hey guys im new here so i dont know too much, but i do know that approach anxiety sucks. i got over approach anxiety about 4 years ago, but after dating the same girl for 3 years its back. now im out again working to overcome it. the biggest cause for my anxiety is my confidence level. when you are confident about yourself it makes approaching people much much easier. here are some tips that helped me the first time.
1. the 3 second rule. <--- GOLDEN. think back to a time when you had that anxiety. what were you thinking? if you can remember then you didnt use the 3 second rule. the point of this rule is to stop you from convincing yourself that something bad is going to happen... dont think.. just do. the longer you wait the more anxiety builds, so if you move on 1 second youll have even less anxiety then if you waited 3 sec. maybe try going out to a bar(or other place) with plenty of potential targets nearby. get an opener ready then turn around and pick the nearest set and instantly open.
2. approach someone you know and are very comfortable with, but pay attention to the details. like how did you walk up to that person, what did you say, how did you feel, what was you body language like. the big thing is to remeber how that person made you feel when you were approaching them, then recall that feeling before you approach a set.
3. i also tried to convince myself that i had know motives when approaching someone. this way there is no failure. if you have a motive to do something then you tend to expect a result. achieveing that result is either a success or a failure. and with no motives you dont have to worry about if your going to succeed or not.
hopefully that helps a little.. p.s. please ignore any spelling errors.. im an engineering student
