Keep Taking Another Step - the Mighty Introvert's Newest Homebase

Is anyone still watching?  Thought I'd let you know that I'm back blogging again but I have a different blog now.  Keep Taking Another Step is mainly focused on my adventures of becoming a runner but it covers different topics about self-improvement, mental wellness, etc.  I'll have to work introversion into that blog somehow to stay real, I guess.

The Mighty Introvert isn't going away.  I may even revisit some older posts to see if my thinking has changed over time.  But for now, if you'd like to stay up to date with anything happening with this introvert, please come check out Keep Taking Another Step!

The introvert lives... to talk

Um, hello. It's been a long time since I've posted here. I guess I've been busy being an introvert, etc.

Apparently someone from the BBC found this blog while they were researching introversion for an article related to the Susan Cain book QUIET. They interviewed me for an article they were working on. You can see the resulting BBC News article here: Do we really give introverts a hard time? Thanks to Vanessa Barford for a great interview experience.

And if you've been wondering what I've been up to for the past couple of years... I've been thoughtwrestling.  [edit, May 2016:  Thoughtwrestling was retired a few years ago, RIP.  My new blogging home is Keep Taking Another Step.]

Thanks for reading!

Introversion guest post at Mashable.com

Hello if there's anyone still out there. :) Most of my energies go into Broadcasting Brain these days, but I guest post at various locations, including the following that relates to we introverts.


I'm pleased to announce that I have a guest post at Mashable.com called Anyone Can Be a Social Media Rockstar which talks about how introverts can do well in social media. If you've read this blog before, you know that this is a theme that's been discussed a lot here.

Anyway, please have a look. I hope you enjoy.

Mighty people

I think I'm going to have to put this blog on hiatus for awhile, probably permanently. Sure, I have the usual excuses like time, inspiration, laziness, real life, other priorities, etc. But there is another reason why I think this chapter needs to end, possibly to be picked up by another.

If you read over these blog posts, I think you'll find everything useful that I'll ever have to say on the topic of introverts and social media. I think I've made all of the important points already.

I was never interested in making a home for people to vent their frustrations about being an introvert and how hard it made their lives. I was more interested in providing some ideas on how people could use their innate skills in ways that better matched their personality orientations. Well, here they are!

I could write a detailed review of The Introvert Advantage, but after a certain point I'm going to be eating into the author's revenue stream, you know? (Buy the book and read it; I highly, highly recommend it. I think she says everything important there).

I've recently read one of Seth Godin's books called The Dip. One thing that he talks about is how successful people actually do quit, and quit strategically, on the way to acheiving some goal. He also talks about "the Dip", a symbol which embodies all of the hardships, challenges, difficulties, and barriers to becoming expert or successful at something, whether in personal life or in business. If you really want to succeed at something, you need to realize that the Dip is out there and it needs to be tackled. If you don't want the end goal that badly, so badly that you aren't prepared to get through the Dip (or even lean into it and push harder), then maybe you shouldn't even start.

I think I'm strategically quitting here, but not necessarily because writing this blog has been hard and that I'm afraid of a "dip" looming before me with this blog. I'm setting this blog aside, perhaps permanently, because I'm not sure that investing more time and effort into it is going to put me where I might want to be a few years from now. Frankly, I think I've probably covered this area to the extent that I will be able to. Instead of looking at this as a blog or ongoing journal, maybe it's just a mini-series that is best ended.

I know that there are a few people who have been reading this blog regularly so to you I extend my thanks for your support to date. I will continue to write at Broadcasting Brain, plus other projects.

To everyone: if there's one message that I hope you all got, it's that introverts have as much chance to be successful in social media, or other fields, as extroverts. There are plenty of resources out there for us to use and grow. There are a number of role models out there who you can use as mentors and guides. Read The Introvert Advantage and learn the lessons on how to use your energy carefully and wisely - that's one of our biggest challenges.

Finally, I'll leave you with some advice from Bigweld in the movie Robots:

"See a need, fill a need."

"You can shine no matter what you're made of!"

Introducing The Introvert Advantage!

As mentioned previously, I’ve recently purchased Marti Olsen Laney’s book The Introvert Advantage: How to Thrive in an Extroverted World. I’m just started to read it, but it definitely looks to be a valuable read!

I’ll be reviewing the book in sections, here’s a preview:


Prelude – Marti talks about her formative years as she came to terms with being an introvert.

Overture – Marti talks about introverts and extroverts

Here’s where the meat of the book lies:

Part 1 – A Fish Out Of Water (describing the introvert)
Part 2 – Navigating the Extroverted Waters (living in a largely extroverted world)
Part 3 – Creating the “Just Right” Life (just like it suggests!)



Part 1 review starts next week!

Guest post by Nick Bujra!

Hey everyone! Here's our first guest post, sent by E-Mail from Nick Bujra (sorry, I don't have a website for him). I think that Nick exposes the inner thoughts of the introvert very well.

Here we go!

My New Year resolution is not to have one. That way, I can no longer break it.

Promising myself the same thing, year after year.

I've decided that it's time to stop desiring and start wanting.

Of course, there might be a few hiccups along the way.

Who knows how long it takes to get out that mindset?

I always seem to hang around the edges of the 'cool' crowd.

At school, at college, at work.

Always getting invites to go out, but turning them down.

On the rare occasions I do go, I feel I never really fit in.

However, it's completely different on an individual level.

People seem to trust me with all their secrets.

one night stands, abortions. You name it, I've heard it.

So whilst I don't have that many friends, I guess you could say, that I was friend of the world.

Fit in everywhere, but don't fit in.

And I guess I have met some along the way.

In fact I must have done, otherwise I wouldn't be here!

There just seems to be always something, just stopping me from taking that final, last step.

And I just don't know what it is. Believe me, if I did, all my problems would have been solved by now.

But when I think abut it,I guess the real reason why I don't want join in

is that I no longer want to be rejected.

If you like this guest post, post a comment and suggest some more topics for me.

Being a friend of the world, you learn a lot!

Mighty introverts working together

Short post this week: I've been busy doing some posting and social media stuff with my other blog. In fact, a fellow introvert and I have worked together this week to promote some stories to the front page of Sphinn. Introverts? Promotion? Who thought?

I want to thank SpostareDuro for helping me promote a blog post or two this week. I also want to thank Shana Albert for being a great interview subject and helping with the promotion. I don't think she's an introvert, but who cares? She wrote great answers to the questions that I wrote.

Introverts, we can do mighty things separately, but we can do even more when we work together.

Think about it while you enjoy your weekend. Cheers!

A short update on posting frequency

Hello everyone. Given my other projects I'll probably be posting 1 - 2 times/week at this blog for the foreseeable future. I'm planning to make Friday the day for new posts.

I've mentioned this before to some people and I'll mention it again: I welcome guest posters! As long as the topic involves both introversion and social media, blogging, or new technologies in some way, I'd be happy to publish it.

If you'd like to contribute, please E-Mail me at dykemans [at] nbnet [dot] nb [dot] ca.


Cheers!

Five easy ways for an introvert to communicate

Mighty introverts, we can think and analyze very well, but sometimes we don't show that same brilliance to the world to our best advantage when we're face-to-face with other people. Shy people (who may or may not be introverted) may feel the same way. Sometimes it's easier to put our ideas down on paper or the computer screen so that we can plan them out and express them properly.

Web 2.0 and other Internet technologies have given us great communication tools that will allow us to communicate as well as anyone.

Here are the five easy ways for an introvert to communicate:

1) E-mail: you can compose E-Mails on your own time and craft the message that feels write to you. You can take as long as you want to get it right the first time. Just make sure that you are using an effective E-Mail writing strategy. If you are looking for ideas, you might want to try this article about writing effective E-Mails. Don't worry about the heavy emphasis on business E-Mails, this guidelines will apply in many scenarios.

2) Instant messaging: short, quick bursts of thought in real-time that can still be meaningful. Emoticons can help you deal with your feelings in a humorous and positive way. Believe it or not, if you get your audience's (nearly) undivided attention, you can have a good conversation without having to worry about body language, tone, or word selection. You can just send and receive the message without the physical filters. There are many IM clients out there, including AOL, (Microsoft) Live, Yahoo, and Google.

3) Twitter - you can broadcast to the world similar to the way that IM works, but you can reach a massive audience. Twitter is part of the microblogging phenomenon. You can also direct "Tweets" to individuals and/or send private messages. Beware the 140 character limit, however! You might want to couple this one with instant messaging or E-Mail for better effect. Caroline Middlebrook has written an excellent Twitter guide.

4) Blog - you can set up a swell blog like this one! ;)

5) Blog comments - blog comments can provide an excellent way to both make intelligent, thoughtful commentary while getting yourself noticed. Again, Caroline Middlebrook and ProBlogger have both written excellent stuff about blog comments. Note: search their blogs because they have multiple posts on blog commenting.


What are you waiting for? Give it a try!

Another listing of famous introverts

I plan to buy a copy of Marti Laney's book The Introvert Advantage. I will review it here after having had a chance to read it.

In the interim, here's yet another list of famous introverts. It seems that introversion is no great handicap to being successful in the entertainment businsess.

You know who surprised me by being on this list? Here's a few names:

Julia Roberts, Meg Ryan, Christina Aguilera, Johnny Carson, Barbara Walters (?!?)

Barbara Walters? An introvert? I would never have expected that.

Christina Aguilera? Really? Go figure! On the other hand, she hasn't gotten into the same hijinks as other young female pop stars whose names I won't mention... maybe introversion is good for you!

Johnny Carson?!? NO WAY!

These people certainly are mighty and successful in many ways, but would you have ever pictured them to be mighty introverts?

There are other names on that list that seem more likely to be introverts than the people that I listed above. Check them out.

Directionless post about goals

This item has also been posted at The Uncanny Broadcasting Brain Blog. I'm posting it here because it references The Mighty Introvert.

As I've mentioned in previous posts, I'm most interested in writing, particularly writing that can be published on the Internet. One of the focuses of this blog is to examine the creative process, both from the point of view of the creator as well as the consumer/reader/scanner.

Despite my aspirations to make a living from my writing, I've spent most of my time during the past six months making user-generated content. My creative journey has following the following path to date:

1) Attempts at writing and publishing fiction - one story published at Aphelion
2) A lot of articles for Helium.com (over 100)
3) Eight articles at Triond.com family of websites
4) My two blogs
5) Guest posts at The Thinking Blog, The WWW Observer, Dumb Little Man, and SEO 2.0.
6) A bunch of social news/media/bookmarking stuff with StumbleUpon, Digg, Mixx, ShoutWire, and Sphinn which has led to me making a number of on-line contacts - great people, all of them.
7) Some participation in Blog Catalog and MyBlogLog communities, although I've been neglecting them of late.
8) I'm part of Maki's Team Marketing Network, which may lead to some interesting projects.
9) I'm writing a weekly column about the Web for one of my local newspapers
10) One other article for a print media trade publication which will hopefully be published in early 2008 (fingers crossed).
11) Ongoing Squidoo experiments

There's no doubt that I've been learning a great deal and that my writing has improved during the past year but I'm feeling... dissatisfied. I feel like I've been taking a shotgun approach to the Web and writing in general, but I haven't really been aiming consistently at any one thing. I'd like to make some income off of all of this (and I am making a tiny bit, probably close to $300 this year from a variety of sources), but I'm still looking for a least one significant income stream. Maybe in 2008. :)

If I'd been able to read the recent posts by Maki and Muhammed Saleem (Read Before You Play) on social media about three months before they came out, I would probably have done things quite differently this year. Would have I been any further ahead? I really don't know. Maybe it's just as well to learn things gradually through trial and error then to have the knowledge handed to you by some maven and then, just like opening up a faucet, money would gush out.

Oddly enough, this rather sparse article put me on the track to Digg and many other social media wonderment. This other article about promoting your own work at Digg caught my attention for awhile, but I wouldn't recommend it to anyone knowing what I know now.

In fact, I was disgusted enough with these articles that I wrote my own, mainly because I didn't want people to get too disillusioned or waste too much time submitting huge volumes of their work at the social news sites and then having their @sses handed back to them. I hope it goes #1 in that Helium category so people read it first and get some realistic idea of what to expect from self-submitting rather than reading the current #1 article. But whatever.

I'd summarize 2007 as being a time of experimentation and getting grounded in various social media and user-generated content platforms.

I hope to find some better focus in 2008 and increasing my earnings, primarly through freelance or column writing gigs. I'd like to earn $ 2,000.00 (US or Canadian) by writing and on-line ventures in 2008. I don't know if that's acheivable, but it's certainly possible.

I'd like to establish The Uncanny Broadcasting Brain Blog as a solid, dependable read and a good source of information. I'd like to get the subscriber count to at least 150, we'll see how that goes.

I'd like to take The Mighty Introvert further by developing a community for introverted social media practioners (or, to be honest, anyone interested in social media) to share ideas and do great things.

Oh, and I'd like to win at least $10.0 million (but I have that same wish quite frequently.... :) )

Finally, I will make more use of graphics, images, and pictures in my posts in 2008.

So, here's to the fast-approaching end of 2007 and looking foward to 2008. Cheers!

Thinking about community

This is a general question for any/all readers: would you be interested in participating in a forum devoted to the same topics as this blog? It might make things a bit more interactive.

Hope everyone is having a good holiday season!

Happy Holidays to all!

Enjoy your time as best you can during this holiday season. Make sure that you give yourself one of the greatest gifts that you could have: time for yourself!


P.S. If you like beef stroganoff, you might want to check this out (shameless plug, what can I say?)

Leave me alone but not lonely

The funny thing about introverts is that we can feel lonely despite our frequent need for solitude. Imagine that! Sometimes we can't stand to be around other people; other times, we are miserable because we have no one to talk to. Introverts still have a deep, human need for connection despite our personality orientation. However, we have another powerful need: to be understood and accepted for who and what we are.

My university years helped me to understand some of the challenges of being an introvert. University was the best of times and the worst of times for me. University was a wonderful time for exploration, learning, and becoming more independent. The experience of living (somewhat) on my own for the first time was a crucial event in my life.

University was very difficult, on the other hand, because I found it hard to make meaningful friendships like I had when I was in high school and middle school. At the time I knew I was a shy and private person, but I really didn't understand what introversion was. As many of you may know, privacy quickly evaporates when you have a roommate at university, as well as dozens or hundreds of other young adults within walking distance. That was definitely a huge change for this young introvert.

University lifestyle had another element which was really hard for me to adjust to: the near-constant socializing and expectation to be out there partying and having fun with other people. University residences, especially the one that I lived in, cater to social activities. Unfortunately, it could be a very challenging environment for people who need quiet, alone time to recharge. Quite often I found myself thinking that I needed to be out with "the guys" doing things that did really seem to be that fun until you'd had a few beers. Or more than a few. However, most of these friendships had less depth than a wading pool.

I'd be lying if I said that I didn't enjoy some of the times that I spent with my university neighbors (I'd be lying if I said that many of them became true friends, too) but overall I felt disconnected, insecure, and lonely a lot of the time because my introversion and my interests seemed to diverge so much from my fellow university residents. I felt very ungrounded and somewhat lost during those years. My need for "alone time" conflicted with the social dynamics of residence life.

I sometimes wonder if my university experience would have been easier if the Internet and the Web had been out there in its current form. E-mail was available in the late 1980s and early 1990s, but it wasn't always easy to access, so I wound up relying more on handwritten letters in those days (I didn't get my first PC until after I graduated from university) or the very rare phone call. I wonder if I would have stayed in better contact with high school or university acquaintances if sites like Facebook and instant messaging were around in those days. It certainly would have been easier to keep in touch.

The other thing that Web 2.0 technologies have done is to help develop interest groups on every topic under the sun. Usenet newsgroups and computer BBSs (bulletin board system) were the main sources of mass communication in those days. Web 2.0 and its wired precursors have been instrumental in developing communities that did not and could not exist without those technologies. People who have hard times connecting face-to-face can today take part in different communities based on common thoughts and interests.

The point of this post isn't to whine about the problems that introversion introduced into my life. My life, even in its worst moments, is a very good life. I have learned to take pride in qualities that I used to believe were weaknesses. I am older and wiser and I learn more every day. However, if I had been eighteen years old today, I'd send myself a link to this blog and this post in particular. I'd share my social bookmarks and other assorted links that I've found on the topic of introversion. Most importantly, I'd use this knowledge and technology to help me understand myself better and to try to communicate with other introverts. I couldn't use this to create and maintain a permanent social life, but I could use it as a stepping stone to other things.

In summary, I think it's a better time to be an introvert than it ever has. The knowledge and tools are at your disposal to become better educated, learn more about others, and, most importantly, learn about yourself. That's the greatest gift of all.

My recurring theme in this blog is to talk about ways to become a mighty introvert. However, I think the best thing that I could ever help anyone to do is to become a self-aware, knowledgeable introvert who is comfortable with himself or herself. I think that would make them pretty darn mighty, too.

Inspirational introverts

I found something interesting about introverts while doing a Google search.

This link is an Amazon.com list which contains biographies of famous/and or successful introverts. One or two people on the list might surprise you. Check out the biographies of these amazing introverts!

Let your avatar do the talking

Oh ye mighty introverts, the reason that I've posted this somewhat garish, yet memorable image is because it's memorable.

If you're going to participate in social media, a memorable avatar is a must-have. You might want one prettier or less odd than this one, but trust me, you need one!

I used to use a comic book character image, but after deciding that I didn't want to be using someone else's copywrited material, I got my friend Scott Marshall to create this for me.

The avatar is a part of that whole branding process, like creating a logo, motto, theme, or whatever. The avatar helps people recognize your work during a quick scan (and a lot of people are quickly scanning web pages for interesting content.)

Whenever you sign up for instant messaging, social media, social news, social bookmarking, or some other kind of site that allows you to use an avatar or photo, do it! It will give you a bit of an edge over other contributors who don't use them. It's a way to sell yourself without some of the face-to-face interaction that introverts don't always enjoy, plus you can do it from the comfort of your home.

You don't need to create a special image like this. You can use your own photo (note: I don't really have blue skin or a glowing green exposed brain....) or a clever image of some other kind.

I had my friend create this avatar because it seemed to go well with (start plug) my other blog, The Uncanny Broadcasting Brain Blog (end plug).

Let me know what you come up with!

EDIT: one other quick note: consider having several versions of your avatar at different sizes. I have 50 by 50, 128 by 128, and 400 by 400. Different sizes will look and fit better depending on the website that you are using.

Mighty introverted minds think alike!

Apparently another blogger is starting to write about how the power of the introverted mind can be applied to many things, including marketing.

Please check out this post at The Introverted Marketer when you get a chance. Looks like the start of something good!

Remember, we're writing for introverts here....

I was getting a bit concerned when I wasn't seeing a lot of comments or reactions here on the blog, particularly on recent posts. The neat thing about blogs, of course, is that they provide a means for two-way communication between author and audience.

This thought was a bit disturbing to me. Was I droning off into a void?

Then I remembered who my audience is: introverts. We're awesome thinkers and listeners, but we're not always motivated to communicate. That helped to put things into perspective.

Of course, you might be dazzled by my brilliance. Dazzled speechless, so to speak. That might be the reason.

It's this kind of thinking that leads me to buy a lottery ticket every now and then. I haven't won yet. But there's always the possibility.

Anyway, I'm going to keep writing here. If you want to read it, that's cool, too.

Happy Friday and remember to be kind to the extroverts out there. They have their own tendencies and needs, just like we do. It's the way they're wired.

Monster.com talks about introversion and on-line social networking

Looks like more people are talking about the benefits of on-line social networking for introverts, just like I've been talking about here at The Mighty Introvert.

Please have a look at this article from The Monster Blog. They talk a bit about the advantages that on-line social network tools can provide to the introvert.

Their article references a Boston.com article which describes how today's technologies are helping introverts get better at networking.

Looks like we're getting a bit of attention, introverts!

Maybe yesterday's article about using social bookmarking to become a social media powerhouse is both timely and relevant!

Ten steps to kickstart your on-line rep as a mighty introvert

I have a simple idea that will allow you to kickstart the process of establishing yourself as a mighty introvert. You will make new contacts, magnify the power of your reputation immensely, and establish yourself as a credible person in this wired world. I can't think of a better way to do it. I'm in the process of doing it right now.

Use social bookmarking to become a social media powerhouse

Be warned - this is a simple idea but it can take a lot of hard work and a lot of elapsed time to achieve. However, you can use social bookmarking to build your own network of contacts and a good reputation without meeting anyone face-to-face and you can do it at your own pace.

This is a very simple idea. It's so simple that it might seem incredibly obvious to many readers, but sometimes it's important to state the obvious over and over again.

So, here it is.

Ready?

Here we go.


1) Get a social bookmarking site account - almost any site will do. StumbleUpon is particularly good for this. Del.icio.us might be good for this purpose as well. Other sites are worth a try, but these two are the biggest.

2) Learn how to use the social bookmarking site. Read any or all documentation about the site and its functions. Search through the Web for user-written guides and learn the secrets.

3) Scour the Web for good content. Use any/all resources, like search engines, social news websites, on-line newspapers and magazines, anything. Find good content. I mean REALLY good content. You want to find the kind of content, regardless of subject or field, that meets your own discriminating tastes.

4) Start bookmarking this content with smart, informative bookmarks. Use social bookmarking to its fullest advantage, including valuable notes, smart keywords or tags, and ratings.

5) Find out who else is bookmarking this content. Both Del.icio.us and StumbleUpon will tell you which users saved the same bookmarks.

6) Add these other users to your Friends list within the application.

7) Review your new Friend's bookmarks and bookmark the good ones yourself. If you find good content that they've saved with bookmarks, you need to bookmark it as well, taking all of the same care and steps that you followed in step 4.

8) If the user has public contact information as part of their user profile (both Del.icio.us and StumbleUpon have this functionality), contact them. No personal contact or phone calls are required here! Send them a short note saying that you've Friended them and you like their bookmarks. Ask them if you can send them information about websites that you think they might be interested in viewing. Offer to review and bookmark anything they send to you. You must be sincere and honestly commit to doing this or else it won't work.

9) Respect the wishes of your fellow bookmarker when they respond back to you. If they accept your offer, you're in business and your network is now starting to expand. If they don't accept, just move on to the next person and don't bother this person again. If they contact you in the future when you're famous and powerful, you can decide whether to accept their offer or not!

10) Keep repeating steps 3 - 9 at a rate that you are comfortable maintaining. Don't kid yourself - this can involve a lot of time and effort because you're going to have to maintain existing contacts while building new ones.


Now, here's the not-so-secret 11th step that really provides power.

Are you ready?

Here it is:

11) Be prepared for the magnifying effect of social bookmarking. People will eventually start approaching you as you establish yourself as a connoiseur and maven of good content.


I haven't followed all of these rules with great diligence, but in my five months of putting some effort into StumbleUpon, I'm starting to find that people are starting to add me to their Friends list. Right now it probably averages one new person a day. I expect this to grow over time.

I'll report on my progress on a regular basis. However, I'm convinced that following these ten steps is virtually foolproof.

You should give it a try. Tell me and the rest of the readers of The Mighty Introvert about your successes, failure, or questions. Feel free to send a copy of this post, and its source (http://www.themightyintrovert.blogspot.com), to anyone who you think could take advantage of this method.

If you want to test this method out on me, you'll find my user profile at the following locations:

markdykeman at Del.icio.us

markdykeman at StumbleUpon




Good luck and best wishes!