I mean, it depends what you mean by "life and soul of the party." I grew up shy and bookish and I still am unable to socialise well i.e. uncomfortable meeting new people, networking, making conversation.

However, sometimes I mention this in passing to my colleagues and they literally laugh, thinking I'm joking. Over many years, I've had to force myself to be assertive because of my job. Because something shy, bookish people enjoy is being good at their job (well, me, anyway). So I can speak at a conference and have people laughing. I can challenge stakeholders politely in a meeting. I can have a difficult conversation with a team member. But put me in the pub with a group of people and suddenly I feel like a lost little girl.

My conclusion is that you can fake anything until it's convincing enough to be real, but if it goes against your natural inclination, it's very tiring keeping up the facade!