Social Life Stagnating?

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:

1. You underestimate how much you’ll enjoy talking to a stranger.
2. You underestimate how much new acquaintances like you.
3. You underestimate how much people will care about intimate disclosures.
4. You underestimate how much someone else will be thinking about you after conversing.
5. You underestimate how willing people are to help you.
6. You underestimate how hesitant someone will feel to ask you for help.
7. You underestimate how much your appreciation will be appreciated.
8. You underestimate the positive impact of giving a compliment.
9. 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:

• You’ll enjoy talking to people, old friends and new acquaintances alike

• Say nice things to people and share freely

• Ask for (and offer) help shamelessly

• Don’t worry about what people will think about you, they’re probably just happy to talk to you.

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  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.