Conquer Your Social Anxiety (Street Challenges)

This meetup is designed for those of you who want to take tackling your social anxiety to the next level, by completing a series of social challenges such as interacting with complete strangers and purposefully making yourself the centre of attention in public.

Social anxiety is fueled primarily by the very primal fear of whether or not people approve of us, and the potential social consequences if they don't.

In ancient tribal societies, this fear was completely justified. If the tribe didn't like you, you were goosed. Best case scenario, the penalty was exile, where you would either starve to death or get eaten by wolves. Worst case scenario? Who knows...? Ritual sacrifice. Head on a pike. Anything was possible.

Now, apart from the estate me' Mam and Dad live on, in the rest of modern Britain, these fears, for the most part, are completely unjustified. Nobody's getting their arms chopped off for being shy or telling a rubbish joke. So, how do we get rid of this anxiety that's no longer relevant?

The bad news... You can't. There's no such thing as "getting rid of your anxiety". This fear of social consequence is hardwired into you. Like the drive for food, shelter and sex. The way you overcome your fear of social situations isn't by getting rid of the anxiety, but by making yourself BRAVER.

Think about the contender for the heavyweight boxing title. How is he going to defeat the champion? By making the champion weaker, softer and slower by somehow sabotaging his efforts? Or by making himself stronger, harder and faster through training?

If the contender can make himself bigger and better than his opponent, it doesn't matter how powerful the champion is on the day. He's going to lose.

Same with anxiety. When you become stronger than it, you can steamroll right through it, and there's nothing it can do to stop you. And with enough practise, you'll eventually stop noticing it's even there.

And here's the rub. It takes practise!

All the knowledge and reassurance about how safe and friendly the modern world is, isn't going to make you braver. Your brain needs PROOF, not promises!

The only way to PROVE that the modern world is safe and friendly is by TAKING ACTION, and TESTING that hypothesis by purposefully subjecting yourself to the kinds of social situations you fear, and seeing what happens.

So...

We'll meet outside Ziferblat @ 1pm. Each member of the group then has to choose a list of 5 social challenges to complete in the space of an hour. Here's a taster of some of the options:

• Stop a random stranger in the street, hand them a pencil and paper and ask them to draw a picture of you.

• Lie down in the middle of the street for one minute and don't move.

• Walk down the street with a sign around your neck reading "I'm Elvis reborn. Ask me anything!".

• Ask a member of the opposite sex for their number.

• Sit in busy coffee shop alone, with no phone, for five minutes.

• Play a kazoo on a street corner for two minutes without stopping.

• Stand on the street with a clipboard and conduct a survey about bacon or something equally silly with five members of the public.

• Browse a busy shop wearing a ridiculous blonde wig (if you're a guy) or a fake beard (if you're a girl).

• Carry a "free hugs" sign until you get 10 hugs.

The purpose of these exercise is to prove to yourself that you can make a fool of yourself, or talk to a complete stranger without anything bad happening.

Think about it. After pretending to be Elvis or hugging ten strangers in the street, doing something simple like going to meet your friends for a drink in the pub is going to feel SUPER easy!

Not keen on these challenges? Feel free to create your own. Think about what aspects of socializing make you feel uncomfortable and that you'd like to overcome, and design a challenge around them.

Remember this isn't a competition. The group is here to serve as support and encouragement, not peer pressure. If you come along and fail every single challenge, so what! There's always next time :)

Cost of this meet is £2 per person, to cover the cost of props and things.