

Introvert Power second edition is a very enjoyable read, and an encouraging book for introverts. It helps introverts to feel OK about being introvert, to recognize themselves as such, act in "hot" situations with extroverts, and teach extroverts how we operate. The book is, in part, a bit of a memoir as the author comments how she deals with introversion in her private life. The book explains things easily and clearly, and kills many myths and assumptions about introversion that have been thriving in the media and in the academia for decades despite their lack of accuracy. Some of the points the author makes are terrific: > Introversion is not a flaw, a mental disturbance or an aberration of the character, but a way of being and relating that is intrinsically natural and healthy but different from extroversion. > Introverts are almost half of the population, not a weird minority. > The dominant culture in a given country affects the way introverts express and relate in general. > Shyness and introversion are two very different things. > Not all introverts are the same. There are the Socially Accessible and the Dark Hidders. (Actually, I think there are the Chameleon Introverts, which go from SS to DH depending on the circumstances, just my personal contribution). > Seeking silence, solitude and alone time are all empowering means for an introvert to recharge and find harmony. I also loved: + The way the author describes the ways in which introverts think, behave, feel and relate. + That the author uses the word p*ss off sparingly. What a lovely verb! + The snippets about thoughts and ways of being described by many introverts, which are reproduced throughout the book + Some of the techniques used to cut exhausting talkers and how to negotiate, face or say no to parties and noisy stuff. Having said this, the book is repetitive at times, a bit shallow others, the author offers some generalizations on foreign countries and cultures that are not based on direct experience but on readings that are not produced by locals, the book is unnecessarily wordy at times, and some of the advice given is just obvious. For example, if you are an introvert you do need to retreat and will find ways of retreating no matter what, you don't need a chapter to tell you to do so, or how to do so. There are many examples of the sort. Most recommended for teenagers and people who feel awkward because they seem to be "boring", "quiet", or a "loner". It will help them to deal better with many of the every-day challenges that introverts face.

Good book for introverts to read. It's ok to be a introvert in this extroverted world. Lots of tips and advice for introverts. Made me feel better about being an introvert and enjoying my alone time.

I found myself within the pages of this book. I felt that deep connection when someone says something you feel down in your bones, a connection that speaks directly to the soul. Laurie Helgoe acknowledged feelings and thoughts I had hidden inside for years and labeled as wrong, weird, or disgraceful, by turning them into powerful pieces of the true “me”. Some of my favorite chunks of the book included introversion in the United States being buried by extroversion, the use of our time, going on retreats, recognizing other introverts, and most importantly for me, the conversation conundrum and how to say “no”. I feel like I have unlocked a concealed part of myself that has been held prisoner for my entire life. I’m finally free to be me, if I can just practice putting some of these tactics into use confidently. “Here’s a well-kept secret: introversion is not defined by lack. Introversion, when embraced, is a wellspring of riches.” I think numerous introverts feel disconnected or different, especially children or teens, and don’t know their full potential or even understand their proclivity to an introverted lifestyle yet. This book can be ground breaking for allowing people to grow up without the insecurity that comes from being quiet in a loud world. Most people don’t know over half of people in the world could be considered introverts- half! We really aren’t as alone or different as we may fear. Most of us are simply masquerading as extroverts in public, and retreating, exhausted back home in the evenings. This book can teach how to be content being who you are– nothing could possibly be more freeing! My only regret is not reading it sooner.