How?
After years of learning and only a few surface level friends until this year, here are some steps that helped:
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First, find a hobby you enjoy. Some good ones: working out, biking, sports, playing music. Not: guns, video games, or cards.
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Forget about texting or missing out and focus on yourself. Go deep with that hobby. Grown, learn, love yourself. Someone once told me "date your hobby".
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Now you'll start to find people with similar hobbies. People might even start to look up to you as a mentor. At this point your looks don't matter because you have something valuable that shows you value yourself: skills.
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Ok so what are these people who look up to you and want to be around you? Friends. Friends that want to be around you for something deeper than how you look externally. The best kind of friends.
Real friends. -
Only after all that comes together, start to think about partnerships beyond friendships. Friends will support you and even matchmake you. You'll want an established base with solid friends where you're happy without a partner first.
Trust in the process. Good luck!
(I wrote this earlier today as a comment to another post, but the original post was deleted so sharing again because a few people seemed to appreciate it)