There are many books about overcoming shyness and social anxiety that shy people should read. If you are a shy or introvert yourself, I bet you have already read quite a few of those…

So don’t worry, this post is not about that.

Because we’re so focused on the negatives of being shy, we often end up completely overlooking the good qualities shy and introverts have. I never realized this until I read some of these books I’m going to tell you about.

So without further ado, let’s move on to the list.

1. How To Win Friends and Influence People

By Dale Carnegie

I first got my hands on this book over ten years ago when I was taking counseling sessions get help with my shyness. My therapist recommended I read this book to improve my socializing skills and connecting more with my co-workers at the advertising agency I was working at the time.

I was surprised how the book was almost solely focusing on listening and understanding the other person.

It’s funny how shy people are, in fact, quite good at that; we’re just really terrible at using that information to keeping up conversations and building relationships.

While this is not a book aimed for shy people, but rather anyone who wishes to improve their life and career, I found this extremely useful and encouraging to a shy person.

2. Quiet Impact: How to be a successful Introvert

by Sylvia Loehken

The second book on my list is for introverts and shy people to help them be more successful in work and their careers.

This is the one area where shy people tend to struggle the most, feeling that their shyness has ruined so many opportunities.

But instead of trying to solve the problem by getting rid of your shyness or introvert personality, this book aims to help you embrace the good qualities and use them to your advantage, not against you.

She does talk about the weaknesses too, but to help you understand and deal with them in a way that they won’t sabotage your career.

3. The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People: Powerful Lessons in Personal Change

by Stephen R. Covey

It is one of those books portrayed as the “must-read” in personal and professional development. The principles covered in the book are not exclusive to those in positions of leadership or senior management. They are equally if not more relevant in our personal development and in thinking about how we chose to live our lives. The author is a big advocate for personal growth, change and becoming more efficient human beings.

But what’s in this book for shy people?

Like in any personal growth, in overcoming shyness these seven habits will help you become more aware of the world around you and realize that we have more control over our lives than we tend to think.

Mastering these habits will help you in your journey to becoming more outgoing and social person, and more importantly accept that is it you who decides how the world treats you, not the other way round.

It’s also great to notice that in the teachings of this book, the skill of listening and understanding the others plays a big part. It’s, in fact, one of the seven habits.

What books have you found useful?

If you haven’t read these books yet, I will highly recommend you pick up at least one of them as they have helped me a lot personally. Do share your experiences below in the comments and let me know if you have any other books that have helped you that would be worth adding to the list.

[et_bloom_inline optin_id=”optin_3″]