I'm also an 'introvert', but I don't like to label myself with it. I love electronic music so I'm in night game venues fairly often. While I may not be a master game artist with a huge notch count, I've come across a few ideas over time that have been helpful:
Drop the 'I'm better than all these people' attitude. Part of what a lot of people assume as 'introvert' is actually just being too far up your own ass. If you are more interested in what's going on in your own mind than in what's happening around you that doesn't necessarily mean you are an introvert, it might mean you are a narcissist. It is an increasingly common trait in these modern times. Bullies often target the quiet kid not because he is meek, but because they pick up on the vibe that the kid thinks he's better than everyone. This is a hard conclusion for anyone to swallow about themselves, but give it some serious consideration. A little humility might be what you need to get out of your own head and take more interest in other people. The self always thinks he's smarter, prettier and more interesting than he really is, and the opposite about other people.
Do whatever you can to warm yourself up and get hyped to meet people. Put on the cool jacket, use that minty soap that gives your balls that tingly feeling, rock out to some loud music in your car on your way to the party, dance in front of the mirror, whatever it takes. Socializing is a flow state that you can learn to force yourself into. Sometimes when I cant work up the nerve to approach girls I'll find some cool looking dude groups and try to make friends. Most of them are there for the same reason I am, sometimes they'll even give you some useful intel on who is worth approaching. The whole point of a party is to mingle and meet people, so any possible hostilities you might run into can easily be deflected. You want to have a jovial attitude, like walking up to randos and making friends is a perfectly ordinary thing that everyone at parties does, because it is.
Realize that nobody is in the social flow all the time, approaching, meeting, conversing, everyone struggles with it. It is easy to be intimidated when you see folks performing really well while you are not, but everyone says some off-color dumb thing and has to recover from it, every guy faces constant rejection. No matter how cool and fashionable you are, you will inevitably have your fly down or get a drink spilled on you or have spinach in your teeth at some point (I swear some bitch with a bloody mary always manages to spill on me when I wear white). Nobody is blessed with easy perfection, everyone is working hard to be cool and smooth and interesting. You'll have good nights and bad ones. We build this images in our heads that we are deficient in this natural charm that everyone else has, but maybe everyone has the same deficiency to varying degrees. I think everyone is afraid to talk to each other face to face, we wouldn't have taken up smartphones with such gusto if we weren't.
Try treating talking to girls like talking to children. Doing that will get you way further than you'd think.
Drop the 'I'm better than all these people' attitude. Part of what a lot of people assume as 'introvert' is actually just being too far up your own ass. If you are more interested in what's going on in your own mind than in what's happening around you that doesn't necessarily mean you are an introvert, it might mean you are a narcissist. It is an increasingly common trait in these modern times. Bullies often target the quiet kid not because he is meek, but because they pick up on the vibe that the kid thinks he's better than everyone. This is a hard conclusion for anyone to swallow about themselves, but give it some serious consideration. A little humility might be what you need to get out of your own head and take more interest in other people. The self always thinks he's smarter, prettier and more interesting than he really is, and the opposite about other people.
Do whatever you can to warm yourself up and get hyped to meet people. Put on the cool jacket, use that minty soap that gives your balls that tingly feeling, rock out to some loud music in your car on your way to the party, dance in front of the mirror, whatever it takes. Socializing is a flow state that you can learn to force yourself into. Sometimes when I cant work up the nerve to approach girls I'll find some cool looking dude groups and try to make friends. Most of them are there for the same reason I am, sometimes they'll even give you some useful intel on who is worth approaching. The whole point of a party is to mingle and meet people, so any possible hostilities you might run into can easily be deflected. You want to have a jovial attitude, like walking up to randos and making friends is a perfectly ordinary thing that everyone at parties does, because it is.
Realize that nobody is in the social flow all the time, approaching, meeting, conversing, everyone struggles with it. It is easy to be intimidated when you see folks performing really well while you are not, but everyone says some off-color dumb thing and has to recover from it, every guy faces constant rejection. No matter how cool and fashionable you are, you will inevitably have your fly down or get a drink spilled on you or have spinach in your teeth at some point (I swear some bitch with a bloody mary always manages to spill on me when I wear white). Nobody is blessed with easy perfection, everyone is working hard to be cool and smooth and interesting. You'll have good nights and bad ones. We build this images in our heads that we are deficient in this natural charm that everyone else has, but maybe everyone has the same deficiency to varying degrees. I think everyone is afraid to talk to each other face to face, we wouldn't have taken up smartphones with such gusto if we weren't.
Try treating talking to girls like talking to children. Doing that will get you way further than you'd think.
