EliteSingles explains how to deal with the angst that can consume you at this time of year – our Valentine’s survey results are a real eye-opener!
Are you feeling lonely? A little bit glum, perhaps? Fear not! The world is generally considered to be quite a big place, and there are cheek-slappingly enormous numbers of opportunities for meeting new people. However, with so much at our fingertips, sometimes we can become blind to the hidden potential in everyday activities.
Following on from our previous article entitled ‘Songs about Loneliness’, which featured a playlist stuffed with songs to provide the perfect accompaniment to a lonesome heartbeat, this article will focus on providing inspiration to help you transform yourself from a sullen moth into a glittering social butterfly.
If you’re keen to make a change in your life but haven’t the foggiest idea where to begin, we’ve got you covered: below you will find a countdown of 10 tactics for expanding your friendship circle and, with a smidgeon of luck and some highly-tuned flirting, finding your new partner.
10 Earth Shatteringly Brilliant Tactics to Stop Feeling Lonely
10. Dive into Speed Dating
To be fair, if you’re perfectly comfortable being flung into a slowly rotating circle of complete strangers, all of whom are dressed to the nines and wearing their best fake perma-smiles, you’re probably not going to be feeling lonely for very long. Regardless of whether you pootle down by yourself or drag your friend along for moral support, speed dating can be a fun and kooky way to meet some interesting new people.
9. Scour the Office
Wait, come back! Hear us out before you slam your laptop shut and fling it out of the window in disgust. The fluorescent lights and poorly hydrated ferns of the average office make for surprisingly fertile ground when it comes to social interaction. Whether it’s a quick chin wag over the water cooler or a full on knees-up at post-work drinks on a Friday, it pays to invest time into getting better acquainted with your colleagues.
8. Commandeer Your Friends’ Friends
A tried and tested scheme for the meek of the world to amass friends is to latch onto a more extroverted person, like pilot fish hugging the underbelly of a shark. An outgoing friend is a rich mine of potential friendships, and by making sure you always offer them a plus one (or three) when you invite them over, you can carefully grow your friendship circle.
7. Get Blogged
A slightly more long winded way to meet new people, but one that may be far more appealing to those of us who suffer from crippling shyness and/or general social inadequacy. There are blogs and online communities out there for just about everything; from button collecting to bouldering, whatever your interests, a great way to enjoy your share of the sweet nectar of human interaction is by creating an account and getting involved. Hey, you can even blog about feeling lonely, if you must.
6. Read Books, Talk Nonsense
For those who prefer more traditional tactics when it comes to swatting the bluebottle that is feeling lonely, joining a book club is a classic method of engaging with new people in meaningful ways. Lively discussion of a good book can reveal a great deal about a person, plus let’s be honest: there’s not much more attractive than seeing someone speak with passion about an issue they care about. New, close friendships are practically guaranteed, and the odds of sparks flying are pretty high, too!
5. Sports!!!
Tennis, football, rugby, lacrosse, cycling, yoga, boxing, ice hockey, surfing, rock climbing, show jumping, fencing, canoeing, clay pigeon shooting, high dive, dressage, discus, caber toss, gangland B-Boying, Norwegian anvil hurling: the law of the universe dictates that, no matter which sporting activity tickles your fancy, once you join a club or a team you’ll have oodles of new pals within weeks.
4. Roll Up Your Sleeves and Do Some Good
Once you begin volunteering, you’ll wonder why you haven’t been doing it your whole life. Whether it’s helping out at the soup kitchen, giving a few hours to your local charity shop, or teaching a class in your community, if you’re feeling lonely, volunteering is one of the best options on this list because it offers unlimited potential for new relationships while simultaneously pumping the world around you full of glittering goodwill and kindness. Need we say more?
3. School Yourself
You know how you’ve always waxed lyrical about how you’d love to take up salsa, then sighed and stared out of the window in quiet resignation? Well, here’s a radical idea: take up salsa! As with many activities on this list, taking up a class has benefits beyond new potential for friendships. Whether you’re an aspiring chef, a budding mathematician, or you’re keen to get to grips with the art of life drawing, a new class is perfect for forming close relationships and banishing those lonely pangs.
2. Don’t Worry, Be ‘Appy
More commonly shortened ‘apps’ by those in the know, there are myriad apps out there that are designed solely to help you socialise. Apps like Meetup, Squad and Skout allow you to browse thousands of events happening in your area, ranging from intimate writing classes to casual kickabouts in the park. As long as you’re willing to put yourself out there, you’ll be eyeball deep in friends in no time.
1. Join EliteSingles, Of Course!
The fact that this is number one on the list is entirely coincidental, honest. Regardless, the fact remains that if you’re feeling lonely, the low moods that naturally arise from this can be de-motivating and make the quest for meaningful relationships even harder; in many ways, feeling lonely is a self fulfilling prophecy. This is where EliteSingles comes galloping over on a white horse, bearing a toothy smile with hair billowing.
EliteSingles matches couples based on their answers to a personality test which members fill out when sign up. Based on the Five Factor Model of personality traits, our algorithm pairs individuals with similar interests and personalities, which provides users with the basic foundation on which to build a healthy and exciting relationship.
And once you’ve created a dazzling profile on the site and are several paragraphs deep into a witty conversation with an attractive, professional single from your area? Feel free to scroll back up this list, and recommission the bullet points as cool, alternative dating ideas!
Except perhaps number 9. Your coffee cup-strewn desk isn’t a particularly sexy location for a first date.
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About the author: Dan Hackett
Dan is an editor for EliteSingles.