Figure out what you are meant to contribute to the world and make sure you contribute it. If this requires public speaking or networking or other activities that make you uncomfortable, do them anyway. But accept that they're difficult, get the training you need to make them easier, and reward yourself when you're done.

When you spend too much time battling your ownnature, the opposite happens: you deplete yourself. I’ve met toomany people living lives that didn’t suit them — introverts withfrenetic social schedules and extroverts with jobs that requiredthem to sit in front of their computers for hours at a stretch.We all have to do things that don’t come naturally... some of the time. But it shouldn’t be all the time. It shouldn’t even be most of the time.

If personal space is vital to creativity, so is freedom from "peer pressure".

Introverts tend to be driven by their interests and passions, naturally organizing their lives around the things they love most to do. This is a great boon, because focusing on one or two pursuits tends to build mastery in a given area, and mastery builds self-confidence - rather than the other way around.

Restorative niches are essential to an introvert's happiness.

The most effective leaders are not motivated by a desire to control events or to be in the spotlight. They are motivated by the desire to advance ideas and new ways of looking at the world, or to improve the situation of a group of people. These motivations belong to introverts and extroverts alike. You can achieve these same goals - you can be inspiring and motivational - without compromising your quiet ways.

Although we often hang back in group situations, evidence proves that introverts make strong leaders - often delivering better outcomes than extroverted leaders do. Yes, you read that right - not just decent outcomes, but better ones.

When your conscientiousness impels you to take on more than you can handle, you begin to lose interest, even in tasks that normally engage you. You risk your physical health. 'Emotional labor,' which is the effort we make to control and change our own emotions, is associated with stress, burnout, and even physical symptoms like and increase in cardiovascular disease.

One new honest-to-goodness relationship is worth ten fistfuls of business cards.