Ben,
If I am not wrong, I was one of the first set of people who "indirectly" suggested that you were too young for all this sh!t, and I am really happy to see that you are taking it seriously.
See, I am 23 years old, and even though I was a total AFC (just the complement of what defines an alpha-male) I had MANY relationships with the opposite sex, reinforcing my AFC belief system all my life. I did all the mistakes that are preached here as no-no's. I LIVED THROUGH oneitis, I ACCEPTED LDRs as a viable option for prolonged intimacy (quoting Rollo Tomassi), I put my platonic loves on PEDESTALS, I RARELY took initiative when I needed to, I WAS that NICE GUY who would do all the favors for intimacy and so on.... So you name it, I WAS it. I LIVED with it. I SAW how it sucked. I am coming from the other side of the bridge.
And now, it ALL MAKES sense. It all seems logical. But it only makes sense when you see it naturally, and this is an evolutionary process. It is CONTINUOUS. Analyze all the great DJ's in the Mature Man forum. They were mostly ALL once AFCs.
The trick was that I had OTHER qualities that masked my AFC behaviors, and I was able to attract many girls. AFCs get laid too, oh quite a few of them! Hell, normally, most guys are AFCs right ?
The great chess master (former world champion) Dr. Emmanuel Lasker said that in the journey of becoming a GM (grand master) the most important lesson he learned was to UNLEARN all the sh!t that he picked up while he was a novice. The point is: IT IS EXTREMELY HARD FOR THE INEXPERIENCED TO PROPERLY SELECT KNOWLEDGE.
Before you somehow become mature enough to select what's proper for your CONTEXT, AGE and EXPERIENCE - you should REALLY NOT try to apply all this. Otherwise, you'll experience side effects and become even more confused!
Go out there, live your life, love some girl, ask her out, get rejected...
Don't come back until you have crashes and burns on all over you... Don't seek out advice, don't do approaches, forget about the bible, and all this...
Time will come for you. Be patient and FOCUS ON YOUR SCHOOL. Your career is going to be your STRONGEST WEAPON to realize your dreams.
SCHOOL is MUCH MORE IMPORTANT than any of this crap FOR YOU at this time.
You can ask this to one of the more experienced guys around here, but I am SURE they'll support this view.
Go out there and have fun!
