You are a nerd. Face it. If you didn’t think you were a nerd, it is unlikely you would be reading this hub page. Don’t get me wrong. Being a nerd in itself is not a bad thing. This book is going to help you come to grips with being a nerd and teach you how to improve yourself in ways that will make you happy with the nerd you are.

You may think this series of pages is going instruct on how to turn nerds into “normal” people. That is not the goal at all. There is no such thing as a normal person. In fact, everyone out there has some nerd in them, even if they refuse to acknowledge it.

The most popular kids you remember from school, the most beautiful movie stars, the most unlikely people you can think of, each of them have nerdy aspects of their life which they may hide or embrace. Who did you think it was sitting around you at the last sci-fi movie you watched? Did you really think that the nerd-elite were the only ones buying your favorite best-selling fantasy novel? Who bought the other quarter of a million copies? Everyone has something they enjoy that could be referred to as nerdy.

The only thing that separates you from the supposedly “normal” people is their ability to hide or control their nerdiness better than you. They don’t stand out in the crowd in a way that screams out “Can you point me to the nearest Comic Book Convention please?”

Now why would you want to hide your nerdiness? Shouldn’t we all be proud of who and what we are?  Be true to yourself and all that?  

Honestly, this isn’t a debate about the merits of self acceptance versus self improvement.  If you are completely and happily content with your life; you probably would have stopped reading by now, or never opened this hub in the first place.  If you are completely at peace with all of your faults and love the life you are currently living, then by all means read no further.  But many of you are not happy.  The nerd life is rarely a completely satisfying one.  Many of my friends and acquaintances of mine have complained regularly and loudly about various aspects of their lives.

Regardless what some people will tell you, there is nothing wrong with striving to improve yourself.  In this age of political correctness and feelings trumping results, people will try to convince you that it is more important to feel positive about yourself than to truly achieve anything.  If that were true, evolution wouldn’t work.  Animals that do not adapt to their environment become lunch for those that are constantly improving and adapting.  This applies to more than the cycle of life.  Human tribes wouldn’t have given way to kingdoms, and kingdoms to republics.  Life and culture strive to adapt and improve, that’s how they progress.  It is part of human nature.  In short, you don’t need to feel bad about wanting to better yourself in some way, be it physically, mentally, or socially.

Now that we have that straight, we are going continue under the assumption that there are things you wish to improve upon, things you want to change.  We will also assume that what displeases you the most is focused on or related to the nerd lifestyle.  

You might be thinking “No matter what I change on the outside, I will still be a nerd, won’t I?”  Yes, you still will be a nerd at heart.  Being a nerd is part of who you are.  As I said before, there is nothing wrong with being a nerd.  Hopefully after you finish this series of hub pages though, you will be more aware of what makes you a nerd and temper the things that create distance between you and the mainstream world.  You will use your talents in ways to boost your self-confidence, open yourself up to new experiences, and expand your relationship with society at large.