I was talking to my friend just now and we were talking about the people who we've met. They told me they like chatting with women who have interest in cars and even though it may not end up as anything, he just likes talking to them. And then that hit me. Let me ask you just one, question. Are you an introvert? If you are, I really do have a solution for you and this would be it. There is a way to break out of your introvert shell.
Take me for example. I live in a section of Northern California, won't mention city name because I don't want stalkers LOL. I barely go out, or at least I used to just stay around my small home town a lot. Didn't like going out at all, didn't like going out exploring. I run a public car group here in the bay area and that's the only time when I actually do go out and try to socialize. How do I socialize? That's where passion comes in. If you are passionate about something, you have the knowledge, you're just afraid to speak out, right? I know exactly how you feel. But then that depends on how mature your peers are and whether or not they judge you and how they judge you. Because of cars, I've been able to reach out and connect with people from all over the bay area and I'm very antisocial and very introverted.
One of my best friends at the moment, we didn't go to the same high school. We most likely wouldn't even have crossed paths with each other. He was one of the first 50 members to join my group and when I first met him, he was a giant. The guy's 6'1" if I remember correctly? At first, I didn't even know who he'd become. Little did I know, he'd become one of my best friends and I'm truly fortunate he's in my life. He's a genuine person.
This person, this is an interesting and funny story. She had been in my group for a good solid few months and joined with her other friends, but had stayed silent until I happened to travel to my home country for a few weeks. I still remember when we first started talking, I had posted I was back in my country and out of nowhere, she pops up. I'm like where did you come from? LOL. Turns out, we talked for a solid month before agreeing to meet up. Guess where? Up in the city, San Francisco. I swear I've never made so many trips to SF before in my life, before we started seeing each other. Things didn't go too well, we separated shortly, but up until we started seeing each other, the furthest I traveled to on a regular basis was maybe to the mall in Palo Alto, I'd say maybe a half hour south of the city?
My main point is, it is absolutely ok to be an introvert. However, everyone knows networking is key nowadays but do not feel pressured if your parents and friends are the one forcing you to network. Do it, but do it at your own pace. Communicate through your passion and interests. As you meet people with similar interests as you, have them help you expand. Why? Because they'll want the best for you. People with similar interests tend to watch out for each other because they become 'siblings', that's just basic human instinct. I did this plenty of times so I know it works. Feel free to reach out and share with me if you've done so before and let me know how you felt about it. If you haven't, will you try it now? Worth a shot right?
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