If you think that shyness is a 'normal' condition that you just need to endure, think again. People who are painfully shy miss out on a lot of things in life - from personal relationships, to job opportunities, to self-development. In extreme cases, shyness can manifest on the outside, making a person palpitate, blunder on his or her speech, and be visibly apprehensive. Shyness on different people could have different levels and causes, but the main point is that shyness is a hindrance to your social, personal and professional growth. Here are some of the steps that you can take as a cure for shyness:

1. Do not let your fear of any social interaction get the better of you.

Shyness is rooted from the fact that you have a lot of doubts and insecurities about yourself. Just like the cliche which says that you have to love yourself before you can love somebody else - you need to be confident and comfortable about who you are as a person. You will slowly see, once you take on a different attitude within yourself, that by gaining a lot more confidence with yourself, you can slowly but surely overcome your shyness. It is never healthy to let your fear of social interaction take over your life, to the point that you cannot realize your full potential.

2. Try to get out of your comfort zone and cultivate new friendships.

Cultivating new friendships is one of the best cures for shyness. If you always mingle with the people whom you already know, there is no chance to better yourself and get over your shyness. Go out and try to meet as many people as you can. This can serve as your 'practice' ground for social interaction. Another thing that you can do is reward yourself once you take a small step in getting over your shyness. These self-rewards can serve as your motivator so that you can slowly work towards getting over your shyness.

3. Determine the root of your shyness and take steps towards conquering your fear of interacting with other people.

If your shyness roots from the fact that you are afraid of making a speech blunder, just like when you are speaking in public, then the solution would be to practice conversing with other people on a casual environment. If your shyness roots from insecurity about your clothes or your appearance, try to look for ways on how you can improve your looks so that you can feel a lot better about yourself.

A 'makeover' that starts from the outside will make you feel great about yourself on the inside as well. Another root cause of shyness is insecurities - probably from something about your past or your background that you are quite ashamed of. Do not let the past haunt you for the rest of your life. No matter how difficult it may seem, there will come a point when you would need to get over what happened before and move on. By determining the exact cause of where your shyness is coming from, you would have an idea of how you can cure it.

4. Ask the help of a friend if you need to so that you can cure shyness.

Do not force it. If you do not have enough self-discipline to get over your shyness, then ask the help of a friend. It may take a little while before you can completely get over your shyness but as long as you continually work on it, you will slowly but surely achieve your goal - preferably with the help of a friend.

They always say that the people that we meet would somehow make an impact with our lives in one way or another. With these tips which are a great cure for shyness, you can start reaching out and enriching your life by filling it with people who will make your life more meaningful.

Author's Bio: 

Peter Murphy is a peak performance expert. He recently produced a very popular free report: 10 Simple Steps to Developing Communication Confidence. Apply now because it is available only at: http://www.howtotalkwithconfidence.com/blog