1. Meander around a busy public place for an hour or two so you get used to being around people.

2. Practice smiling and making eye contact to nonverbally connect with people who seem nice and interesting to you. (No touching, just look and smile.)

3. Decide to chat with one new person a week. It can be in the store, school cafe, the bank. Nothing breeds success like success.

4. Act "as if." If everyone waited until they were totally comfortable before trying anything new, no one would do anything new! Pretend you’re not shy and act "as if" you’re full of confidence.

5. Calm yourself by telling yourself over n over again that you’re safe, and everything’s going to be okay. Say it aloud in private and in your head in public as often as necessary.

6. Identify the worst case scenario. What’s the most hideous thing that could happen if you walk up to someone you liked and said, "hi"? Putting a face on your fear helps reduce it to manageable size. For example, the worst thing that might happen is the person turns around and walks away. Yeah, rejection hurts, but you’re not going to die from it. And acceptance feels great, and you’ll never experience it if you don’t take a chance.

7. Have fun! Shift the focus away from you own fears and zero in on what makes someone else tick. Before you know it, you’ll forget all about being shy. Do the easy stuff first.

i lyk am!

ah! much better!