quiet-the-power-of-introverts-in-a-world-that-cant-stop-talking-susan-cain
your sweet spot as possible. People whoare aware of their sweet spots have thepower to leave jobs that exhaust themand start new and satisfying businesses.They can hunt for homes based on thetemperaments of their family members—withcozy window seats and othernooks and crannies for the introverts,and large, open living-diningspaces for the extroverts.Understanding your sweet spot canincrease your satisfaction in everyarena of your life, but it goes even furtherthan that. Evidence suggests thatsweet spots can have life-or-death consequences.According to a recent studyof military personnel conductedthrough the Walter Reed Army Instituteof Research, introverts function betterthan extroverts when sleep deprived,which is a cortically de-arousing condition(because losing sleep makes us less364/929
alert, active, and energetic). Drowsy extrovertsbehind the wheel should be especiallycareful—at least until they increasetheir arousal levels by chuggingcoffee or cranking up the radio. Conversely,introverts driving in loud,overly arousing traffic noise shouldwork to stay focused, since the noisemay impair their thinking.Now that we know about optimallevels of stimulation, Esther’s problem—wingingit at the podium—alsomakes sense. Overarousal interfereswith attention and short-termmemory—key components of the abilityto speak on the fly. And since publicspeaking is an inherently stimulatingactivity—even for those, like Esther,who suffer no stage fright—introvertscan find their attention impaired justwhen they need it most. Esther couldlive to be a one-hundred-year-old365/929
- Page 313 and 314: family goes to the beach every week
- Page 315 and 316: high-reactive nervous system. One t
- Page 317 and 318: Kagan tells me about the time hewat
- Page 319 and 320: like asking whether a blizzard is c
- Page 321 and 322: “The university is filled with in
- Page 323 and 324: extremely low-reactive kids? Often
- Page 325 and 326: According to Jay Belsky, a leadingp
- Page 327 and 328: it’s becoming the leader of their
- Page 329 and 330: Stephen Suomi, the scientist whocon
- Page 331 and 332: focuses on problems and pathology.
- Page 333 and 334: Most people would appreciate thefle
- Page 335 and 336: Developmental Neuroimaging and Psyc
- Page 337 and 338: We gaze reverently at the fMRI scan
- Page 339 and 340: doing all these early observations
- Page 341 and 342: strangers and feel “Geez! Who are
- Page 343 and 344: We might call this the “rubber ba
- Page 345 and 346: conditioned a rat to associate a ce
- Page 347 and 348: knows it. When she arrives at a par
- Page 349 and 350: makes people describe her as a “f
- Page 351 and 352: intimate backyard talks with her mo
- Page 353 and 354: part was when she got to close the
- Page 355 and 356: To solve Esther’s problem, let’
- Page 357 and 358: they’re constricted, so the brain
- Page 359 and 360: personality psychologist David Fund
- Page 361 and 362: also underperformed—taking an ave
- Page 363: state lasts only until your friend
- Page 367 and 368: Esther managed to solve her problem
- Page 369 and 370: I expected. There was a fashion des
- Page 371 and 372: turn to offer feedback. Did Lateesh
- Page 373 and 374: You seem so outgoing, they added.Yo
- Page 375 and 376: subjects that don’t interest them
- Page 377 and 378: the sixteenth president rising up b
- Page 379 and 380: chosen her for just this reason; in
- Page 381 and 382: At the same time, many told Eleanor
- Page 383 and 384: In the meantime, Eleanor found hers
- Page 385 and 386: When I hear that Aron will be theke
- Page 387 and 388: registration forms and name badges,
- Page 389 and 390: blue eyes that look as if they don
- Page 391 and 392: there only when she withdrew from t
- Page 393 and 394: attribute about fifteen motivations
- Page 395 and 396: intuitive (just as Aron’s husband
- Page 397 and 398: games or reading unfamiliar words.A
- Page 399 and 400: was distracting. But Aron had a gre
- Page 401 and 402: In 1921, FDR contracted polio. It w
- Page 403 and 404: from her trips, she often told him
- Page 405 and 406: was Eleanor who made sure he knewho
- Page 407 and 408: apparently breaking the toy gives t
- Page 409 and 410: and of another eight-year-old who c
- Page 411 and 412: some evidence that sociopaths haved
- Page 413 and 414: they camouflage signs of a nervous
your sweet spot as possible. People who
are aware of their sweet spots have the
power to leave jobs that exhaust them
and start new and satisfying businesses.
They can hunt for homes based on the
temperaments of their family members—with
cozy window seats and other
nooks and crannies for the introverts,
and large, open living-dining
spaces for the extroverts.
Understanding your sweet spot can
increase your satisfaction in every
arena of your life, but it goes even further
than that. Evidence suggests that
sweet spots can have life-or-death consequences.
According to a recent study
of military personnel conducted
through the Walter Reed Army Institute
of Research, introverts function better
than extroverts when sleep deprived,
which is a cortically de-arousing condition
(because losing sleep makes us less
364/929
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