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Overcoming Social Anxiety and Shyness — Step by Step

Shyness and social anxiety can range from mild to extremely debilitating. They can stop people from developing friendships, working, and even going anywhere in public. Many well-known figures have experienced social anxiety — including Abraham Lincoln, Albert Einstein, Eleanor Roosevelt, Theodore Roosevelt, Thomas Jefferson, Harrison Ford, Brad Pitt, Michelle Pfeiffer, David Bowie, David Letterman, Nicole Kidman, and Jim Carrey. The more you learn and understand it, the more you can feel in control.

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Journal

Up When the Room Is WatchingThe thought of putting your hand up at the local footy club meeting, suggesting a new roster system, or piping up during a Bunnings sausage sizzle debrief can…
How to Build a Quiet Exit Signal with a Trusted FriendStanding in a crowded room, watching the clock, rehearsing an excuse in your head — anyone who lives with that feeling knows how exhausting it is. You tell…
What to Do When You Feel Shy Around People You've Known for YearsThere's something quietly confusing about feeling shy with friends you've shared holidays, flat whites, and footy banter with for years. You know their…
How to Stop Overthinking Your Tone of Voice in Text MessagesFor many people living with social anxiety, sending a text message can feel like walking into a job interview. You draft a reply, reread it five times, and…
Moving Through the Nerves: How Exercise Eases Pre-Event TensionThat flutter in your chest before a presentation, a first date, or a crowded gathering at a friend's place in Bondi is something almost everyone recognises.…
How to handle a friend who dominates the conversationConversations are meant to feel like a shared path, with each person adding a step or two along the way. When one friend keeps walking ahead and never looks…
Why asking for feedback feels harder than it shouldThere's a particular kind of tension that builds when a deadline looms or a class assignment is handed in, and the natural step after should be asking for…
How to make requests without bracing for the noAsking for something small - a favour from a colleague, a price match at the shops, a deadline tweak at work - can feel like walking towards a cliff edge for…
Navigating Social Pressure to Drink at Australian GatheringsThe Friday knock-off tradition in many Sydney and Melbourne offices can feel like a social contract you did not realise you had signed. Add a few cold beers at…
Calming the fear of being recorded in social momentsSmartphones have quietly reshaped Australian social life. A birthday catch-up at a pub in Fitzroy, a work Christmas party in the Sydney CBD, a wedding…

Explore the Shyness and Social Anxiety blog for more articles and insights.