I leave work during my lunch break. I feel tired. Sleepy. I actually had my real lunch at 11am. I don't feel like pickup but Im craving sweets. I stop inside a Target at 12:30pm and it's loaded with women. Suddenly I'm no longer tired. While some are mothers, there is still a good number of targets at Target. I feel the urge to open. However, those first words elude me. After walking around the store avoiding approaches, I finally find my candy and head to the female cashier. Friendly banter erupts, I now feel at ease and I am able to approach people (although I wasted most of my lunch choding out.)

I realized a universal truth:

Whenever you enter a new environment, those first words are the hardest. Every time.

However: They don't need to be a full on approach! You just need to start talking to ANY stranger, about anything ! It can be a passing comment, conversation with a hired gun, or a friendly elderly couple. Say something, anything, and open yourself.

This is similar to how you can procrastinate on writing an essay because you "don't know how to start". However, if you start typing in a section you where know what to say (easy openers), or just type whatever gibberish you can think of (just open anyways!) the essay suddenly becomes easy to write.