Articles List
This page is the main listing of all the site's articles on how to improve your social skills, and on how to get past awkwardness, shyness, loneliness, not being accepted for being different, and other interpersonal problems.
Further down you can browse the entire list, but below are links to the sections that cover the most common issues people who come to this site struggle with:
Complete Article List
Here's the full list of the site's articles. Don't feel you have to read all of them, or read them all in order.
Jump to a section:
Introductory ArticlesThe Process Of Improving
Shyness, Fears, Insecurities, and Negative Moods
Meeting People And Making Friends
Making Conversation
Generally Improving Your Social Skills
Having A Negative View Of Certain Aspects Of Socializing
The Idea Of Changing
Not Fitting Into The Norm
Developmental Differences
Miscellaneous
Assorted Introductory Stuff
How the site came about, some of the philosophies behind it, and some background information on social skills.
An Article To Start Things Off
You're Not Alone If You're Awkward, And There's Hope Of Improving
About The Site
About SucceedSocially.com And Its Author
Why I Made This Site
A Quick Disclaimer About The Examples Used In The Site
The Site's Philosophies
Various Philosophies And Assumptions Behind This Site
Everyone Has Their Own Social Goals
Why This Site Doesn't Use The Words Introvert And Extrovert
Background Information On Social Skills
Some Social Factors People Can Differ On Factors That Seem To Lead To Weak Social Skills
The Process of Improving
These articles are about the overall process of improving your social skills. You won't find any specific tips on topics like making conversation here. If you see improving your social skills as a long road, these articles will give you some insights about what to expect on the way.
Time Required
How Long Does It Take To Get Past Your Social Problems?
There's No Quick, Effortless Way To Fix Your Social Problems
Some Central Principles of Improving
Why You Need To Directly Practice Social Skills And How To Do It
Indirectly Become More Successful By Improving As A Person
Overall Attitudes That Will Help You Improve Your People Skills
Trouble Getting Motivated To Get Started
Overcoming Laziness Towards Working On Your Social Problems
Are You Fully Ready To Change Your Social Problems?
Some Reasons People May Put Off Working On Their Social Issues
What to Expect
Stages You Can Go Through As You Improve Your Social Skills
How Socializing Can Get Easier And Harder As You Grow Older
Times You Feel Unusually 'On' In Social Situations
Having A Realistic Idea Of The Effects Of Fixing Your Social Problems
Thoughts On Some Types Of Advice
Social Skills And Self-Help Advice I'm Not Crazy About
"Epiphany Addiction"
Attitudes Towards Socializing That Are Easier Said Than Done
How to Win Friends and Influence People Isn't A Complete Guide
Shyness, Fears, Insecurities, and Negative Moods
These are issues that can get in the way of learning or applying social skills. There are a lot of articles here. They all share the common theme of being related to unpleasant emotional states, like anxiety or sadness, or negative types of thinking such as feeling self-conscious, insecure, and unconfident.
Shyness and Social Anxiety
Getting Over Shyness
Common Worries Shy Or Insecure People Have
Social Anxiety Disorder / Social Phobia
Anxiety
The Nature Of Anxiety
Overall Attitudes For Handling Anxiety
Coping With Anxiety In The Moment
Coping With Nervousness Before An Unavoidable Social Situation
Coping With Nervousness Before Optional Social Behaviors
Coping With Panic Attacks
Facing Your Fears
A Giant List Of Common Social Fears
Why It's Essential To Face Your Social Fears
How To Face Your Social Fears (Gradually)
Factors That Impact How Certain Fears Need To Be Tackled
Dealing With Rejection
Handling Social Rejection, Mistakes, and Setbacks
Confidence
Observations On Becoming More Self-Confident
Some Ideas For Handling Low Self-Esteem And Insecurities
The Link Between Social Skills And Self-Confidence
Insecure or Negative Thoughts
Cognitive Distortions And Socializing
Challenging Negative Thoughts
Accepting And Rolling With Negative Thoughts
Negative Mood
When Depression Is A Factor In Your Social Problems
Lifestyle Changes That Can Improve Mood
Meeting People And Making Friends
This section covers the steps that go into making friends, from finding people to meet, to organizing plans with them, to working out some of the kinks in your relationship.
Basic Principles
How to Make Friends And Get A Social Life
Mistakes Lonely People Often Make
Meeting People
How To Meet People
How To Find Events And Clubs In Your Community
Improving Your Social Prospects Before You Try Meeting Anyone
Making Plans
Making Plans With People
Examples Of Ways To Invite People To Hang Out
Inviting Yourself To Social Events
Things To Do With Other People
Making Friends In Specific Situations
How To Make Friends In College Or University
How To Make Friends In A New City / After University
Making Friends When You're Married
Forming Certain Types Of Social Circles
How To Make A Group Of Friends How To Have A Lot Of Friends And Create A Large Social Circle
Problems With Making Friends
When Your Life Circumstances Interfere With Your Social Life
Problems You Can Have While Trying To Make Friends In College
When People Don't Seem Interested In Starting Friendships With You
When You Feel Like You Don't Fully Fit Into Any Social Group
Planning Problems
Worries People Often Have About Making Friends And Plans
When Friends Are Always Late Or Unreliable
Ways People Can Unintentionally Leave Friends Out Of Social Events
Problems With Existing Friends
When You Feel Like A Second Tier Member Of Your Social Group
When You Feel Like Your Social Circle Is Indifferent To You
When Your Friends Tease You A Lot
When You Feel Like Your Group Of Friends Could Be Better
Making Conversation
Many people say they struggle in this area, that they can't think of things to say, or they fear awkward silences, or they have trouble handling certain types of conversation.
Starting Conversations
How To Start Conversations
How To Join A Conversation
Keeping Conversations Going
Asking Questions And Making Statements
Some Popular Overall Approaches For Making Conversation
How To Think Of Things To Say When Making Conversation
How To Be Less Quiet And Contribute to Group Conversations
Ways To Deal With Awkward Silences In Conversations
Listening And Being Interested In People Isn't A Cure-All
Types of Conversation
How To Do Better In Loud, Crazy Group Conversations
Some Thoughts On The Point Of Small Talk
On The Spot vs. Lower Pressure Conversations
When People Say "How's It Going?", "What's Up?" or "What's New?"
Ending Conversations
Overall Thoughts
Generally Improving Your Social Skills
These articles are about various ways you can become more interesting and likable, navigate specific situations, and avoid acting awkward. This section is also a bit of a catch-all and covers topics that don't neatly fit elsewhere.
Being More Fun And Friendly
How To Be More Friendly And Social
How To Be More Fun
Regular Logical Mode vs. Fun Partying Mode In Social Interactions
Socializing in Certain Environments
Hanging Out With New People Who All Know Each Other
How To Mingle And Talk To People At Parties
The Challenges Of Socializing At An Office Job
Ways People In High School Can Work On Their Social Skills
Knowledge & Lifestyle
Factors That Can Boost Your Social Success Quite Quickly
How Your Interests Can Affect Your Social Success
At Times It's Practical To Know Things Other People Care About
How Traveling/Backpacking Can Boost Your Social Skills
Lifestyle Factors That Can Affect Your Social Success
Reading More Can Indirectly Boost Your Social Success
More General Concepts
Loosen Up To Be More Socially Successful
The Importance Of Simplicity And The Basics In Social Interactions
Broader Skills
Thoughts On How To Be Funny
How To Dance - For Average Guys And Girls
Thoughts On How To Be More Interesting
Non-Verbal Communication
The Importance of Getting Your Appearance In Order
Learning To Make More Eye Contact With People
Getting Drained By Socializing
When You Easily Get Drained And Tired In Social Situations
Reasons People May Feel Drained While Socializing
Psychology
Some Ways People Are Mentally Lazy About Judging Others
Technology And Socializing
A Bunch Of Social Issues Related To Texting
A Bunch Of Social Issues Related To Social Networking Sites
Advice Geared More Towards Men
When You're A Guy Who Has Trouble Relating To Other Guys
Is It Okay To Hang Out With Another Guy One On One?
Advice Geared More Towards Women
Inside The Mind Of Guys Who Are Shy With Women
Problems Facing Women Who Are Shy And Inexperienced With Men
Things That Can Make You Seem More Socially Awkward
Social Mistakes Intellectual People Can Make
Reasons Someone May See You As Weird
Being Guarded, Secretive, And Defensive
Being Too Negative In Social Situations
Being Less Naive And Innocent And Getting More Of An Edge
Feeling Overly Intimidated By Certain Types Of People
Substances And Socializing
Ways To Get Away With Not Drinking In Social Situations
Alcohol, Drugs, And Socializing
Issues That Get More Relevant As Your Skills Improve
When People Don't Notice You've Improved
Some Things That May Happen As You Get Better Social Skills
Talking To Shyer, Quieter, Or Less Social People
Dealing With Regrets Caused By Your Poor People Skills
Having A Negative View Of Certain Aspects Of Socializing
One barrier in the way of some people increasing their social success is that they don't have the warmest opinion on certain parts of socializing.
Negative Attitude Towards Others
When You Feel Like You Just Don't Like People
Is Thinking You're Better Than Other People Holding You Back?
Other People Often Aren't As Shallow As They Seem
Negative Attitudes Towards Certain Things
Little Social Annoyances That Will Never Go Away
Bars And Clubs Aren't All Bad
It's Fine If You Don't Drink, But Don't Be Too Against The Idea Of It
The Idea of Changing
Many people will be coming to this site with a bunch of social changes they want to make. Other readers are more wary about the idea of having to change to do better socially. The concept may make them think of things like conforming and selling out, or having to change more about themselves than they'd like. There aren't any single, neat answers for this issue, but these articles explore it from a number of perspectives.
The Three General Philosophies Towards Changing
The Being True To Yourself Approach to Changing
The Pragmatic Adaptation Approach To Changing
The Truly Trying To Change Yourself Approach To Changing
Some Other Issues That The Idea Of Changing Raises
Changing Your Social Skills vs. Changing Your Entire Personality
What's a Social Difference And What's A Social Weakness?
Are Certain Social Traits Changeable Or Not?
For Any Trait Keep The Good Parts And Toss The Bad
Pragmatic Motivations People Have For Improving Their Social Skills
Social Skills Are Ultimately Subjective
Social Skills Are Very Nice To Have But Ultimately Optional
It's Very Tricky To Know What You Want Socially
Ideas That Can Excuse Not Working On Your Social Weaknesses
Not Fitting Into The Norm
One broad social problem area people experience is that they don't match up the social norm, and that causes all kinds of difficulties for them.
When Your Main Social Problem Is That You Don't Fit In
Getting Away With Doing Your Own Thing Socially
Bitterness About Being Socially Misunderstood
Being Less Naturally Social
It's Okay Not To Be As Sociable As Other People
Stereotypes About Less Social People
How Being Less Naturally Social Can Affect Your Success
Developmental Differences
Some social skills problems arise from inborn differences in how people's brains are wired.
How Asperger's Syndrome / High-Functioning Autism Affects Adults
Ways Adults With Asperger's Syndrome Can Improve Socially
Non-Verbal Learning Disabilities And Their Effect On Socializing
Miscellaneous
A few random articles that aren't super heavy on advice, and which share my thoughts and reflections on some things. You may find them interesting to read, even if they're not ultra helpful.
How I Naturally Became Less Obsessive About Video Games
How The Type Of Advice Someone Can Give Can Change Over Time

