Tuesday, March 4, 2014
12 Ways to Love and Care for an Introvert
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| My best friend, husband, and favorite introvert |
Here are 12 ways to love and care for the introverts in your life:
1. RESPECT their privacy and need for alone time.
2. NEVER reprimand them IN PUBLIC.
3. Let them VIEW first in new situations, before requiring them to act.
4. Allow them TIME TO THINK. Don’t demand quick answers.
5. Don’t INTERRUPT them.
6. Give them ADVANCE NOTICE of changes to their environment and lives.
7. Give them 15 MINUTE WARNINGS to finish whatever they’re doing.
8. Teach them new skills PRIVATELY.
9. Enable them to find ONE BEST FRIEND who shares their interests.
10. DON’T PUSH them to make many friends.
11. RESPECT their quiet souls. Don’t try to make them EXTROVERTS.
12. PRAISE every attempt at spontaneity and friendliness.
Next week, we'll talk about extroverts. That should be FUN!
If you are an introvert, which item(s) in the above list most resonated with you? If you are an extrovert, which items do you need to work on?
Next week we'll talk about caring for extroverts...
Hi Jeanette! I'm not so sure how 'extro-verty' I am, but my husband is a definite introvert. Early in our marriage, whenever I'd bring up plans or ideas, the answer was always 'no'. It would devastate me! But now I know that's just his 'go to' language for anything new. He has to process it...and process it and process it!
ReplyDeleteSpot on advice here,
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I'm an introverted extrovert. In other words, I like gathering people together, leading etc but I get my energy drained from others so need to recharge. I think #6 is more important to me than I used to think. I am quite spontaneous yet have learned to be, but know I feel inner stress when my situation or plans suddenly change. I'll role with it but later find myself more irritable. I great book on introversion is Quiet by Susan Cain.
ReplyDeleteI'm like Lynn - part extrovert, part introvert. Thanks for the practical tips. I'll be linking to this post on May 6th. :)
ReplyDeleteJen: I don't know how I missed commenting on this. I am like the others who commented. I am both an into- and an extro- vert. I have a friend whose husband is great in front of crowds- Sunday school teacher, lay minister in our former church- but if he talks to someone, one on one, and he goes into his shell. Once he knows a person, he doesn't do the shell thing.
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