It’s incredibly difficult to become a socially adept person if other people stress you out. If you want to be able to make friends properly and make connections with the friends you want to have, you’ll need to fix it immediately if this is a problem for you.
There are a lot of possible reasons as to why other people stress you out. Thankfully, there are also a lot of ways to deal with this issue. And dealing with it is an important thing for you right now since it can literally make or break your social life. That said, here are 14 ways you can follow if people stress you out.
1. Know why people stress you out
First things first, you’ll need to start figuring out why people stress you out in the first place. Better yet, you can figure out if it’s other people who are stressing you out or if it’s something else entirely. You could just be stressed out about something else, something major happening in your life, that it’s bled off to your social interactions.
This is the first step you need to take. Find the real reason for your stress. Dealing with it moving forward will become much easier if you pinpoint the source.
If it’s something else entirely, then good. That’s the thing you should focus on instead. Moving forward, you’ll need to realize that you shouldn’t lash out at other people just because something else in your life is stressing you out.
However, if it is other people that are stressing you out, then… continue reading. Regardless of the cause, this is something you’ll need to deal with immediately. Stress can be incredibly harmful, not just socially, but physically as well.
2. Learn how to empathize
Having empathy is the best tool you can have to connect with anyone. As long as you can empathize, you’ll be able to connect with others easily. This will also ultimately help you if other people stress you out.
See, if other people truly do stress you out, it will help you completely remove that stress associated with people if you start seeing them as someone like you. Someone who also has their own problems, issues, and stresses to deal with. You’ll want to learn more about their problems and you’ll feel a little motivation to help them. Deep inside, you’ll also start to feel that they can help you too.
Empathy is a very powerful emotion that can turn strangers into the best of friends. Take the time to nurture your empathetic nature.
3. Avoid sticking your nose where it doesn’t belong
One other thing you can do so you can stop being stressed out by other people is to simply stay out of their business. Mind your own. Having friends is great because you can help each other with your problems, but this doesn’t always have to apply to the people you’ve just met or people you aren’t that close to yet.
Do your best to not mind other peoples’ businesses, unless they specifically open them up to you or ask you for help and advice. As you need to remember and keep in mind by now, everyone has their own problems and so do you. It can intensely stress you out if you start thinking about other people’s problems on top of your own.
4. Know there are some things you can’t control
There are a lot of things in life that are out of our hands. These can be situations, massive-scale events, and this also applies to how other people act, speak, think, and feel. Since you aren’t able to control these things, not really, it’s best to just leave them be.
Don’t be stressed out over them. If the reason why people stress you out is that there are things they do that you don’t really agree with, or that they annoy you, or for whatever reason, leave them be. Not all individuals are like that. For now, though, you can remain open-minded and acknowledge the fact that a lot of people have very different beliefs and upbringings.
5. Act only on the things you can control
Just like there are things you can’t control, there are also things you can definitely have a hand on. Some examples of this are your behavior, how you treat other people, how you react to the world around you, and how you socialize. That said, focus on these things instead. Act only on the things you can control instead of obsessing over things you have no control over. This will only stress you out more than necessary.
Focus on your day-to-day interaction. Speak to people you can usually relate to. Engage with people who have personalities you find appealing. Start treating everyone you meet nicely. Be more friendly than usual. These are things you have control over and they can greatly increase your daily mood.
6. Return to your comfort zone whenever you want to
Every one of us has our own comfort zones. If yours involve being away from everyone else, like say, the comforts of your own home, allow yourself the time and luxury of relaxing there when you want to.
Your comfort zones are places where you can energize yourself. They can also be very mentally soothing. That said, it will serve you better in the long run if you don’t deprive yourself of this.
Socializing is important, of course, but that doesn’t mean you should force yourself to remain in a situation you’re uncomfortable with longer than you should. Whenever you start feeling drained, which in turn starts to make you feel frustrated, return to your designated comfort zone. You deserve and are required to relax every once in a while. We’re talking about dealing with stress here, after all.
7. Understand the importance of making friends
Making friends is an act that shouldn’t be understated. It is immensely important to us as human beings and you should always keep that in mind.
Making friends is vital in your personal, professional, and mental health. No man is an island and friends are a great way of gathering all forms of resources, whether that comes in the form of moral support or physical interactions.
If you start seeing and believing the importance of making friends, you’ll start seeing every individual as valuable. Whether a person is a potential friend or not, you’ll simply begin to act differently around them. You’ll begin being more friendly and whatever stresses you used to have involving other people will start to disappear on their own.
8. Don’t let them bother you enough that it ruins your day
Every once in a while, you’ll truly encounter people who’ll just put you in a bad mood. Whether if it’s from something they’ll say or if it’s just their overall personality, encountering someone like this is inevitable. While this may be true, you should never let them bother you enough that it ruins your entire day.
It’s completely normal to have a negative reaction towards these individuals. However, once that feeling passes, completely slip it out of your mind. There’s no need to keep thinking about the moment or the person. Move on with your day and focus on the things that you should be doing.
9. Surround yourself with like-minded people
You can make this whole experience way easier for you if you start surrounding yourself with like-minded people. Be around others who share most of your perspectives, interests, and have the same drive as you. Being around these people will make you feel right at home. If you people stressed you out before, you’ll forget they ever did if you’re around like-minded individuals.
This is just a stepping stone. You also shouldn’t restrict yourself to just hanging out with people who have things in common with you. This is just for the sake of easing you into interacting with other individuals. This will also make it easier for you to turn strangers into friends.
10. Find an outlet
It can be very helpful to find an outlet, whether people stress you out or if it’s something else entirely. This is a piece of advice you can follow regardless. Find an outlet you can turn to whenever things go sour. This outlet will help you calm down and ease off.
Consider this outlet as a form of therapy for your stress and other issues. A lot of people turn to their hobbies for this. For example, if someone who loves playing guitar is prone to getting stressed out, they’ll usually turn to their instrument to help them calm down. Other people turn to writing, while others turn to physical activities such as sports or exercising.
Find one that suits you and fully take advantage of it. Direct all of your energy towards that outlet. You’ll be wonderfully surprised to find just how well it can do for you in the end.
11. Know that you don’t need to be friends with everybody
You also need to remember that you don’t need to be friends with everybody. Perhaps what’s stressing you out is the idea that you should befriend everybody around you and yet you can’t. If this is the case for you, now is officially the time to begin thinking that this isn’t the case.
Not everybody on this planet can be your friend, and that’s completely fine. This doesn’t need to happen. Just focus on the individuals you can actually befriend. Focus on those who share your interests. Focus on those who, despite having nothing in common with you, seem to connect with you really well. Those people who can be your friend should be the receiver of your attention. Those who can’t shouldn’t stress you out.
12. Focus on the things that make you happy
While it’s true that there are a ton of things in this world that can stress you out, there are also a lot of things out there that can make you happy. Focus on those things instead. Focus on the things in this world that legitimately bring you joy.
This can be your friends, your hobbies, your family, or even something as simple as an ongoing TV show. There are so many things that can make you happy but they’ve gotten overshadowed by the things that stress you out. This should never be the case.
If you start focusing on the things that make you happy, the things that used to stress you out, even if they’re other people, will slowly and surely start to fade away from your mind. Other than that, you’ll also become a much more optimistic person.
13. Know what you want
Start thinking about the things you want in life and work your best to achieve or acquire your desires. It doesn’t matter if it’s a tangible thing or not, set your mind straight and work hard to achieve them.
This will make you a much more driven person. People won’t be able to stress you out if your mind is set on your goals and aspirations. It will also make you much more conclusive, a quality a lot of socially adept people share.
14. Improve your social skills
Finally, the best thing you can do to deal with the fact that people stress you out is to simply improve your social skills. Your lack of social skills may ultimately be the reason why other people stress you out. You lack the ability and the knowledge to make sincere and genuine connections. You find it difficult to carry a meaningful conversation.
If this truly is the case for you, well it’s a good thing that you’re already here. Improving your social skills is something you can practice, and eventually master. Once you’ve become socially adept enough, you’ll be able to interact with the people you can turn into friends. You won’t feel stressed out around other people. You’ll look forward to meeting them.
Getting stressed out around other people is a harmful thing that will grow if you don’t deal with it. It will also impede your chances of making any friends ever. Take note of everything you’ve read here and start acting on this so you can stop this issue once and for all.