You stop settling for bad company the day you start liking your own.

Putting up with bad company is usually about the alternative. If being alone feels like the worse option, then nearly anybody clears the bar, and you will tolerate being talked over or quietly diminished rather than face a Friday by yourself. Getting comfortable in your own company changes the arithmetic, because the bar is now set by something decent instead of by dread.

Spend one evening alone on purpose and make it good rather than endured, something you actually like. Do that a few times and certain invitations stop being hard to turn down.