Book Review: Quiet by Susan Cain
This series on the blog shares some of the helpful nuggets from business or psychology books in case they help your art practice as much as they help mine.
This time, it’s Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World that Can't Stop Talking by Susan Cain.
As an Introvert and a more natural listener than a talker, I could have chosen about 20-odd quotes from this book that can help your art if you are an introverted creative, but I've boiled it down to 3:
3 quotes for Creatives from Quiet by Susan Cain:
1. To the Introvert who teaches your art, delivers talks and demonstrations or gets behind a camera to share your work with the world, this quote is for you:
'Introverts are capable of acting like extroverts for the sake of work they consider important, people they love, or anything they value highly.
...[T]he best way to act out of character is to stay as true to yourself as you possibly can—starting by creating as many “restorative niches” as possible in your daily life. “Restorative niche” is Professor Little’s term for the place you go when you want to return to your true self. It can be a physical place, like the path beside the Richelieu River, or a temporal one, like the quiet breaks you plan between sales calls.'
2. To the Introvert who Leads, Manages or Organises Events, your quiet can be powerful:
'Grant and his colleagues analyzed data from one of the five biggest pizza chains in the United States. They discovered that the weekly profits of the stores managed by extroverts were 16 percent higher than the profits of those led by introverts—but only when the employees were passive types who tended to do their job without exercising initiative.
Introverted leaders had the exact opposite results. When they worked with employees who actively tried to improve work procedures, their stores outperformed those led by extroverts by more than 14 percent.'
3. For the introverted who wish they could share more boldly:
'Introvert persistence was more than a match for extrovert buzz....even at a task where social skills might be considered at a premium.
Persistence isn’t very glamorous. If genius is one percent inspiration and ninety-nine percent perspiration, then as a culture we tend to lionize the one percent. We love its flash and dazzle. But great power lies in the other ninety-nine percent. “It’s not that I’m so smart,” said Einstein, who was a consummate introvert. “It’s that I stay with problems longer.”'
Is It Worth the Read?
Yes, regardless of if you consider yourself an Introvert, Extrovert or Ambivert - this book helps you understand both the Introverts and Extroverts in your life better.
As a highly Introverted person myself, it helped me to understand and harness the strength of my Introversion, rather than seeing it as a hindrance when living within the ‘Extrovert Ideal.’
You can Find out more about Susan Cain’s work on her website: www.susancain.net
Want to Make More art?
If you want to Quietly get on with Making More Art, take the FREE 6 day Challenge: Overcome Obstacles and Make More Art, which helps you to get out of your own way and get down to making the art you want to.
It’s perfect for you if you are sitting wondering why you love making art, yet never seem to be 'in the mood.' You know you want to improve your practice but can't find the time and don't consistently commit to it.
Maybe it's because...
You're exhausted juggling the demands of work, family and life and have no time to breathe never mind create art.
Perhaps you've decided you're not 'good enough' so there's no point in 'wasting' your time trying?
You don’t know where to start, because it seems so overwhelming.
You don't have a dedicated space so you can't get in the zone.
You might tell yourself these things, but deep down, you know you have unrealised potential to explore and you're tired of leaving it to 'later.'
The truth is, you can make your art, even if you're busy earning and caring for your family, you just need to give yourself permission to commit to yourself.
This series will bring awareness to the most common obstacles that get in your way and give you the tools, strategies and inspiration to overcome them such as;
6 Methods to combat Inspiration Drought
How to Source Images so you're never Stuck for ideas again.
2 Deceptively Simple ways to Just Start
How to determine the Best time to Make Art
3 ways to overcome Imposter Syndrome
The Artist's Rollercoaster and How to Survive it.
The 3 Imperative things to uncover to make Art Consistently.
3 Art Myths you can demolish once and for all
The Most important 3-Letter word.
How to Beat a Rut
And Much More...
Take a Deep dive into the common problems that hold Artist's back, start to feel inspired again, less stressed and excited to make and share more of the Art you love.
Pop your name and email into the form below to get the First Lesson of this FREE Challenge - I’m beyond excited to see what you’ll end up creating:
Why you should Stop and Smell the Roses, and how it helps your art.
Plus, The Porcelain Roses Collection