Quote:
I am generally introverted by my natural personality trait. I like to think and keep to myself. analyze people, learn things. I can read people very very easily, such as, can tell exactly what there personality is like, how they think, and what not. My problem is I am a introvert who is quiet. I *** hate it! How do i overcome this?
I can't seem to carry a conversation well, either with a girl or a guy, I have freeze out moments, dont know what to talk about, can never find a common ground. For example, I went to a show and tried to find some common ground with this HB7s 'guy friends', I tried talking about the Heats game, cars, where they work, what they do. It was terrible, they wouldn't bite, gave small answers and could not uphold the conversation. It felt like i was being judged and weird.
I just feel down that I can't seem to get a good conversation flowing at times. I try hard to tune up my introvertness to extrovert, but that comes up as awkward for people, since I'm not used to it? Sorry for the rant, just pissed off at my convo skills.
TLDR: cant uphold convo, freezes out, feels awkward, convo flow problem with men/women
This is a common problem and one that none of the pseudo PUA gurus usually can answer.
They usually just say "just do it" because they've never study psychology and neurology to know any better.
You see the same thing with guys who lack confidence. I remember watching a video by that clown David Wygant who gives some of the most primitive advice on the web. His advice is always just "Man up and be confident!" while yelling at you in a condescending tone.
The problem is these poor guys go out and try, but it only gets worse because they fail and think something is wrong with them.
Despite what others say...THERE ARE SPECIFIC THINGS YOU CAN DO TO ADDRESS YOUR PROBLEM!
Obviously, it's too much for a forum post, but here is an outline of the various methods:
1. Self-hypnosis - We're not talking about the voodoo stuff you normally see. Hypnosis is just daydreaming and someone who is introspective and analytical can do a few exercises to tweak his/her daydreams to create less anxiety and fear of others. Right now...I bet you daydream about a lot of things going wrong and failure more than success. This is the first hurdle that needs to be fixed.
2. Watching others - One of our coaches used to be a student and you would not believe how shy he was. He had just got divorced and was at the lowest point in his life. My boss would take him out and he would only say a few words over 4-5 hour period. HOWEVER, the key thing he did was listen and absorb!
After about 6 weeks, we saw a huge transformation. He became almost a mirror image, and it's pretty scary now how good he is. He even goes out totally alone to bars during the middle of the week. At one wine bar, everyone knows him by name and they even text him when cute girls are in the bar. Plus the manager is hot for him.
3. Make friends at social places - Everyone tends to be more relaxed and extroverted around people you know. As alluded to in #2, make friends at a few social places so you feel more confident there. My boss goes to the Cheesecake Factory for lunch several times a week and sits at the bar solo. The manager, bartender and servers all know him and give him great validation when sitting next to a cute girl. Most of the time he doesn't even need an opening line because the female wants to get in on the conversation he is already having with the bartender/friend.
(Note the above advice is different from bringing your own friends out with you. That approach could be helpful, but sometimes it's just a barrier to meeting others.)
4. Read successful small talk tips - Many guys focus so much on pickup lines and openers, but spend little to no thought on small talk. We dedicate 2 long articles on our website to just small talk and outline case studies to show examples that you can apply IRL. It's part of our membership-only material, but if you want the material, just PM me.
5. Prep your MIND before going out - Most people obsess over their looks before going out, but few people pay attention to their mood/attitude. Again, we have lots of specific tips, but just think how you feel after watching something funny...or maybe watching your team win a big ball game...or hearing a song that really pumps you up. The adrenaline rush works for almost everyone at the gym when hearing a cool song, so the same psychology can apply to social interactions too. If you capture that "vibe", it will impact everything from your body language, confidence, and anxiety.
I'm too fatigued to add any more at this stage, but trust me...you're not alone with this problem and IT CAN BE SOLVED WITH THE RIGHT HELP.
Good luck.