The Real Game Or How I Realized That Pickup Techniques Are Bullshit Part Ii

You wanted him, you've got him. My good friend Tre Tre shared his considerable knowledge a year ago in Part I about why pickup techniques are overrated. Like any good sequel, Part II took some time, and unlike "Matrix Reloaded," this one delivers the goods.

I've coached students often about the importance of detaching themselves from the outcome, and Tre does a superb job of explaining why that's so crucial. His recommended exercise is great advice for any guy who's struggling.

TRE: In my previous post I broke down why all those pickup techniques that focus on the tactics of seducing a woman are a recipe for failure. Today I'm going to talk about how to do it. It really isn't much about women at all. The focus is right at the heart of the matter: you.

I'm going to borrow heavily from a great book called "The Inner Game of Tennis." In fact, click on this link and buy it now. Seriously.

Gallwey is a tennis coach. Over the years he noticed that giving people technical instruction on the mechanics of their swing was not getting them anywhere. In fact, it was making things worse. The players were given knowledge about their swing, and they would attempt to play the game thinking about what they've been told they need to do.

Instead of looking up and feeling the game, they were stuck in their heads, getting worse and more frustrated with every stroke. They were ignorant and terrible before, but with their "knowledge" they were still terrible and now hopeless and broken.

He breaks the human psyche down to two Selves, which he calls "Self 1 and "Self 2." Self 2 is the natural-learning self. That self learned how to talk. It learned how to walk. It learned how to punch your baby brother in the head with a roundhouse when he steps on your Lego castle you spent all morning building while watching Bugs Bunny.

Self 2 is pretty awesome. Your brain and your body connection are connected with broadband at that age because you haven't learned how to be self-conscious yet. You didn't get a set of technical instructions on how to talk, you just started doing it. Granted, you sounded like a bumbling fool in the beginning compared with an orator like Martin Luther King or Howard Stern, but no one around cared because you were learning.

Enter your inner critic, Self 1. At some point in your life, Self 1 is the voice that starts to tell you how to do things. Some of this is conditioned; now that you can talk and communicate, you're told how to act, think and do things. Self 1 just speaks to you when you're in situations. He's there to tell you how things should be done.

Guess what? Self 1 is a judgmental asshole. If one of your friends talked to you the way that Self 1 talks to you, he'd be left in the desert on a long drive out of town.

But we listen to Self 1. He helps to justify and reinforce our bad behaviors, blame others for our shortcomings and suppress the Self 2 that is natural, quiet and waiting to be awakened.

Go read "The Inner Game of Tennis" for more, but I'm going to quote from a chapter called "Inner Game Off the Court" and talk about how you can go out and interact in life with Self 2 leading the way:

"Perhaps the most indispensable tool for human beings in modern times is the ability to remain calm in the midst of rapid and unsettling changes. The people who will best survive the present age are the ones Kipling described as 'those who can keep their heads while all about are losing theirs.' Inner stability is achieved not by burying one's head in the sand at the sight of danger, but by acquiring the ability to see the true nature of what is happening and to respond appropriately. Then Self 1s reaction to the situation is not able to disrupt your inner balance or clarity.

Instability, in contrast, is a condition of being in which we are more easily thrown off balance when Self 1 gets upset by an event or circumstance. Self 1 tends to distort its perception of the event, prompting us to take misguided actions, which in turn leads to circumstances that further undermine our inner balance-the basic Self 1 vicious cycle.

The cause of most stress can be summed up by the word "attachment". Self 1 gets so dependent upon things, situations, people and concepts within its experience that when change occurs or seems about to occur, it feels threatened. Freedom from stress does not necessarily involve giving up anything, but rather being able to let go of anything, when necessary, and know that one will still be all right. It comes from being more independent-not necessarily more solitary, but more reliant on one's own inner resources for stability."

Right now, it is highly likely that if you are reading this, you probably have a voice inside of you that says you talk to women badly and that you need to be good. So, your Self 1 has told you a million ways in which you are bad: awkward, uncool, not good looking enough to get out there and talk to someone you're attracted to. You have this Self 2 inside of you that is creative, learns, adapts and has the ability to connect with other people. That Self doesn't think you do things badly and that you need to do good things now. That Self just naturally learns and experiences the moment.

Guess what? Most women have a Self 1, too. That self gets to hide behind an awesome rack, 200 haircut, eyeliner and high heels. When two very judgmental Self 1s collide, they amplify the discomfort and the lady gets uncomfortable and pulls the ripcord. You're left with Self 1 laying on the "I told you so's" with his hands on the sweat gland and heartbeat controls. He physically makes you feel bad for "being bad" at talking to chicks.

Dick.

So, you have to learn to become calm. To become calm, you have to learn to quiet Self 1. You do that by (gulp) trusting in Self 2. We ALL have Self 2, which wants to be liberated. Self 2 "wants to enjoy, to learn, to understand, to appreciate, go for it, rest, be healthy, survive, be free to be what it is, express itself and make its unique contribution.

Self 2, more important, doesn't need to be validated by anyone, let alone a woman you have a brief encounter with.

But Self 1 doesn't give up easily. For the purposes of this blog entry, let's just keep it simple, but there are volumes that can be written about why and the craftiness with which Self 1 tries to trick you into losing faith in yourself again.

HERE'S AN EXERCISE TO EXPERIENCE SELF 2: This is similar to "Fight Club," when Tyler Durden told his followers to get in a fight "and lose". You need to learn to detach from the outcome. When you detach, you'll learn to trust yourself and then you will learn to be calm in the moment.

Your goal is to talk to 15 women, in a row, and you can't get their phone number, kissed, blown, or peed on (if you are into that.I don't judge). If some lady gets so hot and heavy and you simply can't control yourself and you get a phone number, you have to start over. Fifteen straight interactions with no end that results in you getting something positive from her other than a great interaction on your path to living as Self 2.

In the beginning, Self 1 is going to be SCREAMING IN YOUR EAR THAT YOU ARE DOING IT WRONG AND THAT YOU SHOULD GO BACK TO THE 4TH GRADE AND START OVER. With each subsequent, courageous reaction, you'll learn to trust at little more.

Don't worry about being charming, funny, sexy, seductive, "alpha," how you're standing, if you're displaying dominant body language, etc. Once the voice comes up, just acknowledge it and refuse to judge. Just hang in there and talk to your lady. Experience being in the moment. Be very careful: you might just go out and start enjoying yourself.