How to Meet a Couple Friends

Making friends can be easy if you look in the right spots.

Regardless of your age or situation, life always seems to present new opportunities to make new friends. Moving to a new city or starting a new job are a few of the obvious scenarios. But there are also other instances that promote the need to cultivate new friendships -- for example, if you just got out of a relationship where mutual friends sided with your ex. Or, perhaps the natural flow of things has caused you and your existing friends to drift apart. Either way, getting out there and meeting new people is not as difficult as some would imagine.

Instructions

1. Seek out social functions in the area of your hobbies or interests. For instance, if you like to bowl, join a bowling league. If you play music, peruse the local want ads for bands that need new members that play your instrument. By attending social functions centered around one main interest, you ensure that you have one thing in common with everyone before you set foot in the building, not to mention that the conversation starters are already built in.

2. Make friends with well-connected people. Granted, you can't force a connection; if you happen to befriend a loner, then so be it. However, befriending a few people who have a multitude of friends can make creating your own social network easy. You make one friend, you've made 15.

3. Invite acquaintances to hang out. Use your own good judgement when deciding what to do, as it all depends on the person. If, for example, you don't know the person that well but would like to, ask him to a bar or coffee house after work; go with neutrality. Or, if you have already established a mutual interest, then follow that. Your common interest could suggest tickets to the big game, seeing a new movie, attending an art exhibit, and so on.

4. Follow up on all contact. It's one thing to take a rain check with a friend you've known for years, but in the delicate, early stages of friendship, it's important to answer calls or texts and go out with people. Even if you would rather stay in, just think of it as making deposits for future withdrawals. At this stage, people know very little about you, and the more you stay in, the less they may call on you in the future.

References

• Succeed Socially: How to Make Friends and Get A Social Life