After a breakup we want to start doing things again and meeting new people. Many times my clients think this is when they should start dating again, but honestly they just aren’t ready and over their breakup. Meetup.com gives you a place to meet new friends without committing to anything more than 2 hours.
Finding meetup.com was a game changer for me. Not because I had just broken up with someone, but because I was a stranger in my own city that I had lived in for 10 years. My corporate job kept me on the road, rarely home, and when I was home, I didn’t want to go anywhere. Getting out to meet new people and find new places to eat and drink became my new mission.
Once I left corporate America, I realized I know where the best food is across America and in most airports, but had no clue locally where the hidden gems for food were. I also noticed I didn’t have any friends in town. Honestly, I never noticed. My friends were all over the country. Being home meant I had to start over.
But how do you meet new people after a breakup?
I found Meetup.com by accident. I started going through the local groups and found happy hour groups, book groups, foodies, outdoor groups, work out groups, etc.
I decided to join one group after hours of scanning and trying to decide what felt less scary to go to by myself. I chose a foodie group. This would allow me to kill two birds with one stone. I could learn about some restaurant options and good happy hour locations while meeting people with some shared interests. I mean we all picked the same group so we would have at least something to talk about. Right?
I went to my first meetup for happy hour. My mentality was, worst case I would learn of a new place that I could return to if I liked it. If not, it was 2 hours of that at least i could know this group wasn’t for me. I felt like committing to a book club was too much work to read the book and maybe not like anyone there. So I stuck with drinks and food and a 2 hour commitment.
There is a lot of freedom looking at it like worst case I learn I don’t like something.
Meetups helped me meet some amazing friends that I now do things with outside attending a meetup group.
Take the risk. Do new things and meet new people after your breakup without having to date yet. It helps.
Check out this cheatsheet on other ways to help your breakup recovery.
Still hurting because of your breakup? Here’s some tools I share with clients