{"id":1885,"date":"2020-05-18T22:37:17","date_gmt":"2020-05-18T22:37:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.brainzilla.com\/blog\/?p=1885"},"modified":"2020-05-18T22:37:17","modified_gmt":"2020-05-18T22:37:17","slug":"how-to-make-friends-as-an-adult","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.brainzilla.com\/blog\/personal-development\/how-to-make-friends-as-an-adult\/","title":{"rendered":"How to Make Friends as an Adult"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>As a kid, making friends is as simple as not hating the person who was assigned to sit next to you. Between school, clubs, parties, and parents \u2013 it\u2019s pretty easy for children to make friends.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Unfortunately, this is something that doesn\u2019t get easier as you get older. As you leave school and begin work life, you lose those \u201cmandatory\u201d events that forced you to meet new people and interact with their peers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>As an adult, the only mandatory activities you\u2019ll be facing are work and potentially college. It can be rather difficult connecting to your peers in this kind of environment where you are rarely allowed to socialize.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Just because you\u2019re in the \u201creal world\u201d doesn\u2019t mean you can\u2019t make friends. It just means you are going to need to put in a little more effort into your search.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Where can I meet people as an adult?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>The first thing you are going to want to do is <em>find<\/em> some potential friends. To do this, you are going to need to leave your comfort zone.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>While there are times where you can meet people at the grocery store or doctor\u2019s office \u2013 you will have your best luck going places where people are looking to socialize.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Try to think about the desired qualities and interests you want your future friends to have when deciding on y place to meet people.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>Parks<\/li><li>The beach<\/li><li>Campgrounds<\/li><li>Aquariums<\/li><li>Zoos<\/li><li>Museums<\/li><li>Bars \/ Clubs<\/li><li>Local recreation center<\/li><li>Cafes<\/li><li>Arcades<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>If you are feeling a little nervous about reciprocity when it comes to desire to connect with new people, consider signing up for a group event. There are lots of local organizations and clubs which set-up special group events designed to help introduce interested people to their like-minded peers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">How to approach people about making plans?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Of course, even in these situations, you can\u2019t expect others to come to you. Putting yourself out there can be uncomfortable at first, but it is the first step to breaking out of your shell and making friends.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>If you think you are going to get along with someone, you need to \u201cbreak the ice.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>To do this successfully, you are going to need to pay attention to context clues. First \u2013 try to recognize why you want to approach someone and turn it in to strike up a conversation. You can try to ask them a question or find a way to politely compliment them. If all goes well, you can turn this into an introduction.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Let\u2019s take this hypothetical scenario:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>You are walking in the park and see someone wearing a t-shirt of your favorite TV show.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Step 1: Converse \u2013 <\/strong>Wow! I love your shirt. I am a huge fan of that too, have you heard of\u2026&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Step 2: Introduce \u2013 <\/strong>Oh, my name is XXX by the way! Nice to meet a fellow fan!<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Step 3: Invite<\/strong> <strong>\u2013 <\/strong>You know, I think you\u2019d enjoy the arcade downtown. Have you been there? I\u2019d love to hang out sometime if you\u2019d want to exchange information!<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Easy, right? Of course, the outside world is a little different than hypotheticals. There is no perfect script, but these three simple steps can be applied to a lot of situations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Unfortunately, sometimes people won&#8217;t share your enthusiasm for potential friendship \u2013 and that is ok. Don\u2019t let this deter you on your quest to expand your social circle! Also, make sure you don\u2019t push it and make someone else uncomfortable as it won\u2019t earn you a new friend and will just make the situation more awkward.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Not everyone who is uninterested will be so direct about it though. There will be times where you need to read between the lines a little bit. There is a nice \u201cthree no\u201d rule.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>If you invite someone (or text someone) three times on separate days and they don\u2019t respond \u2013 they aren\u2019t going to. Give people those first two chances as things <em>do<\/em> happen. However, if they reject three times in a row and make no effort to set something up, take this as a hint to not push the matter further.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Being a friend<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>For those that do answer the call to friendship \u2013 congratulations! You now have a new friend!<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The next step is to ensure that you will continue to be a good friend! Here are some tips for cultivating a friendship once you guys start talking!<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>Keep in touch \u2013 never forget that communication works both ways and you should make an effort to interact with your new friends. Even if you are busy, just sending a text or calling them up every once in a while to check-in is a great way to stay connected. Even if you\u2019re busy, you can spare a few minutes to send a meme.<\/li><li>Be a support system \u2013 friendships aren\u2019t just happiness and fun. Life is full of ups and downs, and a true friend is there for the whole journey. Even if it isn\u2019t fun\u2026<\/li><li>Never stop searching \u2013 just because you made a friend doesn\u2019t mean your journey (or theirs) is over. Expanding social circles is normal. Just as you should never expect to be your friend\u2019s only friend, you should stay open to the possibility of meeting other awesome people!<\/li><\/ul>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Find out where you can meet people as an adult, how to approach people and how to be a friend.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":1911,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"none","_seopress_titles_title":"","_seopress_titles_desc":"","_seopress_robots_index":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[13],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1885","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-personal-development","generate-columns","tablet-grid-50","mobile-grid-100","grid-parent","grid-33"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.brainzilla.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1885","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.brainzilla.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.brainzilla.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.brainzilla.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.brainzilla.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1885"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.brainzilla.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1885\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1910,"href":"https:\/\/www.brainzilla.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1885\/revisions\/1910"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.brainzilla.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1911"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.brainzilla.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1885"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.brainzilla.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1885"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.brainzilla.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1885"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}