1. Engage in small, controlled and thorough discussion of…nearly anything.
Introverts, while generally avoiding being the center of attention, completely enjoy intimate conversation. Because they desire to engage in solitary activities, they tend to be proficient in many areas. The difference is that introverts do not feel comfortable showing off that knowledge or talent. If you can create a comfortable situation in which introverts will feel safe expressing their views or opinions, they will very likely have a lot to say, and, better yet, be correct in saying it.
2. Develop small talents and skills.
Introverts all have their muse–mine, obviously, is writing. Introverts tend to enjoy practicing and honing abilities at various activities, such as painting, website coding, woodworking, or a million other tasks. They enjoy relying on hobbies in which it is just them and the medium they are working with, unlike extroverts, for whom the medium is other people. Try to find out what drives them, and learn about it so you can relate to them. You will be surprised at how quickly an introvert’s eyes light up once you talk about his passion.
3. Go to a museum or a library.
Museums tend to be quiet places full of people thinking about history and the history of art. Introverts tend to thrive in this type of environment. It is the same with libraries. Both are places where a respect of knowledge comes into full play, and introverts will open up at the thought of being a part of such a wide body of knowledge.
4. Stay in and watch a movie.
Some introverts may be legitimately scared of going to a crowded theater and watching a 50-foot screen of people screaming at each other. However, a cozy, intimate atmosphere with a surprising and complicated plot line will do a lot to soothe an introvert.
5. Lose yourself in music.
Because introverts tend to be more sensitive, they absorb and gather the mood of pretty much everything around them. As such, the right music truly digs deep down into their core. Turn on some tunes at home and just listen, or, better yet, go to a concert and get lost in a wall of sound. Some introverts (like me) only feel entirely free when united by music.
6. Engage in single-player athletic activities.
Introverts are not necessarily all nerds. They do enjoy physical activity, but tend towards sports in which their own performances are judged individually. Golf, tennis, rowing, boxing, ice skating and many other sports are populated by introverts who could not stand the idea of coordinating a team of five or 10 or 50, as it sometimes is with other sports.
7. Volunteer and generally try to save the world.
Introverts do deeply care about others and about the causes that help others. They might spend time tending to community gardens or teaching computer skills to the elderly or working with animals, because, if they have to work with others, they want to see intrinsic value in the situations in which they are meeting others.
8. Explore places you’ve never been before.
Introverts like to travel to new places. The destination does not necessarily even have to be a new city; introverts love the freedom that comes with going into a new part of the same town, because it does not remind them of anything. The time spent traveling to new places is one of the few times the mind of an introvert is actually quiet.
9. Go shopping…on the internet.
10. Make plans and then fail to follow through on them.
Introverts think of themselves of very strong people simply because they tried to meet new people. For that reason, there is literally no better feeling for an introvert than making plans to do something, and then simply not doing it. This gives the introvert the biggest sense of relief one can imagine. For extroverts, the only equivalent amount of relief would be, if, in planning a college course, the professor scheduled a half dozen exams and cancelled five of them just before they were to occur. Oh, what relief! Featured photo credit: Back view of a young man with headphones listening to music in the city streets via shutterstock.com
