Growing Your Social Circle Through Spontaneous Hangouts
It's remarkably easy to get stuck without a social circle, even for those who typically thrive with an active friend group. Moving to a new city, life transitions, work stresses, family obligations - any number of circumstances can suddenly have you finding it harder to maintain those vital connections. Before you know it, weekends once spent out exploring and making memories have slowly turned into a rinse-and-repeat of sitting around in solitude.
While occasional alone time is perfectly healthy, human beings are wired to be social creatures at our core. A lack of community engagement and tight-knit social circles can directly impact our mental health, general wellbeing, and overall life fulfillment over time. The good news is, there are always opportunities to grow your friend group and insert fresh perspectives into your routine if you're willing to put yourself out there from time to time. In fact, some of the most rewarding connections happen through spontaneous, unplanned meetups.
The Benefits of Expanding Your Social Horizons
Making an effort to grow new branches on your personal friend tree comes with plenty of positive dividends:
- Trying New Activities
When you only socialize within your typical inner circle, it's easy to get stuck in a cycle of the same familiar hobbies, hangouts, and experiences. But by accepting the challenge of trying to expand your network guarantees you'll be exposed to fresh ideas and activities you may have never thought to try before. Suddenly your usual weekend of binging the latest shows could turn into checking out an exotic new restaurant, attending a stand up comedy show, or even joining a running group, and more. New friends means new perspectives and that’s a win-win situation.
- Connecting With Different Backgrounds
When our social interactions only involve individuals from similar backgrounds and with life experiences that resemble ours, it ends up limiting our personal growth as there isn’t much more to learn or discover. But if you try to put yourself in new social environments, you'll be connecting with people with all sorts of different life stories to tell, who can open your mind to different cultures, philosophies, cuisines, and ways of looking at the world. These varied perspectives can be eye-opening and provide self-reflection you'd never find staying in your usual circles.
- Beating Loneliness and Isolation
Humans are social beings and we aren't meant to be solitary for long periods of time. Although some alone time can be rejuvenating in moderate doses, a prolonged lack of strong social ties and sense of community has the tendency of negatively impacting one’s mental and physical wellbeing. Simply having a few companions to grab drinks with, attend events together, or lean on for support can provide tremendous benefits.
- Networking for Opportunities
The people already in your established circles may only know about the same career opportunities, services, events, and insights that you're already aware of as well. However, making an effort to connect with people from diverse backgrounds and industries opens up a wealth of new networking potential. The more you expand your social horizons, the more likely you'll start hearing about new job prospects, insider events, side hustles, or just great new spots for happy hour deals from your fresh connections.
- Making New Acquaintances is Easier Than You Think
In our modern age with so much technology at our fingertips, there are more ways than ever to organically meet people with mutual interests. Here are just a few simple ways to start branching out:
- Take the Initiative
Instead of waiting for your usual friends to make plans, scan local event listings and actually purchase a ticket for yourself to anything that piques your interest - whether it's a trivia night, workout class, craft workshop, or open mic. Having the activity built-in makes it infinitely easier to strike up conversations with fellow attendees around you. Don't be afraid to go somewhere new alone if none of your current friends are able to join this time.
- Utilize Social Apps
These days, apps like Meetup, TOconnect,
and others are designed to conveniently connect people with shared interests, hobbies, goals, and schedules. Many are specifically intended for forging new friendships and facilitating group hangouts. All you have to do is schedule a meetup and be your authentic, approachable self!
- Check Out Community Events
Most cities, neighborhoods, or cultural organizations do an excellent job of hosting regular events that are prime for meeting fellow attendees. From street fairs to art walks to local bar trivia nights, these settings are designed to facilitate mingling and conversation in a casual, low-pressure way. Start by making an observation about your surroundings or asking someone what brought them to the event today. You'll be surprised how naturally discussions can sprout from simple icebreakers like that.
- Be Open to Spontaneity
When new acquaintances or prospect friends extend surprise invitations to join them somewhere, resist the urge to immediately shoot down the opportunity if you're available and comfortable with the plans. Putting yourself in unplanned social scenarios might initially feel like a step beyond your comfort zone. But going with the flow and saying "yes" to spur-of-the-moment opportunities is key to facilitating the random connections that blossom into meaningful friendships down the line.
- Chat With Friendly Strangers
While using wisdom about safety of course, there's no need to automatically shut down conversations when making small talk with someone in a public setting like waiting for coffee or at a bar. If the person seems interested in extending the chat in a friendly manner, keep the discussion going by asking an open-ended question about their day, making an observation about your surroundings, or bringing up a fun icebreaker query. At the very least, you'll get some practice activating your social skills in low-pressure scenarios. In the best cases, you may just randomly connect with a new, promising friend.
The bottom line is that fertile ground for branching out your social circle exists all around you. You simply have to make the effort to explore it from time to time. Don't wait until you're in a crisis of loneliness or boredom. Prioritize maintaining an active social life, putting yourself out there, and staying open to unexpected opportunities for connections. Your present and future self will be grateful you did.
Are you new in Toronto and looking for ways to feel less lonely? Check out some of our other helpful posts!
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