How to be less neurotic | The Gray Area

I wonder how much of introversion can be attributed to social anxiety – that a big part of what makes someone more introverted or extroverted is our thoughts about ourselves and others – and that if you can change those thoughts then you can change how introverted you are? I guess I've always seen myself as an introvert and simply thought, this is the way that I am, but then I would find times that I would really seek out human interaction and feel really energized by it afterwards and I would think, isn't that kinda the definition of being an extrovert? Again for a while I just attributed the difference/change to specific groups/individuals that maybe I felt safer and more comfortable with, but then if so much of it comes down to feelings of comfort and safety then it is thoughts/feelings and the presence or absence of anxiety, right? I don't necessarily desire or enjoy human interaction any less than anyone else. It's just that my anxiety might make me enjoy an interaction less and then I might choose avoidance as a way of trying to alleviate the discomfort that I felt, but the desire to connect with others doesn't go away. Maybe this speaks more to myself specifically, but these are things that I've been thinking of and seem related to this discussion of tweaking parts of personality. Perhaps just a slightly different angle or wording than what was shared in this video.

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15:47 what kind of traits correlate with happiness & well being

The obsession with forced self-improvement often stops us from accepting who we actually are. Glad to see Vox tackling this nuance.

I think the main issue is that the terms "personality" and "change" are too broad.

Some people will push themselves to experience uncomfortable situations and some won't. Olga considers herself an introvert but she's also the type of person that can push herself to tinker with that 10% mentioned.

She comments she's still an anxious adult and that will never change, but she's made peace with that and built upon it to work towards her targets.

Some could consider that her personality changed because she's experiencing new situations by her own accord, others could say her personality is the same and it's her own self that drover her to develop new tools.

My perspective is that people don't change but (most) can grow, barring extraordinary trauma.

If you're anxious, you'll always be anxious, but you could build over that. You could have an addictive personality, and you can also know temperance.

But If you're the type of person that can't push themselves to grow then you'll probably be stuck that way forever.

I think on average, the world would be a better place if more people were more neurotic

Its not that we can or cannot – what would the people we see everyday think about our changed personality ? like how easy or difficult it would be for the people connected to us – to accept this change . ..

Its not that we can or cannot – what would the people we see everyday think about our changed personality ? like how easy or difficult it would be for the people connected to us – to accept this change .