I remember the day shyness took over my life. I was 14 and having a French lesson The teacher told us to record ourselves speaking about a holiday. Perfect！ I recorded myself with confidence. Then, I pressed "play" to listen back. All I heard was a little kid talking. My immediate reaction was to assume I was listening to someone else's recording. But that was my voice. I realised there was something strange about me.

My little voice has made me feel really shy. And my shyness has caused me to avoid attending events, not make important connections, and keep my ideas to myself. As a shy person, working from home, hiding behind my computer was brilliant. But the more time I spent hidden away, the more my comfort zone shrank（缩小）. Everyday interactions, like ordering a coffee, became increasingly awkward and uncomfortable.

And then, one day I was at a big conference and it suddenly hit me like lightning. All speakers were confident, comfortable with being seen. There were no quieter voices. But the trouble is, if the loud voices are the only ones you hear, we quiet people feel even more alienated（疏远的）。 The world needs a mixture of personalities. Success is not just about who can shout the loudest. The world needs quieter people, too. That day I chose to stop hiding and embrace my shyness. No more feeling like I needed to change who I am in order to succeed. No more living a small life.

Then I created the Shy and Mighty Society, a space for shy people like me to shine, and in the process of helping others, I could also push myself forward, bit by bit. Now, I'm happy to tell people I feel shy. I'm not ashamed any more. And I know that I’m not alone.

Five thousand square meters of old damaged cars，motorcycles and boats fill this junkyard.For a casual onlooker，this might be a very sad sight.But for Andy.it's a real treasure.“I’ve been a junk hoarder(囤积者)for my whole life and I like fixing up what shouldn’t be thrown away.Around 200 old cars end up in this junkyard every week.Some of them are sold for parts，others get repaired，and still others are beyond repair.”

His father Bobby started the business some 50 years ago and still spends every morning there.The father and son have very different approaches to their work.They got a Dean cab that was getting thrown away and that was the father’s project，which Andy did not want him to do.“He did basically the opposite of everything I told him and I think he did it just to make me mad.He dumped a ton of money into this car，but in the end it wouldn’t run.”Andy said jokingly.

The unusual family business attracted the attention of a TV crew.That’s how the show Janka Empire came to be featured on a network of the Discovery Channel.This show，five years of shooting，five seasons and 60 episodes(集)，is popular.“There are hundreds of junkyards throughout the United States.I think what’s interesting is that it is a family business.My father and I started the business and we joke very well back and forth and I think that's what people like.The cars that end up at the junkyard come out with endless surprises.See，this was a junk car and we restored it with a blown motor.Yet I don’t get a chance to ride around it too often.Because despite its shining appearance，the noise of the engine is truly deafening and I worry my neighbors will not put up with it.”

How strong are you?

That is a hard question to answer, whether you are a man or a woman. But, really , I want to ask how do you define(给...下定义)your strength? How do you know your limits?【小题1】 When push comes, we often discover that we are much stronger than we think.

What is Strength?

Strength is not always about pure physical strength.【小题2】 It is about the ability to get things done. I know some people who are intellectually strong, but they get very little done in their jobs. And I know others who find work challenging, but they make it by strong drive and hard work. They possess inner strength.

Self-Imposed Limits

What I have observed is that most people set their own limits. They limit their output based on self-framed limits (自我设定的限制) of their abilities and strengths. Sometimes these boundaries are based on past experiences. Sometimes they are based on self-imagined abilities. 【小题3】So, how do we

break through these limits? How do we get stronger?

【小题4】

If you want to be stronger, you have to push your boundaries. Pushing it is what it takes to increase your limits. In the gym, bodybuilders discovered this long ago. The same principle is true when it comes to inner strength.

Want to test your limits? Push yourself. Test your self-framed limits to see how accurate they are. Make sure your goals are slightly beyond what you think can be achieved.

You Are Stronger Than You Think

Most people underestimate(低估) their strength.【小题5】Test your limits. Push yourself to find your true boundaries and define your strength.

When you discover how much you’ve really got, you may surprise even yourself.