Greetings!
I am a new guy here. I've never really had much of a social life, so I decided that was something I'd work on this summer. I learned of this place through a PDF my bro sent me called "DJ Boot Camp"--a set of articles and exercises designed to improve my social life. It divided its tasks into a series of 8 weeks ("levels", as I like to call them), with different goals scheduled for each one.
Level 1 asked me to make eye contact with strangers and say "hello" to them. These exercises were fairly easy. I went to the local mall one day and succeeded with almost everyone who walked by.
Unfortunately, Level 2 is not being anywhere near as easy. It asks me to initiate short conversations with strangers. I only managed to do this once at another trip to the mall. I went into one of the stores and chatted with one of the employees about her opinions of her job. Other than that one success, anxiety keeps holding me back from doing it.
The main problem, though, is that I can't find any good places to go to practice this. Given enough time, I can overcome these anxieties, but only if I can find places to practice. The mall is too far away to reach by bike (I do not have a drivers licence yet, and my parents don't get home until late), so I don't go there as often as I'd like.
The only notable place within biking distance is the local marketplace, a series of shops centered around a Winn-Dixie grocery store. Problem is, there are never very many people shopping there, and none of the stores really interest me. You see, if the store interests me, I can use it as a subject of conversation with one of the store employees. But if it doesn't (as is the case), I draw up a blank when thinking of things to talk about.
Any advice you could give me on any of these things would be appreciated:
--Being more brave in the face of social anxiety,
--Finding other places to practice my skills, or
--Finding things to talk about with employees of shops, when the shop doesn't interest me.
I am a new guy here. I've never really had much of a social life, so I decided that was something I'd work on this summer. I learned of this place through a PDF my bro sent me called "DJ Boot Camp"--a set of articles and exercises designed to improve my social life. It divided its tasks into a series of 8 weeks ("levels", as I like to call them), with different goals scheduled for each one.
Level 1 asked me to make eye contact with strangers and say "hello" to them. These exercises were fairly easy. I went to the local mall one day and succeeded with almost everyone who walked by.
Unfortunately, Level 2 is not being anywhere near as easy. It asks me to initiate short conversations with strangers. I only managed to do this once at another trip to the mall. I went into one of the stores and chatted with one of the employees about her opinions of her job. Other than that one success, anxiety keeps holding me back from doing it.
The main problem, though, is that I can't find any good places to go to practice this. Given enough time, I can overcome these anxieties, but only if I can find places to practice. The mall is too far away to reach by bike (I do not have a drivers licence yet, and my parents don't get home until late), so I don't go there as often as I'd like.
The only notable place within biking distance is the local marketplace, a series of shops centered around a Winn-Dixie grocery store. Problem is, there are never very many people shopping there, and none of the stores really interest me. You see, if the store interests me, I can use it as a subject of conversation with one of the store employees. But if it doesn't (as is the case), I draw up a blank when thinking of things to talk about.
Any advice you could give me on any of these things would be appreciated:
--Being more brave in the face of social anxiety,
--Finding other places to practice my skills, or
--Finding things to talk about with employees of shops, when the shop doesn't interest me.
