Putting yourself out there and meeting new people can be a nerve wracking undertaking. If you are not very experienced in social situations, it might feel totally unnatural to make the first move and engage others in social settings.

Make an Effort Becoming more social requires that you make a genuine effort to put yourself out there and introduce yourself to others. You cannot stay hidden at home or behind a cubicle at work and expect things to change.

To make an effort at becoming more social, you can join a church, volunteer organizations, go out to clubs in your town, attend social events like fairs or art shows, join a gym, or even change positions at work so that you will encounter more new people on a daily basis. By taking yourself out of your comfort zone and attempting to make the first move in engaging others, you can learn new behaviors that will help you feel more comfortable in social settings and establish friendships with others.

Think Positively If you want to build healthy, rewarding friendships, it’s important to think positively about yourself. If you think negatively about yourself and carry a frown, it makes you less approachable and will make it harder for you to approach other people as well.

Show That You’re Welcoming Avoid body language that shows that you’re closed off, such as crossing your arms, make good eye contact with people and avoid looking down at the floor or your phone, and smile when you see other people.

Be Interested Once you make contact with someone new, try not to monopolize the conversation talking about yourself, but show that you’re genuinely interested in them by asking questions about themselves and the other person’s interest.

Follow Through After you make contact with a few new friends, it is important that you maintain consistency and follow through with your actions. If you tell someone that you will call or email, you need to make sure that you follow through with that promise if you want that friendship to blossom. Cutting off contact abruptly will end what could be a promising relationship.

Take the Initiative You can’t always just wait for others to invite you out. It’s important that you take the initiative to find activities and invite others to go with you.

Be Realistic Realize that you won’t be able to automatically connect with everyone. It may take a few attempts before you find someone; you have to find someone that you feel like you connect with and that person has to feel like they are able to connect with you.

When you have a wide circle of friends, your life can be more interesting and fun. If the idea of putting yourself out there to make new friends intimidates you, you may be missing out on what could be the most rewarding relationships in your life.

Enjoy!