picture in my mind

I'm almost done with Quiet by Susan Cain -- and it has been a good read; very relatable and lots of practical advice on how to live happily and successfully as an introvert in today's world. For example, it has a chapter titled, When Should You Act More Extroverted? Introverts can somehow find energy to do extroverted stuff like giving public talks, sharing with big groups of people or networking when it's to do with one's passions or what are called core personal projects. But after doing so, introverts should allow themselves to retreat to their personal spaces to recuperate and return to their natural selves. Apparently, it's not an uncommon thing for big and famous introverts to step off from the podium and then go to a toilet cubicle to get some alone time -- and that this is okay. Personally, I have never resorted to this. :O Then again, I've never given public speeches.

It is important that introverts sacrifice their comfort zones for true passions i.e. core personal projects. Otherwise, if one insists on being pseudo-extroverts for whatever random gain, one risks burnout and in worse cases, depression.

... there are three key steps to identifying your core personal projects.

First, think back to what you loved to do when you were a child. How did you answer the question of what you wanted to be when you grew up? The specific answer you gave may have been off the mark, but the underlying impulse was not. If you wanted to be a fireman, what did a fireman mean to you? A good man who rescued people from distress? A daredevil? Or the simple pleasure of operating a truck? If you wanted to be dancer, was it because you got to wear a costume, or because you craved applause, or was it the pure joy of twirling around at lightning speed? You may have known more about who you were then than you do now.

Second, pay attention to the work you gravitate to. At my law firm I never once volunteered to take on extra corporate legal assignment, but I did spend a lot of time doing pro bono work for a nonprofit women's leadership organization. I also sat on several law firm committees dedicated to mentoring, training, and personal development for young lawyers in the firm. Now, as you can probably tell from this book, I am not the committee type. But the goals of those committees lit me up, so that's what I did.

Finally, pay attention to what you envy. Jealousy is an ugly emotion, but it tells the truth. You mostly envy those who have what you desire. I met my own envy after some of my former law school classmates got together and compared notes on alumni career tracks. They spoke with admiration and, yes, jealousy, of a classmate who argued regularly before the Supreme Court. At first I felt critical. More power to that classmate! I thought, congratulating myself on my magnanimity. Then I realised my largesse came cheap, because I didn't aspire to argue a case before the Supreme Court, or to any of the other accolades of lawyering. When I asked myself whom I did envy, the answer came back instantly. My college classmates who'd grown up to be writers or psychologists. Today, I'm pursuing my own version of both those roles.

- Quiet, When Should You Act More  Extroverted?