Going Outside: A Guide for the Socially Awkward

If you are a teenager, there's a chance that you suffer from the symptom known as "social awkwardness". Or you are a party animal who can and does socialise with literally everyone you meet and in that case, teach me your secret. Being less social is not a disability or disease which can be addressed by popping a pill or visiting a doctor.

You need to take the initiative and actually want to be a more social person. Go out. Make new friends. Interact with that aunty sitting beside you on the bus. Help that old lady cross the street. Offer to carry someone's heavy bag. Life is too short to postpone things for some other day.

I don't know if there is a sure shot method which can turn a person from socially-handicapped to socially-savvy. I mean come on, we all do face a slight hesitation while talking to people we don't know. We all get butterflies when we are put into a completely new social group. As they say, "Life begins at the end of your comfort zone".

Get more social experience. Go and hang out with your friends, meet new people, cultivate some hobbies and make time for them. Build your communication skills. As you interact with others, you get to see various styles of behaviour and you notice how others react; this creates reference points for your brain and it improves your social prowess. Try carrying your favourite book or a really good playlist on you iPod. Who knows, the person next to you might be just as big of a Dramionie shipper or might want to discuss the new Twenty One Pilots song.

Hang out with socially savvy individuals and study them. Notice their mannerisms: how they start a conversation, how they keep it going, how they talk, etc. Soon enough, you will begin to see patterns. Then deliberately incorporate these patterns into your own behaviour. Some of these new behaviours will feel "weird" at first, but as you get used to them, they eventually will start feeling very natural. 

Be persistent. You won't put an end to being socially inept overnight. Nevertheless, if you follow smart advice and you apply it consistently, you can make incredible progress fast. In just a couple of months you will be much more relaxed, active and smooth in social settings than ever before. The trick is to have some patience, invest in yourself, and keep on trying.

The writer is a student of AS level.