Despite not getting what you meant in the first few sentences 100% , still strongly agree with you, iam no casanova, women find me attractive and a lot have made it clear either by telling me or being super responsive to my approaches it shocked me how easy it was to get a number , go on a date and get a kiss, sh*t even when i did f*Ck up and said the wrong thing it was still cool .... i am kind, not nice, iam naturaly respectful and have no need to be an ashole for no reason, and when i was being true to myself with women i was having a lot of success, then i met a bunch of guy who became my friends at college and advised me to "up" my game and start being super sexual and more ... aggressive in my pursuit .
So i tried it with a lot of girls and guess what happened ? nothing, yep nothing happend, women were losing interest fast or just not feeling it ( in all fairness some had bfs and still hit on me ) , but a while ago i decided to revert back to my old habits " if it ain't broken , dont fix it" , basically iam genuine now, i say whatever i want, whenever i want, and if it works it works if not then i guess the girl rejected me , being authentic and genuine trumps games anyday, if you have something that women want and they make it obvious they're into you then dont play games, dont attempt to be someone else, just be yourself and most of the time that in itself is enough since if she likes your looks she will let some things slide plus stuff that you think are a weakness , to her they make you look vulnerable and more of a human which if anything makes her trust you more .
You cant force it.
However: "just be yourself" i find lack quite substance.
You want to be "the better version of just yourself" and that's improved by expérience, technique, learning, desire.
Why i say that? Simple: think about all the time you were "right" but nobody listened to you because you "communicated it wrong"
Dating is like sales, sales is a profession where you are your own personal corporation.
People who are good in sales: have confidence, love themselves, love their products/services, but they also have key understanding of clients point of interest (striking at the right time) and have "méthods" to explain in short, simple, impactful ways.. The things they sell.
The way the game is played.. Even a beginner if "natural" can win in the short term. However, on a marathon, the beginner might crash while the master remains.
You can also see it has "the beginner vs the master"
You need to do a bit better than the competition while always be "yourself"
Text game a great example of "being yourself but your better selves might get more result" .. (Remember, when you ask people how you would frame your thoughts and some people find better ways to explain yourself.. Its like that).
OP sounds he plays on the fence, show a lack emotional irresponsiveness.
My quick advice to OP: Drop the please, Drop the work references (it's quick friendzone), never excuse yourself "i am worry was with the mate" (you giving her a etranger more importance than you and your mate), dont mention dating material (kayak) to than ask social Media (instagram).. cause you going from serious to off topic. Every line you had.. you shooted at 2 subject, it make you seems not serious/goofy/not leading or alpha.. while giving her all the space to friendzone/next you.
is she from ottawa? give me her number. i'll hit on her when i go there