I had a misconception that becoming a better conversationalist would make me one of those extroverts who unapologetically talks about themselves and looks for how they can benefit from the conversation. I stopped listening to that voice inside my head because, for me, it had become a necessity to make new friends and strengthen my friendships. Fortunately, I haven’t encountered major upsets or failures on my path.
Occasionally I have this feeling that people wouldn’t want to talk to me as my grades are low, I don’t have a great network, I’ve not achieved any great success or I’m not that promising. Basically, I thought people wouldn’t want to talk to me as they had nothing to gain from associating with me. But then, I thought I don’t mind talking with anybody as there is something to learn from everybody, So other people might also feel the same.
There are so many reasons why I connected with your style of teaching. First, you start with what we introverts think. Then you convince us that, achieving what we are trying to achieve is not hard work (expanding your comfort zone rather than stepping out of it). Some coaches try to impose their mindset on us and because it is somewhat convincing, we believe in that. On the other hand, you are more practical. You give personal experiences and practical demonstrations with your real life video examples. One more thing that really worked is that your approach is very rational. At no point did I feel that you are saying something without giving a foreground to it.
One thing it has done is completely eliminated awkward moments. And because I’m not putting on a mask, it’s not at all tiring. In fact, I look forward to more interactions. I’ve even started a brotherhood group so that I can meet new people and forge healthy relationships.
I can think of many things that seemed boring before but I look forward to them now. I stay in a hostel. I used to skip meals, especially breakfast, very often. Even if I went to the cafeteria, I would not have a complete meal. This was the time when I ate alone. Now that I have friends who I eat together with, I never skip a meal and end up having things I never really liked, as I don’t think about it too much when I’m having a conversation.
Similarly, those long walks from the academic block to my hostel doesn’t seem that long when I’m with someone.