Deep struggles with the social side of entrepreneurship (ASD, ND)

I tweeted about this but since I've got practically no followers it hasn't got much reach and I've not got any feedback yet. I'm hoping some here can offer their perspectives.

Are there any autistic (or extremely private/reserved/shy neurotypical) IHers who find it's a constant battle to put yourself out there, share what you're doing, speak to people you don't know...all that stuff often classed as networking? Community building seems to be crucial for small businesses/indies to achieve success, but when you've a strong tendency (compulsion, even) to keep to yourself, how do you counteract and overcome it?

Nontrepreneur

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Indie Brains

on January 7, 2022

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Copy/pasting my response from a different thread below. That response was about introversion, but the content applies to all neurodivergent characteristics:
Introvert(ish) here. I don't have a quick fix for this, but I also don't think a quick fix would do for growing a product.

In short I think it comes down to changing your mindset and habits in ways that help you "become" the kind of person who can put yourself and your product out there. (Sure, you have a launch coming up in a few days, but this won't be the end of your product growth activity — it'll be the beginning!)

So imo the first thing to consider is your mindset.

You'll notice I added an "ish" at the end when I called myself an introvert in the first sentence above. That's because though our character traits are somewhat stable through life, they can swing wildly from moment to moment and from one context to the next. Psychologists distinguish long-term "traits" from short-term "states" in this way; you and I may have introverted traits, but we can enter into states of extraversion. For this reason, I try to be cautious about labeling myself in a way that doesn't give me flexibility.

A couple of good books here are Mindset by Carol Dweck and Me, Myself, and Us by Brian Little.

The second thing to consider, which might be more helpful in the short term, is habit formation.

Here's what works for me. When I know I should do something that doesn't come naturally to me, I like to break that thing down into little pieces (sometimes so little that it seems silly) and commit to at least doing one of the little pieces on a regular basis. Basically: exposure therapy. It becomes easier over time. And then as it becomes easier, I gradually add more pieces to the habit until I'm regularly doing the large thing I originally struggled to do.

Again: you have time to grow into the roles that your startup demands of you.
channingallen

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2 years ago
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  Basically: exposure therapy.
  
  I follow a similar strategy when faced with doing things that are very unnatural and uncomfortable for me. Within the context of entrepreneurship I still haven't figured out what works. Engaging with people — and getting them to engage with me — remains a significant challenge.
  
  ConsoleFreak
  
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  2 years ago
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