How Do You Make
Friends as a Busy Adult
(and Why is it so Important)?
Three Top Tips
www.Sedona.com
Maintaining close friendships is an important part of life, no matter what stage of it you are at. As children, of course, we make friends almost instantaneously and with everyone around us. That uninhibited drive to meet our peers, sadly, often wanes as we get older, and busier.
While children are free to devote their weekends and summers to play dates, adults have more pressing matters – work, spouses, kids, pets, aging parents and a seemingly endless array of tasks to complete. Often, maintaining friendships is not top on our list of priorities, and relationships that aren’t being tended to by either party usually fall by the wayside.
As such, many adults find that once they leave college, they lack many (or any) very close friends. Aside from contributing to loneliness, a lack of friends can leave a void in your life. Friends act as companions and offer understanding, sometimes perhaps even in ways that your spouse or family cannot (such as two new mothers or two men who have just been laid off who are able to share their experiences).
Also, friendships are necessary to combat isolation as we get older and as we transition into different phases of life. Studies have found, for instance, that seniors with friends actually live longer than those who don’t have social ties.
How to Make Friends
When it comes to making friends, many of us could take a lesson from children. Remember how easy it was back then to run up to a new classmate on the playground, share your peanut butter & jelly sandwich and soon become best friends? Adults are often so caught up with their own self-image and fears of rejection that simply introducing ourselves to someone new can be daunting.
“It can be hard for adults to form new friendships because we’re too concerned with ourselves and what others think of us. We also fear change,” says Hale Dwoskin, CEO and director of training of Sedona Training Associates.
“Both of these “adult” reactions are simply feelings that can be easily released with The Sedona Method. As you let go of these and other feelings that are standing in your way, you will find yourself more at ease and will easily be able to win friends and influence people,” he says.
The scientifically proven Sedona Method shows you how to tap your natural ability to let go of negative thought or communication patterns that may be keeping you from establishing meaningful adult friendships. Once you let go, you’ll find you are able to communicate more effectively and easily take action toward meeting new people.
Other key tips to making new friends as an adult include:
• Join a club or volunteer. Immersing yourself in a group activity you enjoy is an ideal way to meet likeminded people. You could join your neighborhood walking club, volunteer at a local animal shelter or take part in the Sedona Live Training Sessions.
• Get to know your neighbors. By asking a neighbor to borrow a ladder, or offering to pick up their newspaper when they’re out of town, you’re opening the door to a potentially meaningful relationship.
• Make seeing your friends a priority. Times goes by very quickly when you don’t stop and make time for your friends. Set up a weekly time when you and your friends can meet for coffee, walk your dogs or take in a movie together. Maintaining the friendship, after all, is entirely as important as making new ones.
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