Are you an Introvert or an Extravert?

I was in a coaching session the other day and found myself explaining the differences between introverts and extraverts.

How can you know for sure if you are an introvert or an extravert?

Yes, it’s true. There are those online tests everywhere, but most aren’t accurate and really don’t know what they are doing.

They are more confusing than helpful, honestly…

Many say introverts are shy, somehow anti-social, timid, and never talk.

So when I tell them I’m a talkative introvert they get a bit puzzled.

So what does being an introvert really mean? (you can watch my video below)

It was Jung, the Swiss psychologist, who popularized these terms. And was the first to admit that “there aren’t introverted or extroverted people, but introverted and extroverted (mental) processes.”

In fact, those terms just describe a preference: Where we like to focus our attention, and energy flow.

“Intro” means we prefer to focus our attention on what is going on inside of us: our ideas, bodily sensations, our dreams, intuitions, etc. And “extra” means that we focus our attention on the outside world of people, things, events, etc.

We can do both things, in fact, all of us can do both, but we prefer one of them, like we prefer to write with one hand over the other. Jung called that your attitude.

And yet we insist on labeling people as introverts or extroverts!

How can you figure out your preferred attitude towards the world?

Or better yet, how do you figure out if you an introvert or an extrovert -as people would say?

The best way to figure out which one of these is your preferred attitude is to take a look at how you recharge your batteries.

Imagine it’s Friday evening, you are totally exhausted after a long and hard work week. And as it happens, I can grant you a wish.

There is one caveat though.

You can choose between two options, but nothing can be changed from the options. It’s a whole package.

Option A is as follows:

I can send you magically to an island, in which all your needs will be taken care of for the whole weekend. (Don’t worry, on Monday morning you’ll be back home).

The only thing is you’ll be the whole weekend there alone, just by yourself.

Or option B:

I can grant you one seat on a weekend trip to a lovely city. You’ll visit museums, the best local restaurants, famous street fairs, and concerts if you like that, too.

The only thing is you will be with a group of people you don’t know.

With my magic wand in hand, if I could give you one of these, which one would you choose? 

I don’t want to spoil the answer, so you can find it in the video.
Plus some extra tips on how to recharge your batteries and take care of yourself before and after giving a workshop,
…again, based on your personality preferences as an “Introvert” and as an “Extrovert”.

So now that you’ve chosen your option, which attitude do you prefer? Introversion or Extraversion? Please, let me know below.