If you hate doing these 10 things, you’re probably a lone wolf

I’ve always considered myself to be a lone wolf. In fact, I’m so much of a lone wolf that I literally have a wolf tattooed on my shoulder.

Wolves are misunderstood creatures, and they’re also super social and prefer to hunt in packs. But I’m not going to get into that here.

Instead, we’re going to take a look at what we humans think of as a lone wolf, along with some of the signs that suggest that you are one. And given that I’m an introvert who prefers to be alone than surrounded by people, I think I’m the perfect person to write this.

And so without further ado, let’s take a look at 10 things you’ll hate doing if you’re a lone wolf.

1) Making small talk

I’m convinced that everyone hates small talk, but lone wolves hate it more than most.

That’s because small talk drains their social battery without actually serving any purpose. Nobody benefits from small talk, and yet it leaves lone wolves feeling exhausted. It’s not good considering that small talk usually leads somewhere.

For example, if a lone wolf goes to a job interview, they’ll be exhausted just from the small talk that takes place before the interview starts. When it’s time to get down to business, they have no energy left and often end up withdrawing into themselves.

That’s not to say that lone wolves hate conversation completely. It’s just that if they’re going to talk to someone, they’d prefer to talk about something deep.

2) Going to weddings

This is something that I’ve started to mellow out about now that a lot of my friends are getting married.

When I was younger, though, weddings were the bane of my life. I couldn’t think of anything worse than having to be surrounded by my family for hours at a time as we sat through a boring (and often religious) ceremony.

Weddings were compounded by the fact that they’re basically small talk central. It’s not really possible to go to a wedding and not talk to anyone, even if you spend the whole ceremony hiding in a corner. You also find yourself having the same conversation over and over again because everyone wants to know what’s new since the last time they saw you, which was probably at the last wedding.

Okay, so perhaps I haven’t mellowed out as much as I thought I had.

3) Working on group projects

The thing with lone wolves is that they pride themselves on their ability to tackle situations alone.

This means that when they’re put in a group as part of a school project, they’re forced to do something they could do alone but with other people along for the ride. On top of that, most people are less than enthusiastic about actually participating in these projects and leave them to the last minute.

This causes a problem for the lone wolf. For me, it just meant that every time there was a group project, I’d go off and do all the work, and then as the day of the presentation arrived, I’d reluctantly gather everyone together and brief them on what they needed to do.

It goes against the whole point of what group projects are supposed to be and it annoys lone wolves no end, but does it work? Well, sorta…

4) Participating in team sports

Team sports are basically the sporting equivalent of group projects, which brings many of the same problems.

Lone wolves hate having to trust another team member to do their job. That leaves them hogging the ball if they want to win or refusing to participate completely if they don’t. They’ll take the path of least resistance and do whatever allows them to remain a lone wolf.

Team sports also rely on communication, and lone wolves generally aren’t great at that. It’s not that they don’t have communication skills; it’s just that they’re reluctant to use them without a good reason, and team sports rarely cut the mustard.

Don’t be surprised if they excel at solo sports, though.

5) Public speaking

Did you know that the fear of public speaking is the most common phobia in the world?

With as many as 77% of the population suffering from it, it ranks ahead of the fear of dying, which is why it’s been said that most people would prefer to be in the casket than delivering the eulogy at a funeral.

Lone wolves tend to hate public speaking more than anyone else because it forces them to stand up in front of people when they’d prefer to be at home, alone. Even though they can usually do a pretty good job of presenting, they’re not in control of the audience’s reaction, and that leaves them off guard.

They’re used to only ever relying on themselves, but all of a sudden they need to rely on their audience to give them a positive reaction.

6) Sharing personal space

By their very nature, lone wolves tend to have a den of sorts which they retreat into when they need their alone time.

That’s all well and good, but it means they don’t react too well when that ability is taken away. They rely on having personal space, and so if they find themselves in a situation like serving in the armed forces where they have to share space with other people, they struggle.

True, there are occasionally instances where one lone wolf meets another one and they’re kindred spirits, such as when they get into a relationship or go off to college and have to share space with a roommate. But these are few and far between.

And so if you need your own space and can’t stand sharing it, you might just be a lone wolf.

7) Following celebrities

When you’re a lone wolf, celebrity culture seems even more ridiculous than normal.

After all, the whole point of being a lone wolf is that you do things your own way. There’s no need for you to keep an eye on what celebrities and influencers are doing because it has no bearing on your own life.

This also means that on those unavoidable occasions when they have to make small talk (see our first point), they’re unable to do what a lot of other people do and to talk about celebrities and reality TV. It’s just another reason why they hate small talk in the first place.

And perhaps celebrity culture is just the cultural equivalent of small talk anyway. But I might just be saying that because I’m a lone wolf.

8) Looking good

Lone wolves don’t care about looking good because they’re not trying to impress anyone. They’re busy being themselves.

This isn’t a hard and fast rule, because some lone wolves still like to look good for their own benefit. But that’s the difference, because lone wolves do it for themselves and not for anyone else. If they want to look good, it’s not because society expects it of them.

For the most part, though, lone wolves hate dressing up in fancy clothes and are at their happiest when they’re chilling at home in their leisure clothes. For them, it’s more important to be comfortable and spend time doing what they love than it is to look good.

And if they look good while they’re doing it, that’s just an added bonus.

9) Dating

Lone wolves don’t necessarily hate relationships, but they hate the things you have to do to get into one.

That’s because dating involves small talk and lowering your boundaries temporarily to give a new person a chance to be a part of your life. It basically forces lone wolves to go outside their comfort zone, something that no one likes doing.

There’s also the fact that lone wolves are perfectly happy being on their own, and so that begs the question of why they should bother. Most of them see a relationship as being an added little bonus, rather than something that they need to feel happy and successful. They’re less likely than most to go out of their way to get into a relationship.

Instead, they’ll sit around at home, wondering why they’re single without doing anything about it. Yep, I’ve been there.

10) Going on public transport

The problem for lone wolves is that going on public transport brings a bunch of other hated things together.

They have to talk to the bus driver to buy their ticket and thank them as they get off if they want to be polite. They also have to share their personal space, and if someone decides to come and sit down next to them, there’s nothing they can do about it.

Being on public transport also means that they have to leave the sanctity of their den, which is usually their favorite place to hang out. Also, the chances are that they’re taking public transport because they’re going somewhere that they don’t really want to be.

Because as we all know by now, lone wolves would much rather be at home.