Honestly, the biggest thing for me was just forcing myself to find opportunities to socialize, and take them. Especially when I wasn't totally comfortable with it. In high school, I joined the anime club there (yes, I'm a nerd), a Linux Users' Group, the local university (grew up in a college town) anime club, the university tabletop gaming club, and probably some other stuff I am forgetting.
I tried to say "yes" any time someone invited me to a social thing, even if it it made me anxious. It was hard at first, but it got easier over time.
Later, when I started going to conferences and conventions, I made a conscious effort to have conversations with people I didn't know. Again, it was a struggle at first, but it slowly became natural.
I doubt there's any quick way to do this. It was literally years of effort - learning to expose myself to the possibility of rejection and accept it when it happened.
In the end, this all boils down to "practice", I suppose. Being willing to suck at something is the first step towards being kinda good at it.
I tried to say "yes" any time someone invited me to a social thing, even if it it made me anxious. It was hard at first, but it got easier over time.
Later, when I started going to conferences and conventions, I made a conscious effort to have conversations with people I didn't know. Again, it was a struggle at first, but it slowly became natural.
I doubt there's any quick way to do this. It was literally years of effort - learning to expose myself to the possibility of rejection and accept it when it happened.
In the end, this all boils down to "practice", I suppose. Being willing to suck at something is the first step towards being kinda good at it.