Social anxiety is that fear and discomfort you feel in a social situation. The fear of how people will judge and evaluate you. People with social anxiety have difficulties in making friends, maintaining friendships, finding life partners, finding work, building a career, and even getting through the daily aspects of life and this is only because they are scared of what people will say. Social anxiety can be caused by: 

✓Genetics

✓ Temperament

✓ Negative experiences

✓Stressful social demands, etc.

However, while these causes might not be changeable, there are some social anxiety activities you can do to challenge your anxiety. Here are few coping strategies to help you manage your symptoms:

1. Laugh: Sometimes, people with social anxiety spend most times worrying and fretting that they forget to just laugh and feel free. When was the last time you watched a funny movie that made you laugh out so loud? Who was the last person that made you chuckle? Make effort to bring more laughter into your life. Please laugh and have fun!

2. Keep a journal: Keeping a journal can help you know how you're improving. You get to write your daily thoughts and experiences in it, see how far you've come and recognize what's next to be done. You also get to know when you're falling back to your old habits and negative thinking patterns. Keeping a daily journal will keep you in shape. 

3. Practice social skills: You may not have been born with social skills but it's something you can develop and improve on. Practice how to:

✓ Say Hi to your neighbor

✓ Give a great handshake

✓ Strike up conversations when you are out, be it at work or at an event. 

✓ Give compliments to people

✓ Give sweet hugs

✓ Make eye contacts, etc.

4. Do something exciting: Try something you don't think you can do, something exciting like a zip-line adventure. Lose yourself in an exciting adventure and forget about your social anxiety. 

5. Replace negativity with positivity: If you are used to seeing the world through a negative lens, it's about time you become an optimist. Try to always see the positivity in all things. Positivity is contagious, try replacing those negative thoughts with positive alternatives. 

6. Work with your strengths: In order to get yourself out of this social anxiety, you don't necessarily have to have an end goal of becoming a comedian or an accomplished author. 

For instance, if you love singing, you can join a singing group, or maybe you love books, you can join a book club. Think about your interests and talents and how you can be more sociable in those areas. 

Bottom line

One thing you should know about working on your social anxiety is that it takes time. So, be pleased with any small progress you make. Don't brood over it too much, know that every journey starts little and with time and consistency doing the right thing, you will hit the jackpot ?. 

Thank you for reading dear reader, do well to like, comment and share with your audience ❤️.