O ne great way to open up new opportunities and find fulfillment in your life is to meet new people. In order to do this, you may actually have to go out and…meet people.
Sounds easy, right? All you have to do is leave the comfy confines of your home, go to a public place, spot someone who looks like the connection to the job of your dreams, walk up to them and introduce yourself. That’s how it’s done, right?
Most people realize that meeting someone is much more complicated than the above scenario. On the contrary, the prospect of meeting someone new can be simply terrifying to many people. It factors into the fear of the unknown and causes questions and thoughts to quickly pop up, such as ‘What if the person I meet turns out to be a serial killer?’ to ‘That person will think I’m weird, or desperate, if I try to strike up a conversation with them.’
While it is entirely possible that you may receive a negative response, here’s a secret that is little known, and even more seldom practiced. Most people want the same thing you want! They want family and friends. They have aspirations, goals, and interests that are probably not too far from yours.
Perhaps the most important thing to remember is that the fear of the unknown is applicable for everyone. So what ends up happening most of the time is two people will cross paths, wanting to meet someone new, but never doing anything about it.
So what can be done about it? Here are three quick, easy steps to meet someone new, the first being to actually start up a conversation. Every now and then, someone will approach you to introduce themselves, but most the time, you will have to take the initiative, and the best way to do this is to…get ready…ask them their name. Usually, the response you’ll get is their name.
Great! So now that you have them engaged in conversation, what’s next? One word: interest. Have you ever noticed the most interesting people you know are the ones who are making people feel better about themselves by taking an INTEREST in them? Ask people what they do for a living, where they’re from. People respond in like kind, and if you take an interest in them, they will more than likely take an interest in you.
Once you get this far in the conversation, there’s one more critical step you must take. This step is the difference between making a new friend or just saying you met someone. In the course of finding out more about someone, find out if there’s anyway you connect with them.
For instance, did you go to the same college? Root for the same sports team? Watch similar movies? If someone feels that you share common ground with them, they’re more likely to open up to you, than if you’re someone who has nothing in common with them. The old saying goes, “Birds of a feather flock together.” Take a look at the friends you currently have. Even though there are some differences, you will see that you share many similar characteristic traits.
So to recap, here are the three steps:
1) Start up a conversation
2) Take an interest in them
3) Connect with someone
Now that you know these steps, the fourth step is to turn off your computer, leave your pad, and go meet someone!
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