As a former wallflower who now routinely gets mistaken for an extrovert, I just want to encourage us introverts out there that being social is a skill, just like marketing, programming, or reading. As with any skill, some people are born naturals and others have to work at it a bit more, but you CAN improve if you set your mind to it. The frustrating thing is that often us nerds spent all of high school learning advanced chemistry and how to code in 3 different languages while everybody else spent it improving their social skills (parties!)—so we have to catch up with everybody else.

But you CAN catch up. And it's worth the attempt. Some of my best clients are people I introduced myself to; some of my best friends I met by just throwing myself out there in a large group.

3 years ago nthj was afraid he was wired this way and could never change. If he had just known that eventually he would, I think the struggle would have been a lot easier.