I Look Back On My Years As

Introversion- Along With Its Cousins Sensitivity, Seriousness, And Shyness- Is Now A Second-class Personality Trait, Somewhere Between A Disappointment And A Pathology. Introverts Living In The Extrovert Ideal Are Like Women In A Man's World, Discounted Because Of A Trait That Goes To The Core Of Who They Are. Extroversion Is An Enormously Appealing Personality Style, But We've Turned It Into An Oppressive Standard To Which Most Of Us Feel We Must Conform.

I Think The Shyness One Feels In Childhood Is Often Overcome With Time. There Are Children Who Hide Behind Their Parents' Legs, But You Don't See Grown-ups Hiding Behind People. It Just Doesn't Happen. I Mean, Not That Often. People Develop Social Skills Over Time.

America Had Shifted From What Influential Cultural Historian Warren Susman Called A Culture Of Character To A Culture Of Personality, And Opened Up A Pandora's Box Of Personal Anxieties Of Which We Would Never Recover.

Studies Have Shown That Performance Gets Worse As Group Size Increases ... If You Have Talented And Motivated People, They Should Be Encouraged To Work Alone When Creativity Or Efficiency Is The Highest Priority.

So Stay True To Your Own Nature. If You Like To Do Things In A Slow And Steady Way, Don't Let Others Make You Feel As If You Have To Race. If You Enjoy Depth, Don't Force Yourself To Seek Breadth. If You Prefer Single-tasking To Multi-tasking, Stick To Your Guns. Being Relatively Unmoved By Rewards Gives You The Incalculable Power To Go Your Own Way.