If you are tired of hearing how shy you are, consider making a few small yet important changes in your life. Being shy is not bad, but it can prevent you from reaching your goals and living your life to the fullest. Overcoming shyness can be very difficult, though. Be ready to stay patient and practice a lot. First of all, you should stop comparing yourself to others and learn to love yourself. You are unique, beautiful and have many wonderful talents and skills. Here are several effective tricks to stop being so shy.
1. Practice
Although you can use your mirror to learn how to smile and keep eye contact in the right way, it’s better to ask your friend, family member or coworker to help you become more confident. When talking to them, make sure you smile and keep a good eye contact. Don’t fake your smile since everyone will notice it, and nobody will believe that you are a confident woman if you hide your eyes. You can also ask your parent or friend to practice a firm handshake together. A firm handshake will have people thinking you are a strong and confident person.
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2. Be more outgoing
Visit local museums, join a group, go to the nearest gym, volunteer, or help strangers, and you will see that it’s so interesting to be more outgoing and nobody will say that you are a shy person. Life is too short to spend it at home in front of the computer or TV. One of the most effective ways to become less shy is to become more outgoing. This way, you will learn how to talk to strangers, make new friends and do good deeds at the same time.
3. Practice good conversation starters
Forget about the sentences like “The weather is fine today!” or “You look great (especially if they don’t actually look great) today!” Also avoid talking about political or religious issues. Talking about weather is a boring conversation and it won’t help you make more friends. You may say something like, “Hi! I’m Jessica. I want to start volunteering but don’t know where to start, could you please help me?” or “Hi! You have a cute pet, could I play with him a little?” It may seem strange at first, but you will never make more friends and become less shy, if you keep silent all the time.
4. Don’t compare yourself to others
If you often find yourself comparing to other people, break this habit. Sometimes we are so busy comparing ourselves to others that we don’t see our beauty and achievements. If you are a shy girl and your friend is a real extrovert, it doesn’t mean that she is better than you. Everyone has its own imperfections. Luckily, shyness is not an imperfection, which means you can overcome it but with some effort and time.
5. Don’t take rejections personally
Not all people will want to talk to you. They might not understand you, or they might be too busy to chat. Rejection can affect your confidence so you shouldn’t let it make you shyer. Just don’t take it too personally and don’t doubt your uniqueness and your abilities. Remember, rejections happen to everyone. They help us become stronger and sometimes more successful.
6. Accept yourself
Ask a shy person to tell you about their weaknesses, and you will hear a seemingly endless list. Ask a shy person to name their strengths, and they might tell you that they don’t have any. However, every person in the world has weaknesses and strengths; you are no exception. Look at the mirror and try to find your strengths or ask your friends to help you. It’s always easier to see wrong things instead of beautiful ones. Accept yourself, your weaknesses and strengths, and stop hiding from people.
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7. Work out
Make a habit of exercising regularly to tone up your body and boost your confidence. You can’t be shy when you look fabulous and have a perfect body shape. Exercise also helps to relax and fight stress, not to mention it’s good for your overall health. Go for a walk, try jogging or running, or do two-three exercises a day to reach your fitness goal and overcome your shyness.
Being shy isn’t as bad as most of us think, but if you want to become more outgoing, do it! Set a goal of overcoming shyness in the new year and make sure to do your best to reach it. If you were a shy person in the past, how did you overcome your shyness? Share your tips with us, please.