Many people do not believe me when I tell them this, but I am an introvert. For the majority of my life, I’ve been fairly shy and quiet, very private and to myself. I’m still that way to this day, in some regard. A lot depends on the company around me. Now, what does this have to do with fitness modeling? Everything. Because I am an introvert, it is out of the ordinary that I would choose to associate myself with a sport where I have to expose most of my body and open up to people and swap “prep” stories. I don’t mind talking and networking with people at all, in fact, I enjoy it. Sometimes. I’m not nervous talking to another bikini or figure competitor in the pump up room when we’re getting ready to show our stuff on stage. I just get to a point where, internally, I ask “what do I have to say remotely interesting to this person that they would want to engage in conversation with me?” And then I shut down. But I have to think about who I’m around. These are men/women that have gone through the same prep that I’ve gone through to get where they are now, in the same place I am. There is no reason for me not to open up. Their story may help me, and vice versa.
The exposing my body portion of it all is somewhat different. I stopped being shy about my body a long time ago. I figured because I was working out consistently this would be the perfect way to showcase my rock hard body, dazzling smile and the sparkle in my eye for the lights. But a small part of me wanted to hold back. I did not know how I would be perceived. But I suddenly realized I did not care what anyone thought of me because it was my body. If I kept up with this introverted “behavior” then I would miss out on a lot of things in life. So, to the stage I go!
As I’ve stated in earlier posts, fitness modeling is completely out of the box for me. It is something that I, surprisingly, took naturally too and enjoyed. While there are those stressful, panic stricken moments of discouragement, fear and lingering thoughts, I have to give myself credit for sticking it out as long as I have and making it work to my advantage. I do not regard my personality trait as being a character flaw. I think of it as being that one trait that sets me apart from everyone else. One may question, what in the world would an introvert be doing body building/fitness modeling competitions for? Just debunking the myth that you have to be defined and confined to the demarcation of said trait, one competition at a time.
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