Your Most Extroverted Moments Signify What You’re Doing Right

When you’re feeling—and acting—your most extroverted, it’s an ironic sign that you’re doing something good for yourself.

Have you ever noticed how extroverted you can be for someone who’s an introvert?

Maybe it happens quite frequently for you. Maybe it happens only rarely. Probably it’s somewhere in between.

But every so often, you surprise yourself—and/or others in your life—by temporarily turning into an extrovert.

Or so it seems.

What gives?

When Your Extroverted Side Emerges

For starters, introversion and extroversion lie on a continuum.

There’s no such thing as an introvert or an extrovert, despite our frequent, albeit understandable use of these shorthand references. A “pure” introvert or extrovert “would be in the lunatic asylum,” as Swiss psychiatrist Carl Jung once put it.

Rather, we all fall somewhere within a general range on the introversion-extroversion spectrum.

And the introverted half of that spectrum is itself quite broad—meaning that no two introverts are alike, particularly when it comes to how much extroverted behavior they may exhibit.

The nature-vs.-nurture debate factors into the equation too.

Yes, science says, our introversion is something we’re born with. But our life experiences, especially when we’re growing up, have a significant influence on how we live out our introversion, and therefore our extroverted side too, in everyday life.

But the clearest answer to the “what gives?” question is the most straightforward:

Your introversion fluctuates by situation.

And, counterintuitively, those times when you’re acting and feeling your most extroverted can function as a backhanded sign that you’re doing something right for yourself.

Think of the times when you act and feel your most extroverted.

What is happening at those times?

It could be any number of things…

You’re Passionate About the Topic or Task

Maybe you’re not much into chatting with the relatives during holiday get-togethers. But you come to life when one of your young nieces asks you to show her your elaborate electric train setup in the garage.

Maybe the thought of speaking in public revolts you—until an issue or a cause comes along that lights a fire under your feet.

And in your voice.

When you’re passionate about something, it’s easy and even fun to talk about it, whether it’s to one other person or to a large group.

That joy is a sort of barometer, telling you you’ve picked the right “something” to latch onto—and that you should hang onto it and cultivate it.

You’re Interacting One on One

If you’re like many if not most introverts, you will pick a one-on-one conversation over any other type of in-person interaction.

If that conversation can happen in a relatively distraction-free setting, and you and your counterpart can talk about something substantive (vs., say, the weather), so much the better.

Once again, in a situation like this one, you might be mistaken for an extrovert—which is a sign, is it not, that you should prioritize quiet, one-on-one, thought-provoking interactions in your life.

You’re Well Prepared.

Nothing will make the typical introvert clam up faster than being caught completely off guard, but that’s only the extreme (and comparatively rare) version of this variable.

Much more often, you simply find yourself not having enough time to think before responding to something or someone.

You’ve scrambled to make it on time to a meeting at work, for example, and once you’re there the ideas start flying by way too fast—so fast that you have no chance to react to them.

Sometimes, though, you simply don’t allow yourself to be caught unprepared. You ask for—and then carefully read, ahead of time—an agenda for that work meeting. You predict the likely topics (and sticking points) of discussion, and you think about what you’ll say and why.

And then, once the meeting is under way, you find yourself knowledgeably and confidently sharing your views, even as the discussions swirl around you.

No one mistakes you for an introvert now.

And that’s because you were ready—which signifies that being proactive and prepared is an essential life skill for you to employ.

You’re Feeling Healthy—Physically, Mentally, Emotionally, Spiritually

Let’s look at this variable from the opposite angle first.

When you’re feeling your worst as an introvert, you’re probably exhausted and cranky because you’re feeling so drained of energy.

These are the times when you almost certainly become even more introverted than you already are, and not without good reason; you’re trying to reclaim yourself, after all.

When you’re feeling good, on the other hand, you tend to do the opposite: Your extroverted side comes out a little more frequently and readily, a clear signal that whatever you’re doing to feel so good is working.

Keep doing it!

Or, if you’ve eased up for some reason, redouble your efforts so that you start feeling better again.

You’re Still an Introvert, Even When You’re Extroverted!

You’ll always be the introvert you are. That will never change.

Nor should it.

But when the extrovert in you comes roaring out, be sure to listen to the important message that it, too, delivers.

Because it’s telling you you’re onto, or into, something good.