Shake up your social life

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Before I moved to London, someone mentioned that it was really difficult to meet people here. Then it came up again with another person. Now that I’ve been living here for five months, it’s 100% clear to me that everything is relative.

Because since we moved here, I’ve met more people in London than in the entire last year or two that I lived in Argentina. Why? Because I’ve been networking like crazy. I’ve met tons of people. And I’m loving it!

When was the last time you met someone new?

And when was the last time you met ten new people? I just went to a new networking meeting this morning, and met twenty new people, many of whom I made a great connection with, and I’ve already booked further meetings with several of them.

If you feel like your social or business life is stagnant, and you can’t remember the last time you met ten new people—or even one—consider getting agile with your social life. Set a goal for yourself: to meet a certain amount of people at each individual event, each week, or each month, whatever works for you.

Feeling shy? Remember what I mentioned about stretching out of your comfort zone? The only way to feel comfortable as a new person in a social group is to get out there and do it. You might feel uncomfortable at first, but with practice it will be second nature for you to walk into a group and start talking to people.

If the thought of walking into a social group meeting still terrifies you, think about this: how is your life currently limited by this fear? Does it make you feel happy, confident, and successful? Or does it make you want to crawl back to bed and hide under the covers?

And if it does make you want to hide, do you like that feeling? If not, do something different and get agile! Below I list a variety of suggestions, some of which exist in both the US and the UK. Others are based just in the UK and serve as examples. Enjoy!

For business networking:

• The Athena Network, a group for women in the UK and abroad
• BNI, an international group for men and women
• Business Biscotti, a UK group for men and women
• Business Over Breakfast, an international group for men and women
• Ladies at 11, a group for women in the UK
• Ladies Who Latte, an international group for women

For social meetups:

• City Socialising, a UK social group with branches all over the country
• Drinking Partners, the name sounds sketchy but from the site it looks like it’s about more than just drinking
• Meetup.com, a site packed full of groups for anything you can imagine, all over the world. If you can’t find it, start your own group in your area!
• Spice, a UK social group for the adventurous

Other ideas:

• Book club
• Branch out with cultural excursions and make it a goal to meet someone new in the process
• Gym or health club
• Seminars or workshops
• Sports teams
• Take a course..in anything!
• Volunteering events or groups

Think of three of the above groups or types of groups that you’d like to try first. Which ones are they? When will you have time to sit down at the computer and sign up for their next meeting?