User blog comment:TheTobarMethod/Motivation For SoloQ GO!GO!GO!/@comment-24000352-20131002200343

Nope, you're not alone in that feeling. I avoided ranked games for years feeling the same way.

How did I force myself to start playing? I realized I need to treat those random folks exactly like my friends. Talk, talk, talk and talk. Don't fight over roles and actively lead your team and talk to them just like you do your friends.

This means when I call my roles, I always state they are "Preferred" not demanding them. I explain that I'll play what I have to but dammit there are a lot of better players than me at top and jungle. If someone doesn't state a preference or a role isn't called, I specifically ask people what they want or if someone will volunteer. Be an organizer and the team select goes SO much better.

Then consider the way you view randoms vs your friends. In a friends game, if your buddy blows mid you don't immediately think he's bad, you realize that shit... the other guy is better, it happens. Give the same courtesy to your random teammates. That guy losing lane might have been counter picked, over jungled or he just may have gotten stuck against a diamond smurf. It's amazing how one little mistake can further snowball on a guy until he looks like a total feeder. Look at how bad Xpeke got beat mid against Royal. He's not a noob, but Ori snowballed against him so hard he couldn't even farm safely.

And you don't even have to say it, you may be a nice person who would never insult someone in game. But it's a frame of mind and it's very negative to both you and your team. Fixing this mindset helps a ton to get over your fear of solo queue.

Finally when you do get a weaker team, you have to LEAD. And you have to do it nicely otherwise noone will follow. If you feel you're better than your team start calling out the good plays. "Vi's top, push bot." "Cait just recalled, we can collapse on dragon"  "Don't contest, down that tower." If your teammates are being negative, counter that shit with positivity.

"Karth is terrible, he ults in the middle of the team fight! GG"

"It's cool, we can grab bot tower and now we know better.  Karth can you hold your ult til after you die or the fight ends?  It really does work better."

Your teammates will play better, you'll win more and even if you still lose (shit happens) you won't feel as crappy as when you look at it with a negative attitude. Carrying a team isn't just getting a good score. It's raising your team up with you.