How can you convert acquaintance into friendship?

Tagged:

Thanks for the A2A. I know how this is done mostly because I’m so bad at it.

The key is spending as much time as possible with that person. This doesn’t have to be difficult if you’re motivated. People love to be invited to stuff. So invite them to stuff. If they can’t do it once, find something else to invite them to.

The people with the most friends, I’ve noticed, are constantly reaching out to others, constantly putting together events, always sending out invites. They’re always doing different kinds of things, if someone doesn’t like one activity, there’s always something else going on.

Even if you do this right, not everyone is going to respond. It’s hard to get exactly who you want into your social circle.

Once you’ve done that it’s time to bond. Find topics of common interest and discuss them. You may find they have emotional hangups, once identified, steer clear of pushing their buttons. As you find commonality on surface topics, you can start talking about deeper, personal things. People are slow to open up but most will to someone they trust.

Before you know it you’re chatting over the phone every day about random nonsense and your work is done!