I realized most children who grow up to be timid is sourced from their childhood programming, myself included. No matter how intelligent we are, we shriek from participating in most activities because we are scared of failing, being ridicule, or intimidated. Sometimes I want to break out of this shell but unconsciously I find myself returning to that coven, I just tend to find the other part intimidating which makes me breed fear. I have read books on courage, boldness, fearlessness, etc. But they seem to inspire me into action for just some few days or week, then, I'm back to who I was before I read those books.
Childhood programming is a very strong force in a child's life, whatever they are taught at that tender age sticks with them almost forever, and this is the reason why parents need bring up their children in a pattern of the future they expect of them. Been timid has its positive and negative parts, but sometimes the negative part seems to overshadow the positive part making it silhouette.
I still believe childhood programming could be altered, but could take a longer time, and it's a gradual process that needs continuous improvement, erasing what we've learned in the past and replacing it with ideas that speaks action.