Creating and maintaining a social life can be difficult. Most of us have lost friends over the years, made new ones, and lost some again. We’re busy with work and adulthood, but we still crave the social interaction that friendships provide.

During transitional periods of life, it’s common to feel alone or a lack in your social life. In fact, a recent study showed that 72% (almost three quarters!) of Americans experience loneliness. The good thing about loneliness, however, is that there’s a solution to it. Make a change in your social life by trying the following five tips.

“You’ll never be able to do that.”

“What makes YOU so special?”

To some extent, we’re all familiar with this voice inside our head, the one that tells us we’re not good enough, undeserving, etc.

If you’re sick of listening to the abuse, silence your inner critic. Use these six ways to stop beating yourself up.

Humans are wired for connection to others. Relationships are important to us!

The feeling of being well-liked and well-loved by others - especially family, friends, and work-colleagues - is part of our innate desire to make and maintain connection with people who are important to us.

Could you be doing something more with your life?

Is it time to change your job? Find a new career?

Or do you simply need to make some personal changes to improve your outlook?

There’s no better feeling than waking up after a night of solid, uninterrupted sleep. Your mind feels clear, your body feels rested, and you feel ready to take on the day ahead.

By Elizabeth McMahan

Inevitably, your uncle is going to have a few too many; your aunt will start a political argument; your cousin is going to brag about her kids (while demeaning yours); your mother-in-law won’t like your apple pie; and of course your parents will be upset that you can’t come over for Christmas AND Christmas Eve. Sound familiar?

Depending on how stressful your family is, you might want “the most wonderful time of the year” to be over before it even begins.

Click through to see our chart on 9 ways to manage anxiety.

By Elizabeth McMahan

Personal boundaries are the limits and rules you establish for yourself in relationships. Whether or not you’ve heard of or engaged in personal boundary work before, you’ve probably unintentionally set a few at some point in your life.

For instance, when you were younger, you and your sibling may have had an unspoken rule where the two of you take a few minutes apart after a big fight.

By Elizabeth McMahan

Therapy usually leaves you feeling great, right? You learn new skills and tactics, you get to focus on yourself, and you figure some things that you may not have been able to on your own. The only downside is you can’t keep your therapist in your pocket at all times…so you have to find ways to live what you learn when your session is over.

By Elizabeth McMahan

Life. It’s full of beauty, full of fascinating discoveries, full of surprises… and full of responsibilities.

Your education, your job, your bills, your family. Everything is jumping, screaming, and begging for your attention.

And more often than not, those things get your attention first—before yourself.

In the end, your life always revolves around other people and other things