Franklin Taggart's Unconventional Life Blog

  I've known that I am an introvert from the first time I heard the meaning of the word.  Not to be confused with shyness or timidity, my introversion is more about conserving energy and being able to prevent myself from going into a state of sensory overload or overwhelm. Being in noisy and crowded spaces has always been a challenge. I talked about this quite a bit in my podcast, Your Own Best Company.  Upon hearing these things, some friends of mine suggested that  I might qualify as a Highly Sensitive Person in addition to being an introvert. They referred me to the book  The Highly Sensitive Person: How to Thrive When the World Overwhelms You  by Elaine N. Aron. I had heard the term HSP in self-help circles but had never looked into it in  any detail.  There were definitely some parallels in the book that related to my experience: Gravitating to uncrowded spaces where solitude could be found. Finding ways to regulate the stimulation in my envi...

 I took the Myers-Briggs (MBTI) forty years ago to find that I'm an INFP. Think what you want about that, but I'll just use it as a reference to say that my personality tends to land on the side of high sensitivity, empathy, and intuition. Truth be told, I find most marketing and sales techniques difficult to carry out and sustain for any length of time without ending up feeling completely exhausted and at odds with my own core values. The challenges I've had in all of my career and business efforts are mostly around finding ways to succeed while honoring my strengths and personality traits instead of ignoring them and playing through the pain. For me, the key to succeeding has been to focus on building high-quality, strong relationships with people and delivering service worthy of referral. It has worked, but it took time to figure out and build a system around it. An interesting observation recently is that the people who have been finding their way to my coaching tend to...

Good morning on July 5th, where the neighborhood fireworks ended around midnight and the birds started chirping a little before 4 AM and the dog started sighing in my ear and the neighbors started lighting fireworks at 8 AM and I can hear my wife on her phone call from the other room. Such is life. Today I have to cultivate my own solitude and find some inner quiet in spite of my surroundings. In this Coffee Break, I have a few of my go-to ideas in store for you. Being hyper-tuned to other people's voices and noises can be my biggest distraction. I don't know why that is but I've had that sensitivity my whole life. It's almost like vigilance when other people are nearby to make sure they are taken care of. It makes it hard to get my own work done. Listen to learn more... #solitude #introvert #creativity  

 ▼▼▼Watch and Listen Below!▼▼▼ Alan Heymann has a knack for coaching fellow introverts, helping them find their superpowers in an extroverted world. Alan also specializes in coaching through transitions — such as the transition from individual contributor to leader, the transition into a larger and more complex role, or the transition into a different career. He brings a warm, open and energetic presence to his coaching clients. To date, Alan has coached leaders who were born in 19 countries and work on 5 continents. Alan is the author of the book Don’t Just Have the Soup: 52 Analogies for Leadership, Coaching and Life. An expert communicator and engaging speaker, Alan spent more than two decades in public, government and nonprofit communications -- leading teams from 2 to more than 100 people who use words and images to inspire positive change in society. Inspired by a career transformation he brought about with the support of an executive coach; Alan decided to become a coach him...

Introversion is not a disability. Seems like there are a bunch of advice videos for how to deal with introverts. I think it's time to talk about how to live with extroverts. There needs to be a weekend workshop on how to be quiet and reflective, or how to live with less stimulation. The inspiration for this topic is that I live with two extrovert people and very likely one extrovert dog. The need for stimulation is constant around here and it just got more interesting today with my son's acquisition of a new drum set. I have a small room with headphones not attached to any device. I go there when I need to cleanse myself of the overstimulation around me. You'll hear an example in the video. Thanks for joining my Coffee Break! #introvert #livingtogether #extrovert

▼▼▼Watch and Listen Below▼▼▼ Karen Diffey helps ambitious, committed introverts tap into their natural strengths to become inspiring, authentic, and confident leaders. She’s on a mission to help introverted women leaders be the best version of themselves - competent, fulfilled, and happy in work and life. She says “I know how overwhelming it can be not believing what you’re really good at. Revisiting challenging situations and constantly wondering how you could have handled things differently. As confusing as it may seem, there is a path from where you are now to stepping up to achieve your next level goals and I can show you the way.” Her clients describe her as intuitive, insightful, calm, and a guiding light to clarity. She challenges performance risks in a productive and positive way, building resilience and confidence. About herself, she says, “Personally, back in 2014 I was a Finance & Business Director. Outwardly, I was confident and put on a good show. Inwardly, I struggl...

The past few years I've seen scads of products and services targeted to introverts. Selling for Introverts, Marketing Strengths of Introverts, Dating for Introverts, The Best Businesses for Introverts ...the list grows daily. I find it very interesting that I have not seen ONE product or service that is targeted to extroverts, except maybe those few that have to do with How To Deal With Your Introvert kinds of articles and books. Not one. This is a curious thing. I wonder if there is a market for things like The Benefits of a Rich Inner Life , or maybe How to Recharge Without Having to Drain People , or even Alone Time: A Guide for Extroverts . Is anyone but me seeing how ridiculous this is? Based on a tool that's about as scientific as a newspaper horoscope, all of a sudden introversion is a thing, and not only is it a thing, it requires remediation in a world that is largely extroverted. I'm not completely sure why Myers and Briggs and their ilk decided to use the ...