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This is optimal living daily episode 1811, the truth of shining brightly and letting the world see you by surely of DaringLiving.com, and I'm Justin Molick, the guy who's been reading articles and book excerpts to you every day, including holidays, covering personal development or self-help, how to live a better life and a lot more. Tomorrow is a holiday year, Thanksgiving, and I will be here as usual to get episodes for free, hit the follow or subscribe button and pretty much any podcast app. But for now, let's get right to it and start optimizing your life. The truth to shining brightly and letting the world see you by surely of DaringLiving.com.
Today, I want to share one truth to shining brightly and presenting yourself in this world, how it all started and some background into my past. Last weekend, I attended a series of events held by NTGX where I was honored to connect with a group of exchange university students from Taiwan. It was a program that I was involved in during my undergraduate years, it's a group that holds very dear to my heart. Once again, at the event, I saw my old self, it was as if I was back there in the organizing team with them just a few years ago, struggling and carrying along with me the overwhelming burden of school, the pressure of meeting up to parents and society's expectations, the constant struggle to finding my passions, and most importantly, the desperation to reaching that never-ending benchmark I've set forward for myself.
I was never good enough. This time, however, I was the bystander. With much more calmness and openness than before, I felt the exchange students' hopes, dreams, and aspirations for the future. I also saw their personal struggles of finding themselves and searching for a place to belong in this world.
This experience stirred up a gentle reminder that I think we all deserve to hear about presenting ourselves to this world while also staying true to who we are. We do not have to be in the spotlight to shine. In the society and in organizations today, there's a certain type of people that everyone looks up to in order to be successful. Even during my years in business school, in every class, we were encouraged to step onto the stage and take the spotlight, own the room with confidence, communicate and inspire people with our ideas.
You see, we were taught to be leaders, not just any type of leader, it was the extroverted charismatic leaders that were highly valued. Sometimes the idea you need to communicate is so important they have to take the stage to express them to the right people, but being in the center of the attention is not where everyone thrives. For me, it is not where I thrive. It is not where I can be myself.
You do not have to be in the spotlight to shine. If you not feel comfortable leading a group or being in the center of attention, it is OK. What is important is that you must understand yourself and find the best method and environment that suits you where you can effectively and truthfully express yourself and what you have to offer. I used the model, these attention-loving, sociable, charismatic, extroverts, and thought I had to be them in order to be successful in life.
But the truth is, every one of our personalities is so different. According to the Myers-Briggs personality test, we can generally group our personality traits in this world into 16 different types. Out of the 16, half of them are extroverts. Out of the 8, only two of them are considered to have the natural charismatic trait, ENTJ and ENFJ.
So, what does that mean for those of us who do not belong as an ENTJ or ENFJ? Well, it means that you simply cannot pretend to be someone you are not and you should not have to be. Even if you are one of the two leadership type personalities, how much do you understand yourself? Be aware of your strengths, weaknesses, and the environment that you are most comfortable in.
But of course, these personality tests are just a start because they are just categories and still don't fully define you. Dive into your past experiences and think about what you enjoy doing. Write out different hobbies, follow your curiosities, engage and take part in different groups and communities. Find out the best way for you to express yourself out to the world.
Perhaps it is through art, through inventions, through the internet, through writing or through verbal communication. What kind of environment do you thrive in? Is it through one-on-one conversations or in small groups? Or in a big stadium with hundreds of people?
Do you work better by yourself or in a team? We are all different. Don't ever compare yourself in your situation with someone else's. Focus on yourself.
Work on yourself. That's the only way for you to grow. What the world needs. What we really need are all types of people portraying different strengths in this world.
Can you imagine what it would be like if the world is filled only with loud, charismatic extroverts? It would actually be a pretty scary place to be and nothing would ever get done. We do need charismatic people in this world to inspire and gather people together, but what we need also are quieter, introverted people and leaders who prefer to stay behind the scenes and are not afraid to let others stick the spotlight. What we need are brave people who choose to believe and follow crazy leaders with visions.
What we need are committed people who follow through with what they say and can put words into actions. What we need are open-minded people who can really lean in and listen first before speaking. What we need are kind people who have compassion and can show empathy in this cruel world. What we really need are people who have strong self-awareness, who are honest and truthful to themselves so that in return they can be their best selves to better serve this world.
Quote, ask yourself what makes you come alive and go do that because what the world needs is people who have come alive. Howard Thurman. So find out the best way for you to shine. Trust me, you do not always have to be in the spotlight to do so.
Perhaps it is in the darkest, most overlooked places where you can be loud and actually shine the brightest. You just listen to the Bell's titles, the truth is shining brightly and letting the world see you by surely of DaringLiving.com. There's more to life than finding the perfect car, but finding the perfect car can help you get the most out of life, like the SUV that handles everything from drop-off to off-road and the car that holds groceries and hockey teams, or the van that's gone from just practical to practically family. Whatever you want, wherever you're going, start your search at autotrader.ca, Canada's car marketplace.
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If you get a Shirley, a great point and something to remember, extroverts are definitely rewarded more often as we're growing up, at least from my experience and where I grew up. I was never praised for being shy, but the outgoing ones definitely got praised, just the personality trait that we see as more valuable. Again, I'm talking generally from my own experience, and I think that stems from just wanting that child or person to be liked. As a shy kid or person, it can be difficult to make new friends and get along with people, and there's a bit of a downward spiral that can happen where the more shy you are, the more you hide, which makes you more shy, and the more you hide again, and so on.
But as we get older, to Shirley's point, there are other skills we developed, shy or not, that make us who we are and make us shine. Some might say, I'm here in the spotlight right now, but I'm actually just sitting in a room talking to myself under fluorescent lights. It's not exactly a spotlight, and I can still be shy and do this podcast. So, yeah, lots of different ways to look at this, and I completely agree, who knows where you'll shine the brightest.
It's up to you to figure that out. Maybe something to think about this Thanksgiving, and I'll be back tomorrow for the Thanksgiving show, so stay tuned for that. We're off to my life. I'll wait.