Overcoming shyness

Shyness is a crippling mindset that paralyzes its victims preventing them from going out and enjoying all that life has to offer. It does this by instilling a tremendous fear into the persons mind that becomes so real to them that they feel the need to escape the situation that is causing them distress at all cost. If you are shy you know exactly what I'm talking about.
Shyness is something that I personally battle and I know how hard it can be to put that fear in its place, but IT IS POSSIBLE. Do not get discouraged if you do not get  over your shyness over night, for most people it is a process that is marked by gradual process.
The first step in the process is to stop viewing yourself as a shy person. What I used to do was describe myself as shy. Whether it was verbally or mentally I would put shyness on my list of character traits. I told myself this and believed it, therefore it became my reality. Now instead of constantly telling myself that I am shy, I tell myself that I am outgoing and sure enough I have gradually become more of what I thought.
As I said before, overcoming your shyness is a process, so in order to succeed you must work on it EVERYDAY. Everyday do at least one thing that your fear is telling you not to do. Even simply saying 'hi' to a stranger is a good start. The key here is to consistently stand up to that fear until it no longer becomes a factor in your decision making.
Now conquering this fear may be difficult and there may be times were you stumble and fall back into your old ways, but be PERSISTENT. You can and WILL CONQUER YOUR SHYNESS if you choose to. History is littered with famous and successful people who were able to overcome their shyness, so why not you. There is too much life to live to be stuck in your own cocoon of fear.


For a list of famous people who overcame their shyness visit http://www.shakeyourshyness.com/shypeople.htm