General

I won't say I've become an extrovert, but I did overcome the social anxiety that kept me silent and terrified as a young teen. In those years, I worried constantly about other people judging me and was convinced I was boring and awful. Now, I don't care very much what people think. As for what helped, I'm afraid external validation was key. Meeting people who didn't know me in high school made me feel free, free to express my real self to people who hadn't already judged me harshly. Those new people liked the real me and told me so, and eventually I got comfortable enough to assume that most people won't hate me. And I like myself, too, which is also key.
Forcing yourself to be social is good, sometimes. Fake it 'til you make it.

lol I'm deffinetly better then I was, but I'm still horrifically shy...

I don't think its as much about being judged with me as to just honestly believing that no one cares about me and is interested in what I have to say.

I can acctually pin point this back to kindigarten, sitting in a large group at lunch time, everyone talking about stuff, I decided to give my input to the conversation and all of a sudden everyone went quiet, awkward silence, then everyone went on talking as if I hadn't said a thing...

From then on I was the "silent one" lol I remember in High School, others would even try and talk to me and work out why I didn't talk or say anything, I'd just respond with "I have nothing to say".

These days I can talk if spoken too and i'm pretty good at conversing if someone else has instigated it, but I could not start a convo with someone if my life depended on it. I also still berate myself for days and weeks after what I see as "saying something stupid" lol.

Oh well, life sucks and then you die anyway

I am mostly an introvert who CAN be extroverted if he feels should. I know I should be more extroverted than I actually am, but most of the time, I am mostly in my own company, as well as a shy guy. I know I need to work on my own shyness, but I do have my moments when I am more extroverted.

I don't make friends that easily sometimes. Part of it has to do with the fact that I have to see if the person is worthy at first. You don't always know if someone deep down might end up screwing you over in the end. But I guess maybe I should try to take my chances. Like earlier, I was over at Sam's Club and saw this pretty girl working a sample booth. Although I was mostly talking business with her, I was able to keep eye contact, as well as speak clearly.

I still need work, but at the same time, I don't mind being alone. It all depends.

everyone else has written emotional essays, but i don't do that, and i'm quite late for work. so here's my s***, me2 style response:

Yeah, I'm better than I was

Introversion is not a disease.

Good points from MyLittleSecret about the different between introversion/extroversion and being shy (or even quiet). My Mom is a quiet extrovert.....she loves have people over, hosting parties, being with groups, but you'll usually find her off to the side. She gets energized by having people around, but she is quiet, so people would not always guess it.

My wife is the opposite, she is very introverted, gets easily exhausted from being around people, but as soon as she is with people she comes across as very sociable and outgoing, making sure nobody is being ignored, laughing, making things happen....all the while secretly trying to figure out how quickly she can get out of there before she is totally burnt out.

Ideally one should be able to function both ways.