Having a dry personality is terrible for your social life. With this, you won’t be able to attract strangers and turn them into friends, and the ones you already have may eventually grow weary of you. As terrible as this sounds, this indeed can happen if you’re someone who has a dry personality.
To that end, this is something you must immediately work on.
Not a lot of people know they have a dry personality. If you also can’t say for certain, read on and you’ll know if you truly have a dry personality. Then, we can work on what you can do to remedy this.
How To Know If You Have A Dry Personality
Here are the most common signs you should be able to spot if you’re someone who truly has a dry personality.
You find a lot of things unfunny
It’s common for people who have a dry personality to also lack a sense of humor. If you do have a dry personality, you may find a lot of things unfunny. If someone within your circle is telling a funny story or a joke, you may be the only one who doesn’t laugh alongside them.
A lot of the things you should be able to laugh about are genuinely funny too. It’s just that you personally just aren’t able to laugh at them for some reason.
You hardly react to emotional stories
When someone tells you a story that’s particularly emotional, it just doesn’t touch you the way it should. As a result, you aren’t able to react to it appropriately. The other person may even find it offensive that you’re not responding to them the way you should. This isn’t because you’re insensitive, this simply means you have a dry personality.
Another side effect of having a dry personality that also relates to this is the fact that it’s hard for you to empathize. Empathy is the tool that allows you to connect with people, be able to feel what they feel, and know how to properly interact with them. Since you lack empathy, you hardly react to stories that should emotionally move you.
It’s mistaken by others as being gloomy
A lot of people can mistake having a dry personality for being gloomy. As such, you may have had people already come up to you and ask you why you look and seem so gloomy.
Though a person can have a dry personality and also be gloomy at the same time, the two aren’t mutually exclusive. But it is a fact that having a dry personality can make you seem like you are gloomy, almost as if you have the weight of the world on your shoulders. You don’t necessarily feel gloomy, but you also can’t be cheerful – or at least look like it.
You often space out during conversations
You also have a tendency to space out during conversations. When someone tells you something interesting, you just can’t find yourself to focus on them. Instead, your eyes and mind wander off elsewhere. As a result, you always seem indifferent regardless of who it is you’re interacting with.
Although this can also be because of an underlying mental health issue, people who have a dry personality also tend to do this. Later on in this article, we’ll discuss in detail what you can do to figure out if it’s a mental health issue, or if this is simply stemmed from having a dry personality, or both.
You’re strict when it comes to a lot of things
People who have a dry personality also tend to be very strict when it comes to a lot of things. This strictness can range from your schedule to how you want your furniture arranged. If you have a dry personality, you will always feel iffy whenever a change to your routine or preference happens.
What To Do If You Have A Dry Personality
Now that we’ve gotten the signs of having a dry personality out of the way, let’s discuss what you can do to deal with this. You absolutely must work on this if you want your social life to flourish. As you may have noticed already, having a dry personality can lead to a lot of traits that may discourage strangers from becoming your friend. It may also lead the friends you already have to be driven away from you.
That said, here are 11 things you can keep in mind to avoid having a dry personality.
Be more open to doing things you haven’t done before
If you want to stop having a dry personality, you need to be more open to doing things you haven’t done before. Embrace having a little spontaneity in your life as this can be great for you. If someone invites you to a thing or an event you’re somewhat unfamiliar with, be excited about the fact that you’re getting the chance to try out something new.
It’s also helpful to get a new hobby to get interested in. This will make your life more colorful, thus make you more interesting and it will give you a whole new reason to become more positive in life. Your personality will greatly improve out of this.
Attend a party
One of the simplest things you can do to stop having a dry personality is to start attending parties. You don’t necessarily have to go to one that’s loud and rowdy, it can simply be something as intimate as a dinner party.
The goal here is to put yourself in a situation where you’re surrounded by a diverse cast of people. Once you’re in that surroundings, observe them. Observe their personalities. See how they react to others. See how optimistic they are.
See parties as a learning experience. Learn from others, especially those who have bright and colorful personalities.
Improve your sense of humor
Improving your sense of humor is one of the best things you can do to avoid having a dry personality. Being able to laugh at things, tell jokes, and share funny stories makes you infinitely more fun to be around with.
To this end, surround yourself with funny people. When someone is telling a joke, listen to them properly. Understand what makes the joke funny. Then, you can do research on how to be funnier by watching comedy shows and movies, stand-up comedians, and talk show hosts.
Be more attentive during conversations
From now on, be more attentive during conversations. Do your best so that your mind doesn’t wander when someone is speaking to you. You should also keep your eyes on them instead of having them dance around the room.
Not only will this help you have a better personality, but it will also help you interact with others better. You’ll want to fully comprehend what the other person is telling you if you want to connect with them. You won’t be able to do that if you can’t be attentive during conversations.
Empathize with other people
Another thing you can do to pay better attention to the people you interact with is to practice empathy. As established earlier, empathy is the tool you’ll need to really connect with others. Although practicing this is easier said than done for someone who’s not used to it, a little repetition and willingness will go a long way.
That said, when you’re talking with somebody and listening to their stories, try putting yourself in their shoes. Ask yourself: “how would I feel in this situation?” You’ll be able to assess what emotion the other person is trying to convey much more clearly this way.
Then, use that emotion to respond more accurately. If you know the other person is telling a sad story, be more supportive and provide comfort. If the other person is telling a happy story, show excitement.
Have a fluid and expressive body language
Your body language has a massive hand on how you are portrayed by other people. Your body can speak things about you louder than your words ever will. It’ll be obvious to other people when you’re uncomfortable, disinterested, or unhappy just by looking at your body language.
Make sure your body language is portraying positive emotions and openness. You can do this by keeping the following things in mind:
- Stop crossing your arms.
- Stop slouching.
- Maintain eye contact.
- Avoid making your hands and arms awkward. You can simply put them in your pocket or hold them together while putting them in front of you.
- Lean a little forward towards the person you’re interacting with when they’re talking to you. This shows attentiveness and interest.
These are just some of the things you can do to make sure you’re always portraying good body language. Practice them the next time you’re out and about.
Get to know yourself a little better
Make an effort to get to know yourself a little better and your personality will greatly improve. You can do this by soul searching, paying attention to your interests and disinterests, and working hard to achieve your goals in life.
Know the things that motivate you. Know the things that turn you off. Ask yourself where you want to be in a couple of years. Do the things you need to do to learn more about yourself, flaws and all. Then, start assessing which aspects of yourself you can improve upon. Having a dry personality is one of these things.
Having this level of self-awareness will make you more nuanced as a person. It will also make you more open-minded. All of these will greatly help your personality improve.
Learn to appreciate things
Begin appreciating things in life, no matter how big or small, and your mood and personality will greatly improve. Be thankful for things. Know that there are things you have now a lot of people are hoping to have. Acknowledge the fact that, although there are things about you that you don’t like, there are also a lot of things in your life you should be thankful for.
This is a minor step, but it will matter to your goal as a whole. Be more appreciative and thankful from now on. Your demeanor will become significantly brighter because of it.
Be better at your craft
You can also greatly improve your personality by being better at the things you do. From hobbies to your professional career, be better at them. It will greatly improve your confidence and self-respect. In turn, it will help you avoid having a dry personality.
Think of this advice as a way for you to improve yourself as a whole. Yes, it will improve your personality, but it will also do great things for the other aspects of your life
Be more thankful for the friends you have
Another thing you should definitely be thankful for is the friends that you have now. It’s a pleasure and a privilege to have friends alongside you. Friends who’ll support you in your endeavors and goals in life. It’s honestly one of the best things in life to have friends. Make sure you can make your friends feel how grateful you are to have them in your life.
Being this positive of a person will greatly improve your overall personality. It will make you more cheerful, and exciting, and your friends will also appreciate this fact. It will improve yourself and your social life as a whole.
You can make your friends feel how thankful you are for their friendship by simply telling them. You can also take them out for lunch, dinner, coffee, drinks, or whatever it is you enjoy doing.
Seek professional help if you need it
If this applies to you, this is the first thing you should be doing right now.
If you believe your dry personality stems from an underlying mental health issue, seek professional help as soon as you can. A lot of mental health problems can definitely cause your personality to be dry and dull. You can read as many articles about this problem as you can, but the best help that you can get is from a professional. They’ll curate things you’ll need to do that are suited specifically for you.
Having a dry personality can be very tough, but it can also be remedied. Make sure to pay close attention to everything you’ve just read here and take them to heart. Practice them as often as you can and your personality will improve in time.
You can also learn new social skills and become more socially adept to improve your personality. Make sure to check out the other articles we have on this site as well. Find social skills you think you lack and study up on them. The better you become at socializing, the less dry your personality will be.