Are you trying to improve your social life? With some useful psychological hacks, you can get an edge in the social situations that caused you discomfort before. I am going to share some cool psychological hacks with you. Some of them might be obvious but hey, there are still lots of people out there who are unaware of them.
1. Assume comfort in all situations
The human brain is a complicated instrument and we often have a love and hate relationship with it. You may think you have control over it, but in reality, it dictates your actions. In most social encounters, blending with strangers is difficult. Wonder why? Because our brain needs time to adapt to new situations. But this can be a big hindrance when you are trying to socialize. The best approach to overcome this discomfort is to assume comfort. It can really help if you try pretending that you know the person you are about to meet. This will make communicating with others easy and they may even start liking you.
2. When you are approaching someone, pay attention to their feet
You won’t want to interrupt people want they are talking, right? If you interrupt, it gives an impression that you lack social intelligence and this can create a really uncomfortable situation for you and others involved. To avoid this, whenever you approach a group of people who are in a conversation, pay attention to their body language. If their torso is turned but not their feet that means they are busy talking and it wouldn’t be smart to interrupt them. But if they turn their torso and feet that means you are welcome.
3. Find out who likes you
When you are hanging with a bunch of people and you want to know which one of them likes you, when everybody is laughing, notice who is looking at you while laughing. When laughing, people instinctively look at the person they feel the closest to or want to feel the closest to.
4. Let them see who they look like
Do you work in customer service? Are you done with bearing customer attitude? Just install a big mirror behind you. You will be amazed to see how nice your customers will actually become. If they are able to see how they look when they talk to you, they will feel less comfortable in being a jerk.
5. Fake it till you make it
Nobody can become an expert in something overnight. But you can accelerate the learning process by urging your brain to think what you want to believe about yourself. You are confident if you believe you are – You are attractive if you believe you are – You are happy if you believe you are.
6. Alter your psychological state for that big interview
If you want to ace a meeting or an interview, tell yourself that you know that person pretty well. Imagine you are just old friends catching up with each other. Visualize the experience of shaking hands with them, making an eye contact and having a smooth conversation. Show some respect and be relaxed. The results will be infectious.
7. Need a favor from someone?
If you want a favor from someone, instead of beating around the bush, just ask them by saying ‘I need your help with….’ It works by instilling a small amount of guilt in them which makes them help you out without saying ‘NO.’
8. When you are nervous, chew something
It is natural to get nervous before an important conversation, event or a public speech. No one eats when they are in danger, right? But chewing can calm you down. When you chew, your brain thinks it is safe. It sends signals to release the tension and help you relax.
9. Win the trust of others by repeating their gestures
By repeating someone’s posture, gestures or facial expressions, you can readily win their trust. Most people like themselves, so if they see you doing what you do, they will start trusting you automatically. Be sure you don’t overdo it otherwise, it would just be weird.
10. Don’t give up on these
- Always keep your posture straight and walk as if you are an influential person. This makes others respect you more as it sub-communicates confidence.
- Try keeping your hands warms because you never know when you have to engage in a handshake. If your hands are warm, people consider you are an approachable person and you are easier to get along with. Here is a tip to keep your hands warm; wash them with warm water.
- When you are talking, never lose your eye contact. Otherwise, it just means that you are losing self-esteem.
With these simple yet effective psychological hacks, it will become easier for you to make the most out of your social interactions and get rid of the awkwardness.
