# Talk to 3 People a Day Challenge



## Sabreena (Feb 17, 2012)

Who wants to join? 

For the next month or so I'm going to make it a goal to initiate at least 3 conversations a day with people I wouldn't normally speak to. The person could be anyone from a total stranger to someone you had a fight with years ago and haven't spoken to since. The only rule is this: LEAVE YOUR COMFORT ZONE.


----------



## seagulls3000 (Dec 2, 2012)

very good idea - hows maryland


----------



## reaal (Jul 15, 2011)

this is an awesome idea! i think i might try it, on a college campus, random conversations can actually get you places sometimes. people in college are always random.


----------



## march_hare (Jan 18, 2006)

I like this idea! I am going to join in ...
Does online count?


----------



## michijo (Nov 12, 2011)

Try volunteering with an organization that has petitions that need signing. I have done this and talked to or spoken to at least 50 people a day, with a good 20 of them actually engaging in conversation. It becomes routine and easily gives you something to talk about. In some cases they actually pay you a dollar or two for each signature.


----------



## Sabreena (Feb 17, 2012)

.


----------



## Sabreena (Feb 17, 2012)

So I decided to be a failure in life and completely forget about this challenge all weekend. I don't think I've conversed with anyone all weekend, unless you count this super awkward encounter with a woman in my apartment building.

Oh well, there's always tommorow, right?



seagulls3000 said:


> very good idea - hows maryland


It's fine. The weather's bipolar, though.



march_hare said:


> I like this idea! I am going to join in ...
> Does online count?


Sure, why not?



michijo said:


> Try volunteering with an organization that has petitions that need signing. I have done this and talked to or spoken to at least 50 people a day, with a good 20 of them actually engaging in conversation. It becomes routine and easily gives you something to talk about. In some cases they actually pay you a dollar or two for each signature.


Wow, I wish I could do that. Maybe someday...when my anxiety has improved quite a bit.


----------



## visualkeirockstar (Aug 5, 2012)

I not a talking type person so this i can not do.


----------



## Zatch (Apr 28, 2013)

Never really seems like anyone I try to talk to has been interested in replying or continuing the conversation. Either that, or they're busy. Regardless, I feel disheartened from trying this.


----------



## reaal (Jul 15, 2011)

don't worry about it OP, just give it a shot tomorrow.


----------



## michijo (Nov 12, 2011)

Sabreena said:


> Wow, I wish I could do that. Maybe someday...when my anxiety has improved quite a bit.


The world is less mysterious than it seems. Asking a stranger a question is meaningless. It's merely a rote verbal routine that you can actually set your mouth to do before you even think about it, like a robot.


----------



## jonny neurotic (Jan 20, 2011)

Sabreena said:


> So I decided to be a failure in life and completely forget about this challenge all weekend. I don't think I've conversed with anyone all weekend, unless you count this super awkward encounter with a woman in my apartment building.
> 
> Oh well, there's always tommorow, right?


Lol. It's always the way. A while back I was coming up with great ideas about combating SA but then I'd find I didn't have the energy to actually do what I had been suggesting. The important thing is that you keep on keeping on.

It is a good idea, all in all, to try to get into the habit of conversing with people on a daily basis. Note the defense mechanism above, "I'm not a talkative person." I wrote about this a while back. It is a secondary rationalisation to say that one simply cannot talk to other people because one doesn't have anything to say or that one does not wish to engage with others in conversation because one has no interest in their choice of subject matter. I have never seen the point in passing comment on the weather until I realised that the subject matter is not as important as the exchange itself. People talking is no different from chimps picking lice off eachother. It can serve a very important function in and of itself but most of the time its purpose is establishing and maintaining social bonds, nothing more. To make excuses for not partaking of it is to say, "I am content with having no social life. Thanks all the same." This may be true of schizoids but not of social phobics. Avoidant behaviour has to be seen for what it is and not rationalised in this way...


----------



## shelbster18 (Oct 8, 2011)

Sounds like something I want to try but at the same time, I'd be scared ****less to. :afr 

If I was forced to talk, it would probably make it a little easier.


----------



## Raynic781 (Feb 8, 2013)

I do this everyday, for some reason I always end up talking to at least 5 people on my way to class. I guess I could try talking to the actual people in my class though.


----------



## jonny neurotic (Jan 20, 2011)

Raynic781 said:


> I do this everyday, for some reason I always end up talking to at least 5 people on my way to class. I guess I could try talking to the actual people in my class though.


That's the next step. It is difficult to say hi to a group of people tho. It is also difficult to talk to people who you have avoided talking to for a while. The longer you leave it the more difficult it becomes. You could just write it off for now and be sure to make the effort when you enter into a new environment(another class or a job) but if you really want to push the boundaries on your comfort zone then walk right upto them and address them collectively with a nice, confident, *"Hi guys."* And why not...


----------



## Thatguy55 (May 23, 2013)

This is an excellent idea! There are so many people hanging around in my college, I just never say anything to them and they even look like they would be interesting people to talk to. I need to try this, this is the kind of thing I need to be doing. 

Thanks for the idea.


----------



## PaxBritannica (Dec 10, 2012)

What if you never go out


----------



## man143 (May 24, 2013)

jonny neurotic said:


> Lol. It's always the way. A while back I was coming up with great ideas about combating SA but then I'd find I didn't have the energy to actually do what I had been suggesting. The important thing is that you keep on keeping on.
> 
> It is a good idea, all in all, to try to get into the habit of conversing with people on a daily basis. Note the defense mechanism above, "I'm not a talkative person." I wrote about this a while back. It is a secondary rationalisation to say that one simply cannot talk to other people because one doesn't have anything to say or that one does not wish to engage with others in conversation because one has no interest in their choice of subject matter. I have never seen the point in passing comment on the weather until I realised that the subject matter is not as important as the exchange itself. People talking is no different from chimps picking lice off eachother. It can serve a very important function in and of itself but most of the time its purpose is establishing and maintaining social bonds, nothing more. To make excuses for not partaking of it is to say, "I am content with having no social life. Thanks all the same." This may be true of schizoids but not of social phobics. Avoidant behaviour has to be seen for what it is and not rationalised in this way...


Well said, I myself have realized this thing many a times that talk is not important, taking interest in other person is important. But sometimes you feel like getting a grip over it and sometimes you feel you are still far behind.


----------



## xgodmetashogun (Apr 2, 2013)

Count me in.


----------



## EmptyRoom (Jul 28, 2010)

This sounds like a good idea

I never leave my comfort zone and I never keep in touch with people

I need to try this ><

Also, good luck to everyone giving this a go!


----------



## Anti depressant (Jan 29, 2011)

Does Facebook count? If so I do 3 people a day easily. But what about outside of FB? Outside of the virtual world?


----------



## Sabreena (Feb 17, 2012)

Anti depressant said:


> Does Facebook count? If so I do 3 people a day easily. But what about outside of FB? Outside of the virtual world?


Whatever you're comfortable with. Some people can handle face to face interaction easily but social media is harder. All that really matters is going outside your comfort zone.


----------



## Sabreena (Feb 17, 2012)

This challenge is not going as well as I hoped. Today, for example, I hardly spoke to anyone, including the people I'm normally comfortable with. Just been having a bad day.

We'll see how tommorow goes. I'm going to update daily from now on.


----------



## ShineGreymon (May 30, 2013)

3 a day.. actually outside!! im already a nervous wreck I will have to exclude talking to girls in this challenge cus well .. I will probably faint for the first time ever!


----------



## Sabreena (Feb 17, 2012)

Jun 1st:

I only had one conversation, with a girl I knew from middle school who was taking the SATs at the same school as me. I spent the rest of the day watching TV and sleeping off my exam hangover, so I didn't get to go out again.


----------



## Sabreena (Feb 17, 2012)

Jun 2:

Pretty good day. I went to volunteer at a museum and talked to a billion strangers, the three that stood out the most were:

1. A lady in an elevator who was asking stuff about the exhibit
2. An older woman who talked about how much the museum had changed and which things she liked
3. Another person on duty randomly decided to talk to me about random things, which was nice, I guess

Jun 3:

Horrible. Completely miserable and anxious day.


----------



## Sabreena (Feb 17, 2012)

Jun 5-7:

Not bad. Did talk to a few people. Screwed up on Thursday but that's okay.


----------



## reaal (Jul 15, 2011)

its great your keeping at it and keeping track. better than anything i have done lately.


----------



## Stradivari (Jan 27, 2013)

I will try this out. I've been meaning to talk to someone but I feel it would be terribly awkard. Maybe I'll delay it some but this have given me a push in the right direction =)


----------



## pinoyAko (May 5, 2013)

its easy to think of it but in reality its hard to do


----------



## Mithun (Sep 25, 2008)

A clarification needed. 
What if I start conversing with people I know and then would they not think that I sound strange for sounding different? Because, I normally wouldn't talk to them for no reason.


----------



## Sabreena (Feb 17, 2012)

Jun 8-12:

Summer vacation started, which of course has me feeling miserable and depersonalizing all over the place. Most days I don't make eye contact with people let alone speak to them. :sigh


----------



## Sabreena (Feb 17, 2012)

Mithun said:


> A clarification needed.
> What if I start conversing with people I know and then would they not think that I sound strange for sounding different? Because, I normally wouldn't talk to them for no reason.


Sounding strange is a risk you have to take. You have to learn not to obsess too much about other people judging you.


----------



## awkwardsilent (Jun 14, 2012)

Hey Chick, don't be down on yourself, you find the motivation to post here, you can find the motivation to get back on the wagon , so to speak.


----------



## Sabreena (Feb 17, 2012)

awkwardsilent said:


> Hey Chick, don't be down on yourself, you find the motivation to post here, you can find the motivation to get back on the wagon , so to speak.


THank you.  I think I did pretty well today, actually, by volunteering at a museum and sort-of talking to the visitors.


----------



## Sabreena (Feb 17, 2012)

So I was in a summer program this past week, and I tried to do this every day...it was more anxiety-causing than it should have been but not as bad as it COULD have been. So I'm satisfied, I guess.


----------

