External recognition
We want other people to like us, we want them to recognize and appreciate our individual strengths, so we try to show them how great we can be.
We sell them our personalities hoping they’ll like what they see, but this mindset makes you even more awkward you’re trying to satisfy the expectations of others expectations that don’t actually exist.
Alright, let’s say you have a good sense of humor you want people to like you, so you make jokes constantly, you want to prove to everyone in the room that you’re a funny person, but no one expects you to be funny, no one needs you to entertain them.
So, if you want to stop being awkward, just change your focus, stop advertising your personality, instead be happy, be comfortable, be a positive influence on the lives of others.
You could listen more and talk less, you could give people your undivided attention, you could ask open-ended questions and give positive reinforcement at the end of the day, it doesn’t matter what specific techniques you use if people smile around you, you have nothing to worry about.
