Internal and external thinking
I believe there are two distinct types of people, those who verbalise their thoughts (External) and those who internalised them (Internal).
I have friends, family and work colleagues that will immediately verbalise a thought and apologise after, if what they have said is either irrelevant or offensive. I on the other hand go through an internal review process of my thoughts and qualify whether verbalising them would be both relevant and inoffensive, sometimes several times before verbalising it.
Because of this internal review process, it may seem that I have no opinion or knowledge of the subject matter when in actual fact, more often than not, the review process takes so long that either I have convinced myself that the comment is not worthy or the conversation has moved on.
Although not causing offence and ensuring all verbal communication is valid could be seen as a positive trait, I do feel this holds me back and has hindered me both personally and professionally.
All of this constant reviewing and overthinking is hard work mentally and can sometimes even take place hours or even days before a conversation has taken place in anticipation of the outcome.
So, are you an internal or external thinker and what are the pros and cons in your experience?