-Say yes to the invite!  Of course, you can’t get to the party if you say no to the invitation or come up with some sort of excuse for not attending.  If you’ve ever seen the movie “Yes Man” with Jim Carrey, you’ll want to embrace this sort of lifestyle.  You don’t have to say yes to every single thing that comes your way, but if you find yourself already shopping for excuses once you receive an invitation to a party, decide that it’s time to exit your comfort zone and say “Yes!”

-Start jabbering as soon as you enter the party.  This is key.  You absolutely need to start the night running, similar to the way you’d want to start a pool party just by jumping in the pool.  It doesn’t matter if you say the wrong things, forget someone’s name, or generally make a fool of yourself – just establish yourself as the kind of person who’s ready to mingle.  Even if all you can muster is a quick “How you doin’?” to the first person you see, then that’s fine.  Just get talking, and eventually you’ll build up enough social momentum to feel like you know everyone there.

-Become interested in other peoples’ lives.  Now, this one comes with a caveat: you don’t want to bore someone to death and make them feel like they’re at a job interview when they’re ready to mingle.  But be willing to ask people about their lives, what they do, or give genuine compliments based on what you notice about them.  Make sure that you genuinely ask what you want to ask:  if someone says that they travel a lot, ask them how they manage to do it!

Following these three steps alone is enough to ramp up your social life, so make sure you stick to them fairly rigidly.  You don’t want to be that guy in the corner, awkwardly holding his drink as everyone else seems to know each other and have a good time.  Become that guy everyone wants to know and you’ll do just fine.