What goes on in the mind of an introvert: unique facts about introverts

The terms “introvert” and “extrovert” were popularised by a Swiss psychoanalyst, Carl Jung.

Being a child, I never understood exactly who I was. Not because I was nonchalant about my personality, but because I never thought there was a need to. I was just a child. Why stress my mind on things like that when I could be outside playing or watching Tom and Jerry?

Then I began to take note of certain characteristics and realized I was quite different from a few around. I am an introvert and I am totally normal.

Introversion is a personality trait characterized by being quiet, reserved, calm and is found in one who finds pleasure being alone most times. Research has it that this type of people takes up a lesser percentage of the world’s population (40%).

Basically, There Are Four (4) Types Of Introverts:

• Social introverts: these type of people prefer to stay home and have fun by themselves than to attend an event or rather have a smaller social group than to go to a party with bunch of randoms

• Thinking introverts: they are always in their own world, self-reflecting and keeping busy with creative imaginations. They are deep thinkers

• Anxious introverts: unlike social introverts, they find solitude as they’re always awkward around people and are self conscious. They get nervous and prefer being alone.

• Restrained introverts: they take their time before acting. They are more reserved

There are a lot of misconceptions about introverts which is saddening cause they make it seem like it’s being abnormal or the same as being shy, depressed, rude or anti-social.

This has nothing to do with being an introvert. It is innate or most times caused by life experiences.

Introverts may enjoy socializing just like extroverts. In fact there are a lot of outgoing introverts who do well admist people.

However, it wears them out easily or they may get bored all of a sudden and want to be alone (we love our alone time).

Conversing with an introvert in your workplace might be quite tricky. For someone who does not know the kind of person I am might call me weird or boring. It’s normal I guess. But one thing to keep in mind is that we take time to process information before we act or speak.

We tend to listen more and let you do the talking. We also do not always know what to say at the moment. So next time you try to have a conversation with one of my kind, know that is not a rush talk or you would be disappointed.

Verbal communication is most times a challenge for introverts. So, you might notice that we are better at writing down our thoughts, ideas or feelings than expressing it verbally.

This is why we don’t like small talks cause we find it difficult to be fully expressive. [1]

Four Facts About Introverts

• Introverts need their alone time to re-energize after being in social gatherings

• They’re better listeners than speakers

• They’d rather have a small circle with strong relationship than a crowd

• Introverts often times wish they were extrovert

Whenever you want to visit an introvert, please do not go unannounced! We definitely do not like unexpected visitors.

In as much as I’d be happy to see you around, I might not just be equipped with the adequate amount of ‘gist’ to keep you company. This might be normal for anyone but it’s worse with us trust me.

Although a lot might not agree with the above characteristics but one thing is for sure: no two introverts are exactly the same. So some may not exhibit some of these traits.

Next time you come across an introvert, have it in mind that it is not a defect and we’re as normal as extroverts are. We just differ with how we approach the world we live in.