Meet a new person a day for 365 days

A couple of friends of mine have started on a quest to meet a new person every day for a year and to take a picture with them and post it on Facebook. The first friend that I saw doing this was Lynn Herman and right behind her, I saw Mary Swarts doing the same thing. These women are two of the most awesome people I know and if you're not friends with them yet, I highly recommend that you connect with them! And if you live in Fresno, you can be one of the new people that they meet. Here's the video that Lynn shared as her inspiration.

I've decided to do it starting today. There are 265 more days left of the year after today, so I should meet my 266th new person on New Year's Eve!

Here are a few things I've found on the Internet from various sources:

From Collegetopia:

The 3 Second Rule

When I started looking into the challenge of talking to someone new every day for 30 days, I read about something called the 3 second rule.

The 3 second rule happens to be the most powerful pickup tool a guy or girl could have and is often referred to in these terms, but it’s a great tool for meeting new people in any context. The rule requires that if you see someone you’re interested in talking to, you have 3 seconds to walk up to them and start a conversation. It’s very simple, but extremely effective.

The reason why it’s so effective is because if you wait any longer than 3 seconds, you’ll probably end up over-thinking it and never say anything at all. With only 3 seconds, you don’t have enough time to let anxiety get the best of you. If you see someone you want to talk to, you must immediately go over and talk to them.

Although it talks about potential dates, this list from The Life Experimentor should work in most situations:

6-Step Process For Approaching Potential Dates

1. Compliment or Observe. “That’s an awesome dog.”, “Wow, you have an interesting looking hat.”
2. Ask A Question. “What breed is it?”, “Where did you get it?”
3. Reflect On Yourself / Tell a Story. “Yeah, I have a golden retriever, too. She loves to come to the park”
   “Oh interesting. I love to shop there.”
4. Introduce Yourself And Shake Their Hand. “Hi, I’m Allen. And what’s your name? “Hi, __, nice to to meet you. So do you…”
5. Ask About Their Family, Occupation, Recreation Activities, or Where They Live. “Do you live in this area? What do do for fun, besides walk your dog/shop/etc?”
6. Ask Them For Their Number. “It was great talking to you about ____. I got to go but I’d love to continue our conversation. Can I have your number?”

If you don't feel comfortable asking for their number, see if you can connect with them on social media. You'll also see that #5 in the list closely follows FORM...Family, Occupation, Recreation and Money...I thought I'd written about FORM previously but I couldn't find it, so expect a post soon on the subject!

Here's an excerpt from an article from Psychology Today called "10 Tips to Talk About Anything with Anyone":

1. Listen.
2. Use empathic reflecting skills.
3. Turn on your nonverbal detectors.
4. Avoid snap judgments.
5. Be an online detective or behavioral profiler.
6. Don't assume people will agree with you.
7. Try to learn from each interaction with a new person.
8. Stay on top of the news.
9. Know when not to talk.
10. Don't overshare.

Similar to #8, is staying on top of the interesting days!

And from The Art of Manliness "30 Days to a Better Man Day 17: Talk to 3 Strangers"

We are more and more isolated these days. We live in a neighborhood for decades and never get to know our neighbors. We sit in a pew at church for years and still know absolutely nothing about the people sitting in front of us. We don’t know the guys at work who are in a different department than we are, even though they’re just a few floors up.

The article talks about the how and why of meeting strangers and offers up the following challenge:

Today’s task is to talk to three strangers. And people online don’t count.

Instead, I hope you'll join me in meeting a new person every day.

Interesting days

Today - Experience Week, Sibling Day, Golfer’s Day and International Safety Pin Day

Tomorrow - Cheese Fondue Day, Be Kind To Lawyers Day, Pet Day, Equal Pay Day, Barbershop Quartet Day, World Parkinson’s Disease Day and Library Workers Day

Next Monday - Haiku Poetry Day, Nothing Like A Dame Day, World Hemophilia Day, Ford Mustang Day, Bat Appreciation Day and Blah Blah Blah Day

May 10 - Donate A Day's Wages To Charity Day, World Lupus Day, Mother Ocean Day, Windmill Day, Receptionists Day and Third Shift Workers' Day. And since I work third shift, I get to celebrate Stay Up All Night Night pretty much every night!