How do I meet more people?

[SpacecraftsLucy]

I've been shy and introverted my whole life and I want to change that and meet more new people.
The problem is, that I don't really know how to start conversations or how to actually befriend people.
Any tips for a beginner?

[ak667]

Make a fool of yourself. Realize your worst social fears. But also realize that they aren't a big deal. And then you will be liberated from the shyness, and making friends will seem so easy that you'll wonder why you ever made things so hard on yourself.

This is much easier said than done, of course! But I went from someone so shy that I couldn't answer a door without a panic attack as a young teenager to reaching this point.

I mean we could talk techniques like how to make small talk and all that. I used to even study ways to do that. But that didn't help so much because I was still nervous and shy. When I overcame the nervousness and shyness, then small talk and things like that came so easily to the point where I wondered why I even bothered to study it (it's not rocket science when you lose the nerves).

[ak667]

But at least in my case it was all about overcoming deep-rooted fears: fear of embarrassment, fear of being made a fool of, fear of being rejected by a girl, etc. And like any fear, if you want to overcome it you gradually confront it in small manageable steps.

But specifically with socializing, so much of the fear and also whatever negativity you take out of an encounter that goes badly is in your head. This quote can really help:

"If you are pained by any external thing, it is not this thing that disturbs you, but your own judgement about it. It is in your power to erase this judgement now. If anything in your own nature gives you pain, you are who hinders you from correcting your own opinion." -- Marcus Aurelius

So you try to strike up a convo with a stranger and things go badly. Life goes on. There's no pain to take from this except whatever negative opinions you form about it. It is not realistic to expect every single person to like you, so I recommend thinking, "whatever!"

[wankiam]

join a club of people with the same interests as you, force yourself to say hello to strangers and keep this in mind always, most people feel exactly the same

[DooMgirl]

Well you can have. . .' normal ' friends or become an internet person. Online friends are 10/10 . . . the only problem is their timezones tbh

[Paris13]

Go Online and Begin with Facebook. xx

[Paris13]

Welcome to Gag Town and Best of Luck. xx

[Logorithim]

Are you a University Student?

[jacquesvol]

Hobbies, volunteer work.

[777Jackpot]

You can start by messaging me

[Montana07]

Go to the library, bookstore, park, mall.