I came across an interesting article on ‘Art of Manliness’, which talks a bit about social anxiety and what we believe to be true about our social interactions which is actually not (and vice versa).
The article is called 9 Mental Distortions That Are Sabotaging Your Social Life, and in true listicle format, it calls out the following:
- You underestimate how much you’ll enjoy talking to a stranger.
- You underestimate how much new acquaintances like you.
- You underestimate how much people will care about intimate disclosures.
- You underestimate how much someone else will be thinking about you after conversing.
- You underestimate how willing people are to help you.
- You underestimate how hesitant someone will feel to ask you for help.
- You underestimate how much your appreciation will be appreciated.
- You underestimate the positive impact of giving a compliment.
- You underestimate how much someone will appreciate you checking in with them.
The article I linked to actually gives some great sources for most of these, but the practical upshot is:
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You’ll enjoy talking to people, old friends and new acquaintances alike
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Say nice things to people and share freely
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Ask for (and offer) help shamelessly
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Don’t worry about what people will think about you, they’re probably just happy to talk to you.
P.S. interestingly while I was looking for a featured image for this post, I found it quite tricky to get a photo of just two guys without beer. I’ll write another time about dry February, just an interesting observation.