I have no friends: 4 things to do if you are lonely

Undoubtedly, having a friend or a network of friends seems to be so important nowadays. Not only are they the ones you can count on to hang out or unwind with, friends also help get us through tough times and bring joy to our lives. When you say "I have no friends", it could be that you have isolated yourself and prevented any chance of building some connection with people or that you are shy and socially awkward, disallowing yourself from enjoying life with friends.

Having friends are one of the greater perks of life, and for whatever reason, you should not be stealing yourself away from the opportunity to make friends who you can hang out with at school or after work, share your deepest and darkest secrets to, or have the chance for them to turn into family.

So, what do you do if you are lonely and have no friends?

Step #1: Confront the fact that you have no friends and understand the reason why

If you find yourself searching up on the Internet why you have no friends, you will not get the exact answer reason why. Everyone has their own unique situation: only they can know for themselves, if they are being honest, why they have no friends and what they can do when they have no friends.  

Why do you find yourself in this situation? Is it because you have grown up as a shy and awkward teen, and have not broken out of of your shell? Is it because you do not have good communicative skills that can effectively engage and entertain others around you? Some of you may realise that you could have been working too hard for too long, putting off the need and desire to be social and make friends. Others may realise that depression and anxiety may have taken over and prevented them from making friends because they feel like they do not have the energy to do so or it simply feels so much better to just stay isolated. But it doesn't stay that way for long, does it?

Whatever the reason, only you will know for yourself the real and honest reason that you feel like you have no friends. Once you are honest with yourself about the situation you are in right now, you can now genuinely and effectively move forward to taking steps to turn this situation around.

Step #2: Finding hobbies

It is no secret that the age-old method of finding hobbies is probably your best bet at finding opportunities to meet people and make new friends.

When it comes to finding a hobby, be genuine and branch out from some of the things you know you already enjoy. Go deeper into your interest and explore yourself from there. Keep an open mind, but also get to a point where you can dedicate some time and energy to doing something to cultivate that hobby.

To meet new people and make friends who have the same interests than you, look up sites like meetup.com that allows you to join a group in your area that shares your interest. You can even look up groups with broad interests like "newly arrived expats" which could help especially if you are trying to make new friends when you have moved to a new city or country.

Other than that, you could even strategically make use of some apps that are aplenty today to help make friends if you feel like you have no friends and are lonely. Apps like Patook have been featured as a strictly platonic friend-making app, this app matches friends based on the traits you seek in one.

Should you be worried about your privacy and safety when meeting new friends, which with the growingly complex world we live in, you should, you could get a second phone number to use when first connecting and making friends with strangers.

Use Phoner app (or click here for the Android Version) to help you purchase a Premium number that acts as a second phone number. With this, you can have a peace of mind when exchanging contact details with a person you have just met. With a second phone number, new 'friends' will not be able to track your locations, find your social media before you intended to share it with them or uncover any of your other personal information. This is a useful and important step when going about making friends with strangers or people you have just gotten to know.

Step #3: Build your social and communicative skills

Building an affable personality that will have people wanting to connect and maintain relationships with you is arguably one of the most needed skills today, whether with regards to your personal or professional life.

Now that you know what to do when you have no friends and have decided to turn up to social events to meet people and make new friends, you are already putting yourself out there to practice your communicative skills. The only truest and quickest way to build your self-confidence and your ability to connect with people is to go and continually put yourself out there, no matter how embarrassed you may feel or how worried you are about failing. We guarantee - it only gets better!

Step #4: Combating loneliness with or without friends

Whether you're a social butterfly or an introverted individual who prefer to do anything but socialise, you must confront the feelings of loneliness that you feel. Even with the best company of peers, some people can still feel lonely.

Loneliness is not about how little friends you have or how alone you feel despite the number of people around you who love and care for you.

Loneliness can only be overcome when you are able to be alone and comfortable with yourself. Only by keeping yourself occupied by building skills that improve yourself and spending time with activities that you enjoy and feed your mind, body and soul, can you truly be self-confident and overcome loneliness.

Be sure to prioritise YOURSELF first. Seek to find out the true underlying cause for why you feel lonely when you have no friends, and realise that that loneliness can only be conquered by yourself - it cannot be resolved by distracting yourself with friends. If anything, you should be seeking real connections with others who will genuinely help you on your journey to your own happiness and self-realization.

You vs Having no friends

When you think to yourself that "I have no friends", it is important to dig deep to find the reasons why. While feeling lonely without friends or deciding what to do when you have no friends might seem like an unending battle, the answer indeed lies within yourself: only you know what you can do to change the situation around. Take the tips given here, keep yourself safe and secure when texting new friends or strangers and let us know how your friend-making adventure goes!