Some people know what to do in theory to improve their social skills, but find it hard to get out of their comfortable rut and actually start making changes. If that applies to you, here's my take on how to get yourself going.
Usually the hardest part is getting started
Establishing a new routine and pulling yourself out of a well-worn groove is difficult. It's so easy to put off. However, once you take those first few steps it's often rewarding and natural to keep going (e.g., when you've got some friends to hang around with it becomes much easier to spend more time being social). Like with taking up a new exercise program, the first few weeks are often the roughest. Starting something new can be draining and discouraging at first, but once you get over that initial hump it's not as hard to continue.
Think about what you actually want
Sometimes students have procrastination problems at university because deep down they're not really into their program, but they can't admit that to themselves yet. Maybe their parents pressured them into it. Maybe it's what they thought they wanted to do, but are having doubts now that they know what the field involves firsthand. Maybe they didn't want to go to college at all, but everyone told them how important it was, so they just picked a major, any major.
Someone may drag their feet with their social goals because they're honestly not that enthusiastic about them. They could be reacting more to the expectations of other people rather than what they really want for themselves. It can help to take the time to think about this. What are your goals? Why do you have them? What about them motivates you?
As
this article goes into, it may also be useful to consider if you're fully ready to begin working on your issues, or if there are factors that are making you ambivalent about it.
Accept that you're going to be lazy some of the time
Anything that is both a) uncomfortable, and b) optional is inevitably going to lead to bouts of procrastination. Improving your social situation often falls into this category. It can suck to go to an event where you don't know many people, or try to make friends, or start conversation with people who intimidate you. But there's no law that says you have to do it. On the other hand, you pretty much know you're going to have fun if you watch a new movie or try a new video game.
So just realize up front that you're going to slack off some of the time, and that this will make the process of improving yourself take longer than it could in theory. Accept that some of your natural tendencies will slow you down. If you read enough self-help material, you'll come across the same archetype over and over again: It's the person who was in a low, low place in their life, and through years of consistent, determined effort they turned themselves into a huge success. It's awesome if you can be one of those people, but most of us aren't cyborgs with a bottomless reservoir of willpower and discipline. We're going to get there eventually, but we'll occasionally plod along, detour off the path, or take a break. Sometimes you'll throw a week away by reading a new book or watching a TV series. That's fine and isn't going to make or break how your life turns out. Sometimes you'll be happy with life the way it is, your problems won't be weighing on your mind too heavily, and you won't feel any pressing need to get to work on yourself at that moment.
Don't feel the process of getting better with people is always going to be a painful grind
Going back to that archetype of the self-improving cyborg, an implicit message I read into a lot of self-help material is that changing yourself has to be a painful, drawn-out process that requires a ton of willpower and a high tolerance for hardship. While there are most certainly times where you'll have to deal with anxiety, discomfort, and rejection, it's not always going to be one torturous experience after another. A night of practicing your social skills may involve going out to dinner with some fun new people and having an awesome night.
One idea this site talks about is that you can sometimes do a lot to get better with people through slow, easy, indirect methods. If you can't talk to other people, you don't necessarily have to put hours into having discouraging, unsuccessful practice conversations with them. You may just need to read more widely or dabble in some new hobbies so you'll have more topics to bring up. If you have trouble having fun with people maybe you just need to learn to get into a more joking, less serious frame of mind, or get the hang of dancing and pool so you can take part when your friends do those things at a bar, rather than watching from the sidelines and feeling like you want to go home.
Break your goals down into manageable chunks
A vintage piece of advice for getting past procrastination is to break your task down. If someone has to write a 20-page assignment, that can seem very huge and overwhelming. They can't imagine where to begin, so they might not start at all. If they divide that paper up into smaller pieces it won't seem as bad. Like all they may have to do the first day is go to the library and take out some books.
It's the same with social goals. 'Having a bunch of awesome friends' or 'Completely getting over my shyness' are huge, amorphous objectives. It would be way better to pull that apart into more manageable sections. For example, if someone wanted to make a group of friends and currently didn't have any they could come up with tasks such as:
- Think of places where they could meet people.
- Some of those ideas are probably places where they're already spend a lot of time (e.g., work, classes). For the other places they come up with (sports teams, clubs), figure out which ones would be feasible to join, and then sign up.
- Think of ways to start more conversations with people at these places, and then do it.
- Think of people they're already on good terms with who they could invite out.
- Figure out some things they could do with people.
- Once they've got some prospective friends, invite them out.
Don't look too many steps ahead
When people have a big, ambitious goal it's only natural for them to look to the finish line. There are times when doing this can make the task of getting there seem too daunting or discouraging. It can help to only focus on sub-goals that are a few steps ahead, before worrying about the tougher challenges.
For example, if someone wants to make a ton of friends, but currently has none, their goal may seem too complicated and out of reach. They may not be able to imagine themselves as the kind of person with a bustling social life. However, to make a ton of friends, first you only have to make one friend. Then you have to do it again and again. Making one single friend is something anyone can do.
You could take this 'The longest journey begins with a single step' approach even further. Maybe even making one friend could seem like a lot... Well, to make one friend you have to start by talking to one person. They may not become your buddy, but maybe the next one will. Chatting to that first person may not seem hard at all.
Tell yourself you can stop at any time
This is another fairly well known piece of advice for getting started on things. It's a way to trick yourself into beginning, and it works even when you know you're trying to fool yourself. Again, a task may seem overwhelming if it's framed as a sprawling, lengthy undertaking. If you tell yourself you don't have to commit to it for life and can back out any time (which is technically true) then starting it doesn't seem as intimidating. Of course, what usually happens is that once you start you'll naturally want to keep going.
This idea can apply towards the whole idea of improving your social situation. Tell yourself you'll commit to trying to get better with people for one month. If you don't like how things are going you can always back out and take it up again another time. The trick works with smaller tasks too. You can make a deal with yourself that you'll at least show up to a party and stay for half an hour. If you're not liking it after that you have your own permission to leave at any time.
To read the full article go to http://www.succeedsocially.com/laziness
