Think about all the times you have been making a decision and you’ve felt torn between different options. Perhaps logic is telling you that you should do one thing, but your heart isn’t really in it? Or maybe you’re blindly following your heart into a situation while your gut is screaming at you that it’s the…
How is it possible that two people can experience the same situation so differently? How can one person feel confident while the other is anxious? Because our thoughts and feelings seem real to us, we believe they must be true. But what if they’re not? Could we just be jumping to conclusions? The way you think…
Have you ever felt like the job interview is institutionalised discrimination against introverts? When I fill out a job application or write a CV, my introvert skills serve me well. I can research thoroughly, carefully consider an employer’s needs and how my skills might fit, and then present that information coherently. I’m often invited to interview for 4…
The one that doesn’t speak Have you always been the quiet one? The one that doesn’t speak? Me too. I’d listen to friends’ discussions from the sidelines. I’d hear the constant chatter, but I wouldn’t chip in. I didn’t know how to talk to people. Did I have any thoughts worth sharing? I often couldn’t…
Bring your boldest self to your interview How do you want to be seen in your next job interview? You probably want your potential employer to see you as confident, genuine and capable. Then why do we, all too often, approach the job interview with dread, execute it with anxiety, and leave it with regret?…
When was the last time you made a decision that you knew, deep down, was the wrong thing to do? We’ve all done it, haven’t we? We’ve all got a story to share about a relationship that shouldn’t have been entered into; a job that made you miserable; or that time you invested in education…
What does the word ‘networking’ mean for you? For me, it conjures up images of a space crammed with people; some awkwardly making small talk, some deep into delivering their elevator pitch. There’s that annoying guy running around the room thrusting his business cards into the sweaty palms of politely uninterested attendees. Everyone wants to…
University life is often romanticised as a period of freedom, self-discovery, and academic pursuit. However, for many students, it can also be a time of significant stress and anxiety. A report by Graham Russell and Steve Shaw from Plymouth University delves into the impact of social anxiety on student well-being and learning, shedding light on…
Don’t call my child shy I know, I know; it’s so easy to do, right? Every parent wants to raise a confident child. Yet, you say hello to a child and he buries his face in his mummy’s shoulder. The next words that come out of your mouth are something like “Aww he’s shy” or “You…
As far back as I can recall, I’ve always found it challenging to be in groups of people. I remember feeling much happier and secure with one friend at a time, one person to focus my attention and energy on rather than a crowd of several differing opinions, personalities, voices and energies. At secondary school,…
My Story I have always been the ‘quiet one’. The one that doesn’t speak. As a child, I was described as painfully shy and that is exactly how it felt for me… I hated going to school. I would never volunteer to answer a teacher’s question. But, of course, you don’t have to –you just hear…