11 reasons why introverts are more likely to be successful

If you’re an introvert, it’s easy to feel like most of the fun (and sometimes, most of the opportunities) are locked away from you.

After all, interacting with people is the basis for forming the most memorable and worthwhile experiences.

If you’re having trouble with that step alone, how on earth can you succeed with all the other steps after that?

But as an introvert myself, I think there are more than a few things up our sleeves that can help us be just as successful as everyone else – and have just as much fun as well.

Here’s why.

1) We Think A Lot

While every introvert can name at least one time when our heads got in the way, we often take for granted how many sticky situations our overthinking brain has saved us from.

And in that same vein, we often forget the situations where our habit of giving things a little more than a once-over worked in our favor.

I’ve personally encountered this a lot when I’ve done my research about something before trying it – sure, there’s the nerves, the panic, the performance anxiety…but all that preparation more often than not pays off.

You’d be surprised how your brain is looking out for you with all that alone time it has to think for itself.

2) We’re Selective About Our Company

I can’t deal with too many people at a single time.

There’s too much stuff to pay attention to and not enough brain juice in my head to do it.

I max out at three people and at least two of them have to be close friends.

That might sound a bit too selective, but it’s actually helpful for making sure I’m nothing less than 100% comfortable with the people I’m with.

How is this a recipe for success?

Remember that people turn into the company they keep.

Being selective about your company allows you to make sure that only the best-quality people stick around: and these are the people that you’re going to learn a lot from.

3) We Listen To Our Surroundings

Introverts are often teased for being quiet most of the time, but being quiet has its perks. We’re great listeners!

And in a time and place where it seems all too easy to say things and not be heard, listening is an essential skill that can help us get ahead.

You’d be surprised at what you’d learn from people by simply listening to them.

There are plenty of situations where a little active listening can help move the conversation along, improve someone’s impression of you, or overall just give you crucial, much-needed information.

It’s not just about being quiet – it’s about paying attention.

4) We’re Observant Of Our Surroundings

Paying attention is actually one of our greatest strengths, and it’s something that you won’t really realize until it’s pointed out to you.

Because introverts like to keep to themselves, our minds are far from idle: we take in, process, and file away all the information around us.

We’re great at reading the room, reading other people, and reading things in general: and that’s an important trait that can help get us ahead.

How many times have you heard someone say that they regretted making a decision because they didn’t have all the information?

That’s not something that we introverts usually have to worry about.

If you’re an introvert, then you’ll probably relate to our video below on 7 ways hyper-observant people see the world differently. 

5) We Sympathize Easily

I’m not sure about you, but sometimes it’s difficult for me to feel like I’m being paid attention to, even if I exert myself.

This isn’t always something that can be avoided: people are busy and times move fast, after all.

But when I’m having a rough day or just want someone to pay attention to me, it can be difficult to find the kind of support that I need.

But this became less of an issue when I found introverted friends like me.

And that’s when I realized: introverts are some of the best sympathizers around.

We pay attention to things and internalize them far more than most people do.

We learn more about other people, sympathize with them, and ultimately end up forming closer bonds.

All of this helps us help people reach the best state for themselves – which benefits all the people around them, too.

6) We’re Sensitive

Introverts don’t open up easily, and that gives us a lot of time to be in tune with our own emotions.

Developing a sense of how your own emotional state works can help you gain insights into other people’s emotional states, which can improve your interpersonal relationships overall.

Of course, this is a strength only as long as you don’t let it get the best of you and become overly sensitive toward everything.

Used well, this trait can help you get the heart of something that another person may not even realize, helping you maintain emotional stability in their life as well as your own.

7) We Are More Likely To Be Creative

I daydream a lot. Making up complex, imaginary scenarios in my head that play out way too long was essentially a break time activity for my brain, until I realized how useful it could be at work.

Creativity is one of the best ways to get something done more efficiently and consistently, and it’s a skill that introverts are more likely to have.

Not only does this put you ahead in terms of problem-solving skills, but being creative is far more likely to make it easier for you to draw from multiple sources of inspiration and combine them into a single product.

This gives anything you do your own personal touch, no matter how routine it might seem.

8) We’re Full Of Unique Ideas

What do you get when you combine creativity and unawareness of what most people think? Uniqueness.

As introverts, we’re not so easily swayed by trends compared to most people: we’ll pick what we like and we’ll stick to that.

And most of the time, these unique pursuits help us stand out as individuals and improve how we come across to most people.

You see this a lot in the habits that introverts have, or the hobbies that they choose to pick up.

It may be niche, or it may be something you’ve never heard of, but said introvert will almost always be close to a subject matter expert in it.

And that’s a trait that’s highly valued by people who want to shoot for success.

9) We Act Independently

Since introverts don’t need the social prodding or pressure that most people need to act, we often have a lot of agency and tend to act independently in most things.

This is great for many reasons: we don’t need an external reason to be driven, we can work without oversight, we don’t have to wait for other people’s approval…but by far the most significant benefit is that we’re not held back by standards other people have set for us.

Introverts who have mastered their craft understand the ins and outs of getting stuff done – and they never need any telling on how to do things.

They just know – and it’s a kind of experience that’s honed through hundreds of hours of practicing on our own.

10) We’re Prepared For (Almost) Anything

One thing that I’m still in two minds about being an introvert is how much prep time everything takes.

It’s not enough that you get it right, you need to have a plan in place in case things go horribly wrong.

Sometimes it’s a drain on your mental resources as everything was going to be fine all along: but the times when it does come in handy, you can be a real lifesaver.

An introvert’s capacity for preparation is always a useful thing to have around most situations since you’re never quite sure how things can play out.

A little preparation never hurts anyone – and a lot of preparation can help a lot of people.

11) We Have Great Organizational Skills

Finally, introverts like things being in their proper place.

It doesn’t matter if the arrangement only makes sense to us: we organize things and we stick to that organizational pattern.

This can be extremely helpful for situations where organization would be a high-value skill…say, like a workplace environment.

Combined with our observational skills, this more or less guarantees that introverts will have a place in most – if not all – office environments in plenty of different fields.

Keep in mind though, “organized” won’t always equate to “neat”, so adjust your habits accordingly!