We arrive. It's loud. There are people literally throwing (and missing) bottles into a trash can 25 feet away from them. It's some kind of contest. Apparently they do this every Thursday.
There were all these new people that seemed to know each other, they were laughing and joking around. I was sitting there, my shirt felt uncomfortable. Why did I wear these shoes? I wanted to leave. I felt like an alien, an outsider who had landed at this bar. I was squarely focused on my internal thoughts and feelings. Which only seemed to make me MORE uncomfortable. Classic social skills mistake. In the video above, I answer a similar social skills question about what to focus on while socializing in a group. (Hint: It's not yourself) Action Steps:
Back at the kickball meet-up, what could I have done differently?
Had I been focused on my external environment, on other people and what their stories were, I would've had a MUCH better time. Why?
Because I couldn't have been focused on both my internal processes AND my external environment...it simply would've been too much to focus on.
(that's called sensory processing, it's basically how we process all the environmental sensory stimuli at any given moment so we can actually function.) Learn from my social mistakes. Don't be an awkward science experiment. Question:
Let me know in the comments about a time you felt uncomfortable in a group...how did that experience make you feel? What do you wish you'd done differently?
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I'm Jeff.
I'll help you supercharge your people skills so that you can have a more fulfilling career, business & social life. Over the last 15 years, I’ve learned... (Read More) Popular Posts• 5 Ways a Communication Coach Can Help You Become a Better Communicator
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