Ep 256 - Happy World Introvert Day 2026!

Have you ever wondered what makes introversion a powerful force in your life? In this special World Introvert Day 2026 episode of The Quiet And Strong Podcast, host David Hall invites you to celebrate your unique strengths as an introvert and bust the common myths that surround introversion. Whether you sometimes feel misunderstood or simply want to better understand yourself, you’ll find encouragement and insight in this episode.

Tune in to learn the key differences between introversion and shyness, why self-awareness is essential for introverts, and how to harness your strengths for personal and professional success. David Hall shares valuable strategies for recognizing your gifts, building confidence, and creating meaningful goals that honor your personality. You’ll also get recommendations for impactful books and assessments that can help you understand yourself and celebrate all that you have to offer.

This episode is perfect for introverts looking to embrace who they are, challenge misconceptions, and start the new year with clarity and confidence. Join the celebration, honor your strengths, and be strong.

Episode Link: QuietandStrong.com/256

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Transcript

David Hall [00:00:00]:
Hello and welcome to episode 256 of the Quiet and Strong podcast, especially for introverts. I'm your host, David hall, and the creator of Quiet and Strong Dot com. This is a weekly podcast dedicated to understanding the strengths and needs of introverts along with strategies for success. We usually release episodes on Monday. Be sure to subscribe on your favorite platform, leave a review or rating that would mean a lot to me and help others find the show. Tell a friend about the podcast and help get the word out there that introversion is a beautiful thing. So happy New Year and Happy World Introvert Day 2026.

David Hall [00:00:47]:
World Introvert Day occurs on January 2nd every year, and it's really a great time to celebrate what's so great about being an introvert. Because there's many things. I launched this podcast on World Introvert day back in 2021. You know, a lot was going on with the pandemic and we, a lot of us were at home most of the time and there was talk, oh, introverts are just loving this, you know, being home all the time. And I, I knew plenty of isolated introverts. I mean, even myself, I was home with my family, which I love, but I was missing a lot of other family, friends, co workers, you know, So I thought it was time to give a voice to what does it really mean to be an introvert? And let's celebrate that. And also, what are some misconceptions? So let's get into it. So maybe you have felt misunderstood.

David Hall [00:01:47]:
I know I have. As an introvert, you know, maybe you felt like something was wrong with you. Hopefully you still don't. But there's nothing wrong with you, trust me. As an introvert, we are deep thinkers sometimes. Some of us are deep feelers. We tune inward to our inner world more often than not. And a lot of great strength comes from that.

David Hall [00:02:13]:
So many great ideas and stories and creativity are born from people spending time as an introvert in their inner world of ideas. And it's time to celebrate. There's so many misconceptions, you know, it's like introverts don't like people. Do you like people? I know I do. I just may not want to spend the same amount of time or energy as an extrovert might. But I absolutely need family, friends, co workers. Absolutely. And others.

David Hall [00:02:50]:
Other misconceptions are introversion equals shyness. So it's not the right word. Introverts can be shy. Extroverts can also be shy. I know shy extroverts and it's just a matter of confidence. Are you confident in approaching the situations and people that you want to? And if not, that's something you can build. We talk about confidence a lot on this podcast. And for me, I used to be shy.

David Hall [00:03:24]:
I used to lack confidence and so much of it. For me, the turning point was really understanding my introversion, understanding that I generally am going to think first and then speak because I'm putting all my ideas together and I'm sharing what's most important. Whereas extroverts often are going to think out loud and there can be a clash if you don't understand that difference. If you are sharing less by sharing what's most important, and extroverts are sharing everything, you could be made to feel less than or minimalized, and it's not. It's not needed. So far for me, in gaining confidence was really just understanding my introversion. And, you know, people still use the word introvert to mean shy. I hear it all the time.

David Hall [00:04:16]:
I was in a work setting, I heard it. And if you say that around me, I'm gonna call you out. I just am. I'm gonna educate you in a nice way. What introversion really is, it doesn't mean shy because half the population, approximately, is introverted. Half the population isn't shy. And it just means we're deep thinkers, and it doesn't mean that we lack confidence. I know some very confident and outspoken introverts.

David Hall [00:04:48]:
Some have always been that way. Some have learned to be that way. Some are still struggling, and that's why we're talking. You know, if you're still struggling, there's hope. You can definitely gain confidence and overcome shyness. But also, as we're talking about these things, don't get too hung up on the label. Labels are helpful because I'm an introvert. So if I tell you about my strengths and my strategies, it can help you as a fellow introvert.

David Hall [00:05:19]:
We're not exactly alike. No, nobody is. No, we all have different aspects of our personalities and different individual factors, but we can learn from people that share similar factors, and it's just a matter of understanding what you need. So the labels are helpful. So it's helpful to know I'm an introvert or I'm an extrovert, but it's more helpful to know what it means. So it's more helpful to know, you know, what. Generally, I'm going to think first and then speak. I do better with preparation for meetings, presentations, speeches, even some conversations.

David Hall [00:06:03]:
I. I do need some time alone. For various things. You know, often people talk about recharge, and that's one way we need to be alone. We need time as introverts to think, to get some work done, to focus, to plan, to dream. So there's a lot of reasons we need some time alone. We don't want to be alone all the time. We need to strike a balance.

David Hall [00:06:29]:
So self awareness in all of this is just so key. Who are you? What are your natural tendencies? What are your natural abilities? What are your natural desires that you want to build something on? So what do you want and who are you? To understand this is to best tap into your personality. And there's. There's lots of ways to do this. So you're listening to this podcast I have great guests on, and most of my guests have learned to tap into their introversion. You know, most are introverts. I do have a few extroverts on from time to time, but the introverts have learned to understand who they are and find success in some area of life. And the extroverts I have on, I make sure that they understand introversion.

David Hall [00:07:19]:
And they're not spreading any myths. They're not giving advice that only applies to extroverts, because there is that kind of advice. Just. Just do it right for me. You know, I've studied personality a long time. I have a bachelor's in psychology and master's in counseling. But really, it was some assessments that really drove home, hey, you're an introvert, and it's a good thing. So I got certified to give the Myers Briggs, and the facilitator was a brilliant person, very fortunate to have her.

David Hall [00:07:57]:
I specifically recall her saying, introverts think and then speak, and extroverts speak in order to think. And that was one of the light bulb moments. I'm like, oh, yeah, that's me. That's how I operate. I'm not going to change. And it's a good thing. And you know, the Myers Briggs is about introversion, extroversion. It's about being intuitive or on the opposite side, you know, really seeing, needing to see the concrete details.

David Hall [00:08:27]:
It's about approaching life analytically or the opposite, approaching more empathically. And the last letter, it's about really feeling the need to be organized or being more spontaneous and living in the moment. And so there's those dichotomies. And it really helps us understand how we approach life and the best ways to approach life for each of us and we can also understand each other. You know, you may Have a significant other that's also an introvert. I've talked to so many couples that one's an introvert, one's an extrovert, and they needed to work through that. Like, okay, what do you need? What do I need? What do we want to do together? Where can I give a little? Where can you give a little? And I. I've just.

David Hall [00:09:21]:
I've heard some great stories about people that are in a introvert, extrovert relationship and have learned to learn to navigate it. And also they benefit from each other's gifts and strengths because each personality type has a set of gifts and strengths. And there's so many assessments. And I've taken. I've probably taken 30 assessments along these lines. Another one that I took and I got certified to give was the CliftonStrengths. It's also been called Strengths Finder, Strengths quest. And in a nutshell, it's 34 themes of talent.

David Hall [00:10:00]:
And what it does is it gives you your top five. And the idea behind it is, hey, you're gonna do so much better if you focus on your gifts, if you focus on your strengths, than if you try and fix your weaknesses. Of course we need to deal with weaknesses, but a lot of times the best approach is to approach them with your gifts and strengths and really focus there and let other people use their strengths. We've had other episodes where we talk about CliftonStrengths. Some guests bring it up. I'll just give you a couple examples from me. Like, one of my strengths is being analytical, and definitely owe that to my introversion, where I go deep in thought, I can think about things. You know, why did this happen? How can we do better here? And I've always been analytical.

David Hall [00:10:52]:
Another one is learner. And I just, I love learning. And, you know, I think most introverts actually do, but it's. It's one of my top five I have. Another one is ideation, and it just means I am thinking all the time. And it's a gift. Sometimes it can be a little much, but understanding that it's a gift to have some great thoughts is key. Another one I have is intellection.

David Hall [00:11:23]:
And again, it's. I. It's. This assessment doesn't call out introversion, extroversion, but it really just talks about naturally occurring strengths. And I, I kind of. I relate intellection to introversion. It's really just. You really value your.

David Hall [00:11:40]:
Your thoughts and thinking. And again, you are going to have a different set of strengths if you were to take this assessment. Nobody's exactly alike. But it can be a powerful way to get to know yourself. And there's other assessments too, but those two have been really helpful for me. And again, CliftonStrengths wasn't about introversion, extroversion, but it really was, oh, you have naturally occurring gifts and they are good and you can't change them even if you want to. There's a lot of great podcasts out there. I highly recommend this one.

David Hall [00:12:17]:
There's a lot of great books. If you've been a listener, you might have heard me talk about Lori Helgo. Her book Introvert Power was a life changing book for me and it really is. One of the key takeaways is in the title, Introvert Power. Introverts have great power. Also in her book, she quotes some research where, you know, introversion is more than 50% of the population. And when before I read her book, I was hearing other numbers, like much lower numbers. And again, sometimes the lower numbers come from a lack of understanding of introversion.

David Hall [00:12:55]:
You could look at someone that doesn't seem to be shy at all and say, well, they're an extrovert. And you, you could be wrong. You could really. They could be a confident introvert, which is the goal of this show, is to make all introverts confident and get what they want outta life. Not turning them into extroverts, but just being confident introverts honoring their gifts. I ask my guest, my introverted guests, when did you figure out you were an introvert? And I will have to count it up. But so many attribute identifying introverts. And with Susan's, Susan Cain's great book Quiet.

David Hall [00:13:32]:
And I read that book too, and I highly recommend that one as well. And it made so many people realize I'm an introvert and it's a good thing. So there's a couple great books. Dr. Lori Helgo's introvert Power or Susan Cain's Quiet. Those are a couple great books. And there's many more. I could list many more.

David Hall [00:13:52]:
So get to know yourself, what you need and then celebrate those gifts. You know, what are some gifts you have because you're an introvert? You think deeply. I know I do. Are you good at problem solving? I think that's one of my key strengths. Like I said, I'm analytical and I am very future focused. Like, how can things be better? We're keen observers of what's going on around us. Many of us see patterns. We can be very thoughtful and watch out if you're talking to me, I may Have a lot of questions for you because I am going to think and try to really get all the information I can.

David Hall [00:14:41]:
And I may ask you a million questions if I'm trying to help. I think we're all really good at reflection. You know, we just gave a presentation and we can think, hey, how did that go? How did I. What was good about that presentation? What might I do next time? You know, or maybe we had an interaction and, you know, we're like, I didn't love how that went, but we can think about it. Think, you know what? Here's how I can be better. But again, you may share some of those things I just mentioned. You may have some different ones. You do have some different ones.

David Hall [00:15:16]:
So get to know those, you know, through conversations and through podcasts, assessments, books. So get to know who you are. And again, let's bust different myths. I did an episode on top 10 myths about, and then I did another one because I had 10 more, and there's probably 50 more of things we can bust. We mentioned that introversion doesn't equal shyness. Introverts do like people. Introverts have a lot to say. Some people say we don't, but we're always thinking, introverts get drained by all people.

David Hall [00:15:54]:
And that's not true. Do you know someone you just love to be with and they don't drain you? I do. I have people like that in my life. Some situations are draining, you know, and you have to be aware of what does drain me and how can I recharge. Sometimes it's, I might really enjoy something, but it's still kind of draining. So how are you going to celebrate World Introvert Day? Send me a note. Tell me how you celebrated. And that's the other thing.

David Hall [00:16:25]:
What do you like? What's fun to you? And sometimes you might want different things. Sometimes people try to say that's another myth, that introverts don't want to have fun. But it's possible that you want to have fun in a different way. And maybe sometimes you want to go to a loud party, loud concert, and maybe sometimes you want to sit home and watch Netflix with someone you care about. What's fun to you? Don't let anybody tell you what fun means to you. You get to decide. So celebrate World Introvert Day in the way that makes you happy. Do what you would like to do.

David Hall [00:17:07]:
Remember what great gifts you have, and then really figure out your why. Why do you do what you do, what's important to you and make goals using your introverted strengths and gifts and really clarify what you want this year and you can achieve anything. It's just often your approach as an introvert is going to look different from someone that's an extrovert. So set some great goals. Use your gifts of reflection to map out how you're going to achieve those and then regularly reflect on how you've done. And maybe you want to tweak your goals based on different changes in your life. Also protect your time and energy. You know, spend time with people that you care about.

David Hall [00:18:00]:
Also get that needed time alone that you need and strike that balance and honor your strengths. Really celebrate who you are. Challenge those misconceptions as you hear them and have a great year. Keep listening. Reach out@daviduietastrong.com or check out the quietestrong.com website. There's lots of resources there on the podcast. We have lots of great guests already recorded, some for 2026, so check it out. Also on the Quiet and Strong website, there's a free typefinder personality quiz where you can get your four letter Myers Briggs Code and as always, get to know your introverted strengths and needs and be strong.