talk to strangers

Join a club, take a class, go out with people who you think would never ever be friend material. Change your point of view. Make a list of the things you wish your friends did for you. Then do those things for other people even though you question if they deserve it. This is HARD, and there may be no benefit for you immediately – but it changes the way you look at yourself and makes you more confident.

I’m trying to say that you need to become the things that you want.
—MarkPA

to get friends you have to go out and look for them. Every person won’t turn into a lifelong pal, but you have to take the time to get to know people. I plan to look for situations where I can really get to know people – volunteering, perhaps, or in community groups – instead of depending on casual acquaintances I might meet at work. Once you leave your job, those friendships tend to fall away.

And secondly, you have to change yourself. Sometimes you have to ask people for what you want. This is hard for me, because I’m a shy person and I don’t really feel comfortable saying “I need this” or “I want that”. But most people are somewhat clueless (myself included!) They can’t read your mind. If I tell a friend, “I really appreciate it when you call me and I don’t always have to call you”, most of them will get the message.
—KayWWW

is very hard still to just go up to talk to someone. It has been a few days since I posted this goal, and already I’ve had some success. I am talking to people at my gym. It is hard just to stop someone on the street to chat it up without prior knowledge. I find that places where people stop—fast food restaurants, malls, and bookstores—are a great place. I know that his may seem like common sense, but for people who want to achieve this goal it may be very hard to begin.

My conversation this morning went something like this:

Person: What time is it, I don’t have my glasses and I can’t see to the other end of the pool. (Close questions: the person has only opened the conversation to specific data, or information.)
Me: It’s 4:30. (Specific data)
P: I usually have them with me, but I didn’t bring anything to read. (Free Information: Reading, books, glasses)
M: What do you usually read? (Open Question: the person can fill you in and it allows for more than a yes or no answer.)
ETC…
At some point talking to strangers begins to be a creative endeavor, a game where you are thinking of creative ways to keep the conversation going.
I’ll keep posting my experience with this goal. If you have questions, just ask. I’m new to this too; I’m still trying to figure out how to speak with people my own age.

Again, this may seem like common sense, but sometimes I've found myself in front of a person and I can't think of a single question to ask them. Not one.

My goal this week for this is to smile and say hello to people anywhere I go.
That’s it.
I’m not going to expect anymore than this for this week. My end goal is to be a conversationalist who can speak to anyone, anywhere, anytime.
Good luck to others, I hope to keep posting and if anyone what’s to update this goal along the way with me I welcome you to join me.

Good Luck

Yesterday I kind of walked into a deep conversation effectively killing these two strangers’ conversation so i could sit between them and introduce myself. It was not that bad after a few minutes I got right along with them and the girl ended up giving me her telephone number to practice conversing in a foreign language. She has a boyfriend but the moral of the story is that you can go up to talk to people. I never know what to expect. That’s the joy of it all.