Short coaching clip by Dr. Aziz giving practical guidance for approaching strangers confidently. He identifies the main barrier as internal "mental noise"—fearful predictions that others will disapprove or be annoyed—and advises rehearsing approaches as if the other person will approve (adopt the voice, energy, and body language you use with close friends).
How to confidently approach anyone. Part one. The biggest obstacle to approaching people is not what do I say? I'm not sure if I have the right line. Oh, is it the right time to approach them? That's all the mental noise that gets in the way of you approaching them. And the reason that you're hesitating is because of this. Underneath, you have a sense and a fear and a prediction. They're not going to like you, that you're going to be bothering them, you're going to be imposing, and the reaction you're going to get is, what are you doing here? Right? And that creates all that hesitation and overthinking. So here is the key for approaching anyone with confidence. What if you knew they were going to approve of you? How do you approach your best friend when you know they're going to respond positively to you or someone you love? How do you approach them? What's your energy like? What's your voice tone like? What's your body language like? Okay. Practice approaching that new person as if they're already going to approve of you.
