Introverts, Now Make Something Happen

I really love introverts. We go deeper and get more involved in the meaning of and importance of things than others do. Yet sometimes we forget to do something about it.

I've been there, too. I pour myself into a topic, sit for hours in front of my laptop doing the due diligence, make notes, get excited about my thoughts and ideas and then find my legs start jumping up and down. It's at that point that I know it's time to do something about what I've learned.

It's time to act.


For me this means picking up the phone to call on someone for help. Or arrange a meeting to discuss possibilities.

It means creating activity around ideas, something scary to most of us introverts. What if our ideas are misguided? What if we have errors in logic? What if we are asked to explain the value of our ideas?
And worse, what if we are shot down?

Yesterday I posted Introverts Can Go for the No, Plan for the Yes (sorry, I have learned the vibrating NO in the post can be troublesome to folks - I promise to do something about this) to make the point that we introverts just need to get over the fact that we may hear "no" from people. Just get over it. Read the post to learn more.

Today my theme is again around action. I recognize that our action may include No from people, but we are grown up. We can take it. And interestingly, we may get more Yes's than we expect.

So when it comes to taking action, to make something happen, what do I mean? I mean three things.

3 Ways to Make Something Happen
1. Stand up.
I know it is easier to stay seated, yet when we want to make something happen, it is best to be visible.
Standing up means getting out of our seat.

Standing up also means stepping to someone's assistance. Sure, it may require interrupting our own thoughts and focus for awhile, but it helps us use either of the introvert's best traits - compassion and conscientiousness. And what comes from this literally makes something happen.

2. Speak up.
Maybe children are to be seen but not heard, but we adults know there are times when it's really about speaking up. Whether to offer a new perspective, to share progress, to point out something we admire or to re-direct someone's thinking.

Speaking up leads to encouragement, neutralizing emotions and/or moving someone into action. No need to explain how this makes something happen.

3. Sit down.
Gotta love this directive! We introverts are very good at sitting down, yet it gives us a feeling of responsibility to do so in timely ways. Lawyers need to know when to stop. Whether this is talking, doing busy work, or other activities. Sitting down allows us to make something happen because it either recharges us, it gives us pause for debriefing and gives us a way to re-enter the course.

Been sitting too long? Make something else happen.