When you were young, you likely had a very easy time making friends. Look at any two kids who meet each other at a park and you’ll see just how quickly total strangers can become great friends as children. But as people age, they often have a much harder time making friends. But for your mental and emotional health, having friends is vital. 

Whether you’re still in your working years or have just moved into a senior living facility, you can make new friends. To help you see just how this can be done, here are three tips for making friends as an older adult. 

Be Willing To Put In The Effort

Making friends as a child was easy. Anyone who was close to your age and in your proximity could become a fast friend. But when you’re older, making friends takes a bit more effort. So if you want to make new friends, you have to be willing to put the time and effort in to make this happen. 

For older people, friendships don’t usually just happen. Rather, you have to be intentional about who you’re spending your time with and the activities that you do together in order to really build a connection. By doing this, you should be able to find people that you want to befriend and come up with ways that you can better get to know one another in order to see if you’re a good match for friendship. 

Go Where There Are Like-Minded People

If you’re not sure how to meet new people and even get started with building a new friendship, one of the best things that you can do is to go to places where people with minds and interests similar to yours will be. 

Depending on your personality and what you like, this could include doing things like volunteering in your community, going to senior nights at restaurants or bars, joining a sports or hobby league, taking a class that interests you, and more. 

Get Comfortable Speaking With People

For many people, starting up a friendship out of nothing can be hard because they don’t know how to first begin the conversation. But with a little practice, anyone can get comfortable with speaking with people and getting to know others.

The trick here is knowing how to ask the right questions that will get people talking. You can ask them about things they’ve done recently, things about their past, favorite things of theirs, their family, or anything else that gets them talking. And the conversation goes, work on your skills of being a good listener and asking follow-up questions to keep things moving. 

If you want to be better at making friends as an older adult, consider using the tips mentioned above to help you in doing this.