A short instructional YouTube video by Dr. Aziz demonstrating a simple technique to overcome shyness: deliberately practice friendly greetings to strangers in public. The video shows on-street examples, offers practical tips (loud clear greeting, timing, eye contact), and frames occasional non-responses as useful "micro-rejections" that build tolerance and confidence.
Hey, Dr. Aziz here in downtown Portland, Oregon, and I want to demonstrate in this segment of the world simply means interacting with the world as if it were a friendly place, as if people weren't going to criticize and harshly reject you just for talking to them, just for saying hi to them. Good. Hey, man. Hey, guys. Hey there. Hey, how's it going? Hey, hi there. Down a street in Portland and saying hi to people. And also, if you think about doing something like this yourself, how do you feel? Does it make you feel anxious and either one of two things is happening? One is it does make you feel anxious. It did for me. I felt terrified at the idea when I first started doing it. Or two, you say, no, it's no big deal for me. But I often question that when people say that, because sometimes before you do the thing, it doesn't seem that scary. But if you actually imagine, you know, actually get in the situation where you're going to do it, it can feel totally different. So either way, I encourage you to. To practice going out today and doing some friendly greetings. Practice find a busy area in your street, a downtown, a mall, a shopping center, it doesn't matter. Find a place where there's a lot of people walking and just start saying hi. A few tips for your success here on this front. One is to say it loudly. If you notice I'm not saying, hi, hi. I'm looking right at them and saying, hey, how's it going? And sometimes I'll wave a hand. If it's a group of people, you can say, hey, guys, how's it going, guys? And you also want to say it when you're far enough in front of them. So if you wait till they're right beside you and walking the other way and you turn and say, how's it going? Then it's too late and disorienting and you usually won't get that many responses. The key is to say it when they're a ways away and say, hey, how's it going? Notice the friendly tone. Just really watch that video to get any tips on how to do it. And the key takeaway here is it's not about how many positive responses you get. It's not about a bunch of people saying hi back to you and being friendly. The goal is to do it anyway, even though you're scared. In fact, the goal is to even have some people give you one of these. You know, they like, I'm confused and disoriented by what you're doing, and I'm not going to say hi back to you. And that's a good thing because that little micro rejection is actually really good for you. It builds up your strength, builds up your tolerance, and allows you to keep doing things and even if they're a little unusual. So go out and practice friendly greetings. Do something that scares you and see the results. Until we speak again, may you have the courage to be who you are.
