How do I overcome the fear of judgment?

Overcoming the fear of judgement is not a one and done process. It is very much an ongoing process that can be greatly helped with therapy. What you are describing might be a case of what’s called social anxiety. I am sorry that in the past you have had a bad experience putting your true self out there. It is never fun to be laughed at. I think that if you are able to talk to a therapist, then you will likely have more confidence moving forward in your ability to socialize and be yourself.

I think the first point that I would make is that becoming more confident in yourself is going to take practice. You are going to have to expose yourself to critical situations that you might want to otherwise run away from. Escaping and avoiding difficult situations is not the best solution. What should essentially be done is embrace the challenge. The more social situations and the more you can put yourself out there to make friends then the more you are going to realize that you are a likable person. This is not to say it will be easy. In fact there will be times that it will be hard. You will have times you are judged. Most things worth doing are hard. If things worth doing were easy, then everyone would do them.

Do you want to accept the challenge that some social interactions are going to go bad, but the more you do it, it will get better. Your fear of judgement will go away in a great deal if you face it head on. Do not run from it. The more you hide from judgement the more it will scare you. The sad and unfortunate truth is that sometimes people are not going to like us. People will not like you always. People will not like me always. It is a hard state of affairs to appreciate that people can be judgey. We can be judged and often it is unfair.

At the end of the day being socially present and putting ourselves out there will pay off over time. Social connection is a hallmark of healthy living. Not being social is much more of a curse on our health than the judgement we will sometimes face. We need to find ways to overcome our fear. Making friends will happen, but it might be bumpy for a bit. The old saying you have to break a few eggs to make an omelet. You will have to put yourself out there to make friends and it is not easy.

If you stick with it you will make friends and your fears around judgement will go away. One of the root parts of your question is the fear of judgement. This is a natural and somewhat helpful natural fear. It is okay to have some fear of judgement. We need inspiration and cause to keep our behavior within a reasonable spectrum. Without a fear of people not liking us we would just behave in odd and probably rude ways. I would not look for a complete escape from this natural fear. I would look for ways to feel the fear and try anyways. Keep in mind that wanting to be socially accepted is a natural and healthy life mechanism. Sounds like maybe your fear of judgement is holding you back. However it sounds like you are looking for ways to over come it. If you have the means to do therapy, then I suggest that it is a good starting point. Overtime as you challenge yourself more, then you will likely get to a point that you will look back at this fear and realize that is something that you got over. It takes work. Only hard work and exposure will get you there.