Recently I’ve been working on overcoming my social anxiety, but the hardest part has been actually practicing exposure—thinking of exposure activities and finding the discipline to put myself in uncomfortable situations. I keep wishing there was some kind of systematic strategy I could follow to help me stay focused, motivated, and consistent.
So I decided to create my own exposure plan. I’m sharing it here because I think others might find it helpful.
**This week’s challenge: practice greeting people in a warm, lively way. It could be anyone—bus drivers, coworkers, cashiers, neighbours, random people in the hallway or street. Just catch someone’s eye, flash a friendly smile, and give a clear, enthusiastic greeting.**
Keep a daily list of how many people you’ve greeted and see if you can beat each day’s score. Be mindful of your anxious thoughts and feelings; track whether or not it gets easier over time. And if you’re interested in participating, feel free to comment for advice, encouragement, or simply to share your successes!
7 comments
I’ve been needing to do something like this and might try this out, def feels like a good-sized goal to tackle daily! I feel like I always come off as standoffish and closed-off so this seems like a good way to start working on that. Also would love to see you post your weekly challenges if you’re comfortable sharing 🙂
Love this! I’ll try to do this challenge 🙂 please keep us updated!
This is awesome. Thanks for sharing. 🙂 I have a hard time holding myself accountable and going out of comfort zone, but I’m going to try this.
Challenge accepted! We regroup here tomorrow night to see how it went! Goodluck everybody!
Following you to do those challenges with you
I love this idea. Especially that it’s just a Platonic friendly greeting, not flirting or trying to get a date (right??)
You deserve to be commended by taking the first step. It’s a breakthrough for sure. keep having this mindset and you’ll feel more confident in no time.
Keeping a list of your social wins is important. Marking the number of ppl you greet on a physical calendar is also powerful. More impact than just typing on the phone.