Do you continually find yourself home alone on Friday and Saturday nights? Do you wonder how the other ladies can find a date with handsome single men? I am here to tell you that even if you are shy or normally introverted, you can still succeed in the world of relationship and connections. Whether your goal is getting a date with a nice, handsome man or finding love that will last, these 5 tips will serve you well:

1. Know what you need.

Have you asked yourself what you actually go for in a guy? For instance, are you searching to meet a guy to call your boyfriend and have a relationship with? Or are you just looking for someone to go see a movie with? If you find yourself in a scenario where you’re just looking to make new friends and keeps things casual yet the other person is looking to possibly make you his girlfriend, honesty is the best policy. Let him know that you’re not looking for a connection now and that you would like to be just friends.

2. Exercise deep breathing.

There’s a good chance that either the thought of talking to a guy or being out with a guy makes you nervous. First off, men are usually much more nervous than women. Secondly, deep respiration can be the most simple yet effective remedy to at least reducing any nervousness or anxiety you may have about that special someone (or men in general). Whenever you find yourself nervous about something (such as right before talking to a guy or right before a first date), take about 10 minutes to breathe from your abdomen. Slowly take a deep breath in and gradually let it out.

3. Learn to imagine your success.

This technique is often called mental testing. Whenever you have to prepare for some sort of anxiety-provoking event (in this case, either a first date or approaching that cute guy across the room), you want to relax your mind and body with deep breathing and visualize your greatest goal in mind. You would want to find a place where you cannot be disturbed, either sits or lies down, do the deep breathing exercise as explained above, and then in great detail think about your end result in mind. For instance, if you have a first date coming up, you could visualize him searching at you with a smile, happy to see you, having a great time with you, and/or ending the evening with a hug/kiss. If you do this exercise enough times, your brain will get to work to see to it that you succeed in bringing about your visualized achievements.

4. Start off discussing to men online and work from there.

The Internet can be a good beginning point if you’re not the type to strongly make your attention known to a guy. Out of all the tips on how to meet a man (or how to meet people in general), this one is my individual favorite. Just remember to exercise your best judgment and rely on your personal intuition. If you’re searching for a free dating site to begin with, I would recommend Mingle2 along with plenty offish. You could start with instant messaging or mailing a guy back and forth. If you feel a relationship exists, then you could step up to talking on the phone. Also keep in mind that most men like to talk about sports, hobbies, individual accomplishments, and other ‘strong’ topics.

5. Always stay true to yourself.

You should never have to change who you are for a different guy. In your quest to find a date or find a boyfriend, if he cannot fully accept you just the way you are (e.g. he has an issue with your bodyweight, your outfits, unwillingness to go along with something, etc.) then you have the call. You have every right to bring the connections to an end. I wish you the best of luck in all that you do.