Shyness

I feel like surviving in creative fields these days requires a lot of confidence, networking, and self-motivated energy. As some would put it, it requires a bit of “hustle.” Something that I don’t see mentioned a lot is that I feel like this filters out some kinds of people from being able to be successful in certain fields. A lot of people have some level of shyness. A lot of people are more shy than they seem on the outside, or more shy than they seem in their work. It’s often that we hear stories of “did you know that this really successful person is actually pretty shy when you meet them?” But I feel like there is a different level of shyness that basically would prevent someone from ever finding success if they don’t overcome it. There’s a level of crippling shyness that includes people who are completely uncomfortable with self-promo, completely uncomfortable with networking or making friends in a community, completely uncomfortable with collaboration, leadership, or talking…