t’s Friday night and you just moved to a new city and you know absolutely no one. This happens to a lot of people in this day and age, being people are moving to new cities all by themselves and embarking on a new adventure. You might be asking yourself, “I’m moving to this city all alone, and how am I supposed to meet new people without getting anxious?” Or “I hate going out and talking to new people” The uncomfortable answer to this, is putting yourself out there!
Sitting at home during the week and on the weekend is not going to solve your problems. Getting out there and interacting with people is how you will naturally meet people and attract the type of friends and partner you want. Say yes to every invitation you get from someone or something. I still struggle with this sometimes and will occasionally ask myself how I can meet more people and where to find them. But, it really just comes down to me being lazy. Me personally I can’t go out every night and interact with people constantly. Some of you may be able to and props to you on being able to do that. But, you might be saying well, Will I still struggle just to open conversations with people I don’t know or have never talked to before. A really good first step to take is throughout your day say hi to everyone. Yes, I said everyone.
The person in the elevator.
The person on the sidewalk.
The person in the grocery store.
The person at the coffee shop you go to all the time.
The person at the park with their dog.
You get my point. Any time you have the opportunity throughout your day, smile at people and just say hi. It doesn’t have to lead to anything if you don’t want it to. So many of us get so busy in our lives that we fail to acknowledge all the amazing people around us that could be our next great friend/business partner/girlfriend-boyfriend. Any chance you have the opportunity to have a conversation with someone – definitely do it! Once you get to the point of just having a natural conversation with everyone you meet this will apply directly to your dating life and conversation will come very natural and you will begin to not get as anxious when speaking with others.
I suffered from terrible acne when I was in high school and it totally affected my dating life and just even talking to girls. I had girls that liked me and even told me, and I was just so embarrassed to even talk to them or hang out with them because I figured they would be looking at my face. Now at age 25, looking back I realize how silly it sounds, because you think wow it was only acne, things could have been a lot worse in my situation. But it was tough for me especially at that age, and I’ve spoken to many women and men who’s self esteem was affected by having to deal with acne as well. Our childhood definitely shapes us but as we do the things that we don’t like doing and make us uncomfortable is when we really grow and become who we were meant to be.
Overall, now obviously if you’re someone who thinks they have serious social anxiety and you wish to seek professional help then definitely do so. But, if you’re someone like myself who gets in these ruts of even putting yourself out there in your job or personal life I definitely recommend saying yes to any invite you get to do something or trying something new that will really put you outside of your comfort zone.