🦸 Embracing your superpowers

Welcome to The Introverted Path!

Happy Thursday! Hope everyone has had a fantastic week so far.

I’ve never been big into superheroes - I didn’t read many of the comics growing up and am not into the Marvel movies.

But I think it is a good exercise to think about what our individual superpowers are. What are the things we may not even realize are strengths? And how can we double down on those?

In today’s email:

• Finding your superpowers

• Common things introverts excel at

• Links to other content I enjoyed this week

Let’s dive in 🤙 

🦸 Finding your superpowers

Have you ever taken time to think about what your strengths and weaknesses are?

It may seem like an obvious thing to do, but until recently I had never truly done it.

When I reflected on my professional career, there weren’t any obvious strengths that stood out.

I don’t have any specialized skills like coding or engineering; don’t have an advanced degree in law or medicine; and I’m not an overly social person.

But as I thought more about myself, while learning more about what it means to be an introvert, I realized my superpowers were hiding in plain sight.

There are many soft skills introverts excel at. They may not seem like much on their own, but together they can be powerful.

I recently wrote about impostor syndrome, which is something I still deal with today.

Understanding what your superpowers are and what value you bring to the table can help you get over impostor syndrome.

So, what are some common things introverts excel at?

Introvert superpowers

Creativity

Introverts are more introspective by definition. We prefer to work alone or in quiet spaces.

This can lend itself to creative work. Writing, music, arts & crafts — these are all skills introverts can find success in.

The hard part of being creative for introverts is putting our ideas or work out in the world. So here’s your friendly nudge to put yourself out there!

Listening & observing skills

I’ve talked about it before, but introverts are great listeners. By not needing to be at the center of a conversation, we are happy to listen first.

This can lead us to pick up on things others normally wouldn’t. This can include verbal cues as well as non-verbal cues.

Anybody else love to people watch as much as me? 👀 

Deep thinking and working

With how much technology is infused in our lives now, it can be hard to get into deep work. We are constantly faced with distractions.

Introverts are able to shut off the rest of the world and focus on the task at hand. This will only get more important as attention spans get smaller.

And in case you haven’t heard, multi-tasking is a myth.

Building meaningful relationships

Quality > Quantity. Introverts don’t have the biggest social network, but we build a small number of meaningful relationships.

This can go a long way when building trust in a work setting or with friends. Other people realize they can rely on you.

And this leads to a deeper level of relationship. You can get past all the surface level conversations.

Calm presence

I’m sure we all know someone who’s emotions are all over the place. It’s like a rollercoaster when you are around them.

Introverts tend to be more even-keeled and don’t get overly emotional. We aren’t quick to react to situations.

This can be important in relationships, friendships, and work settings. Which leads me to my final superpower…

Leadership

I previously wrote about introverts as leaders. Many people don’t necessarily associate introverts as being in positions of leadership.

In the right situations, introverts can make great leaders, for most of the reasons I have outlined above.

Don’t let the stereotype of what a leader should be keep you from pursuing more 🚀 

My thoughts 💭 

I love the fact we all have different superpowers or things we are great at. It’s what makes us all unique. It’s what makes us human.

And the even cooler part is once we start to realize the superpowers in other people, we can learn from them. It doesn’t even necessarily need to be through talking to them, but from observing how they act.

So take some time to think about what your superpowers are. Or better yet, ask someone close to you.

Time to embrace that inner superhero 🦸 

Links that I enjoyed this week 💥 

• Blog: Be all in, unlock your full power (link)

• Blog: Staring at the tsunami (link)

• Article: How to naturally boost dopamine and serotonin (link)

That’s it for today - hope you enjoyed this week’s newsletter!

Best,

BG