Is it possible to change your core personality?

[onetwothreefour]

In the recent few days i got really discouraged of every desire i currently have. FOr most of my life i was a textbook introvert. A really shy persom with no social skills. But i was always unhappy with that. I am disgusted of the thought of being an introvert. I want to konw people. I want to talk. I want to lead people. And to be respected and loved by others. And this evoked a huge inner conflict, because i don't know if it is possible. I completely lost track of who i am many years ago, and right now i doN't know who i am and what am i like. I am depressed again probably because i can't stand a minute more at the course i am currently at in University. I am afraid that by studying physics i would become a damn recluse who lives in a tiny room solving equations. I know i doN't want to be an introvert, but everything points to that i was born this way so i will never change. But what makes someone an introvert or an extrovert? Am i an extrovert by wishing to be one, by having all the desires of an extrovert, or i am just a pathetic introvert who tries to idealise himself?

[Mariposa, (KnJ)]

I can tell you it is possible to change.  I was an introvert with a very bad inferiority complex as a child and teen and at some point after High School I came out of my shell.  I think part of that was because I worked with the public, first as a hostess at a restaurant and then later as a retail sales person.  So my advice to you is to get out, feel the fear and do it anyway.....put yourself out there.  It's a hard thing to do but you must do it.  And also realize that you are the only person who thinks the way you do about yourself......which is very negative.  No one else thinks what you think about you...only you do.  It took me a while to realize that, people weren't talking about me, they didn't even care.  I was the only person standing in my own way and telling myself horrible things about myself was self-defeating behavior and needed to STOP!! 

Start giving your self positive affirmations about yourself. 

http://olddog.wrytestuff.com/swa78623.htm

http://www.secretchanges.com/positive-affirmations.html

[billjonesplanet]

hi! i really can understand you.. and i also know it is quite difficult to believe in change, when you are surrounded with circumstances you dont like..

#1 thing you can do is to TAKE ACTION RIGHT NOW,   

you have written down all the things you dont want  , id say you should watch the movie secret again 

what really works for me, is to write down everyday for even 20-30 minutes while listenning to good music, about all the things iwant my life to be filled with.. i usually write the same things everyday, over and over and over with deep emotion..  

i tell you this works, and it is amazing!!! BECAUSE IT MUST, BECAUSE IT IS A LAW 

good luck

if you are interested in applyin the law better, check this out
http://tinyurl.com/youcangetit21
or follow me at
billjonesplanet   my twitter account

[Ginny]

I totally agree with Mariposa, and have had a similar experience myself. I was extremely shy as a teenager and in my early twenties, and didn't want to be that way. I worked at it, and these days i am not what most people would call shy - The more you put yourself out there, the more the fear will fade.

ps - I studied physics and mathematics at uni as well. Academia - even maths based academia - is a lot more sociable than you might think. You won't be stuck in a room solving equations on your own, because when you come up with a new theory or method, you'll be so thrilled by it that you want to share it. Also, there are all sorts of opportunities for collaborative projects across disciplines.

[Vicki Christina]

onetwothreefour, People do change from introvert to extrovert.   I have followed Myers Briggs personality testing for decades and my scores change from time to time.  I am sometimes living and thinking as an introvert and as an extrovert and different phases of my life.