Do You need to Overcome Your Shyness?

Yes. If you want to live your life to the fullest, you need to be able to communicate without fear. As someone who’s been on both sides, I can tell you that the unshy side is much better. Even before I was able to achieve this, I witnessed it first hand. I saw what someone who is not shy can accomplish.

I have a friend who is the complete opposite of me. She moves through social situations with grace while I stumbled through like a newborn deer. One think that I noticed was that she treated everyone the same. She was polite and friendly to everyone. And do you know what? Almost everyone responded well to it. Male and female. Old and young. There was something about this woman. She currently does social work.

Take a look at the chart above. It was created by psychologist Abraham Maslow and it’s called Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs. It consists of 5 tiers.

At The bottom, them most basic needs. It starts with food and water. Then above that Safety. The two next tiers are what? Psychological. Specifically belongingness and esteem. In order to achieve “Belongingness” one must have intimate relationships/friends. This can be difficult to achieve for anyone suffering from shyness. And if you can’t achieve this level in the middle of the pyramid, how do you expect to reach the top? The self-actualizing level. How can you be the person you want to be if you are stuck at the bottom of the pyramid? You probably can’t. So you ask what you have to gain? Everything. The life you’ve been imagining.