Social Anxiety
this one is pretty dear to me…
Brook Slagle • 2023-11-19
yo its brook. this one is pretty dear to me…
Social anxiety.
I am an only child and an introvert. I learned extroverted tendencies in order to survive in our modern, hyper-connected world.
I was raised by a single mom, who is VERY outgoing (in order to survive). But like myself, is introverted by nature.
This nature can cause many to struggle.
I grew up hesitating to talk with others and was shy.
But building on X, writing to my newsletter (to now 13 people!), and making calls with potential clients are all very extroverted things.
How did I do this?
I got past the FIRST.
The first is the:
First call
First cold dm
First walk up and talk to a stranger
First whatever…
It is hella frightening. Especially if you struggle to make conversation, or, if you are like me, have a speech impediment that can make it doubly hard to communicate verbally.
But it hasn’t stopped me.
I have sent over 3.9k posts on X, sent more cold DM’s than I care to count (and cringe at the majority of them…), and have taken so many calls with other creators that I can’t keep their names all straight.
I stuttered through the beginning of each conversation.
I stumbled to have the “perfect” cold DM.
But each time, I improved my delivery. Structured my cold-dm better. And I got better results.
It is a SKILL.
And like all skills, extroverted tendencies can be learned. Learning is completed by getting your reps in.
I treated it like a numbers game and got my reps in. And it has helped dramatically.
These calls and connections have given me friends, and even some that have even become clients for my services and business partners.
All because I was able to break past my FIRST.
There is a saying…
First time, first nerves.
Once you get through the first time, you realize that it wasn’t really all that bad. And It isn’t what your brain made it out to be.
You just needed to do it.
So, I challenge you…
Send that cold DM.
Ask the girl / guy for their number
Accept that random DM from another creator and get on a call with them.
You never know where those connections will take you.
They might end up paying you (literally).
The core of my brand, business, and identity are founded off my connections.
Sounds backwards too for an introvert.
But it all happened because I was willing to accept the risk of the first and overcome my first time, first nerves.
I hope you have enjoyed this little entry on social anxiety and breaking through your first.
btw - I recently dropped a little template for thumbnails on ConvertKit. it is pretty neat. if you struggle with making thumbnails on convertkit and preventing text from getting clipped, this might help.
link for it here: https://mail.brookslagle.com/ck-thumbnail-template
As always…
KEEP GOING
B.S.