New book, Quiet Confidence: Breaking Up with Shyness, offers hope and healing for shy introverts living in an extroverted world
Author, life coach and recovered shy-guy, Joel Annesley, rings in the New Year on World Introvert Day with hands-on hope, and healing advice for wallflowers everywhere suffering from the debilitating effects of shyness. Between 40 and 60 per cent of adults define themselves as being shy, says Annesley, and most of us, he says, will at some time in our lives experience shyness.
In Quiet Confidence: Breaking Up with Shyness, released today on Amazon and published by Power Writers Publishing Group, Annesley assures those plagued by shyness that they can overcome the traumas that caused their shyness to develop, learn to embrace the beauty within and express themselves with confidence.
Annesley once had an overbearing relationship with shyness, the result of being publicly humiliated in front of his friends by his first-grade teacher. The experience left him insecure and unable to speak up, an affliction that affected him into adulthood, personally and professionally. Unlike introversion - a basic personality trait characterized by inward-looking thoughts and feelings vs external stimulation - shyness most often occurs as a result of a painful experience, says Annesley. Shyness can be overcome, says Annesley, by changing our inner dialogue and strengthening the voice within.
Annesley overcame his shyness once he began exploring the roots of his shyness and was then able to make the decision to finally break up with shyness, see life with new eyes and live a life of quiet confidence. He shares his journey and offers tips such as these in Quiet Confidence: Breaking Up with Shyness:
- Avoid negative labels. Labels can build you up or destroy you; choose the label that empowers you instead of tears you down. Think Quietly Confident instead of Shy.
- Look within. The key to finding your true self is to look within and to celebrate who you really are. Practice non-judgemental awareness, self-compassion and loving kindness for the beautiful person you are inside and the way you see the world.
- Stop overthinking everything. Overthinking and shyness go hand-in-hand. Overthinking leads to indecisiveness, mental exhaustion and self-defeating, negative thoughts. The solution is to learn how to outsmart your overthinking.
- Find your safe place. When you develop your safe environment, a place where you can be free to be vulnerable, you will have no need to overthink things. When you slowly expand this environment, your Quiet Confidence will also expand and grow.
- Find your tribe. Spend time with those who build you up, and support and encourage you unconditionally to express yourself.
- Find a creative outlet. Developing and expressing your creative passions can lead you to become a Subject Matter Expert, which will help you will naturally become more confident.
- Develop positive body talk. Confidence doesn’t have to be verbal. Becoming aware of, and adjusting, your body language, posture and physical appearance can provide you with instant confidence.
Inside Quiet Confidence: Breaking Up with Shyness, readers will discover simple, easy-to-follow steps to build the courage to break up with their shyness, and embrace the beauty within.
Readers will learn to create a life-changing blueprint to release the grip that shyness has held over them for far too long, and help them develop the calm, quiet, and courageous voice they have always dreamed of but never thought they would ever find.
About Joel Annesley
A self-proclaimed introvert and recovered shy-guy, Joel Annesley was born in Queensland, Australia to two alternative-thinking parents who nurtured his passion for the natural world. He attended the Queensland University of Technology where he earned a Bachelor of Creative Industries.
To order copies of Quiet Confidence: Breaking Up with Shyness, visit quietconfidencebook.com. More details on World Introvert Day can be found at introvertday.org.
