Lifetime Approach Anxiety, How to get over it

JamesonGuy

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Hey everyone, wanted to share how I've managed to start approaching girls after years of being stuck in my head not able to take action

From the time I was a toddler I've wanted to talk to girls and just tell them I like them, but was always just too afraid to do so, I had no idea why. I know people have evolutionary ideas about being in a tribe and getting killed by the alpha male, but I really hate this theory, I mean what 5 year old is subject to tribal approach anxiety from fear of getting killed or abandoned by the tribe members. Additionally I think this is a really negative way to think about human nature and will not make you want to go out and socialize. A much healthier mindset I think is to just realize for some reason, probably based on the male role models in your upbringing or lack of, you developed a habit of not approaching, and this habit just became stronger and stronger and stronger, just like eating **** food, or not working out, it's really no different.

So, I've know about pick up basically all my life and consumed crazy amount of content, but never took action. What I want to share is how I actually managed to start approaching girls. You have to do this with a progressive overload method, just like lifting weights. I had to drastically reduce or change my goals. Instead of having the goal to go up to the hottest girl and seduce her, my initial goal was just to go out and walk around the city for x amount of time. Then my goal was to make eye contact with as many people as possible. Then my goal was to just say hello to people, then make little comments to people while passing.

After all this initial work of just doing abnormal things, speaking to strangers, making comments, moderately breaking social norms, there comes a point where you actually have to face your big fear of approaching a girl and showing that you like her. The way that I got over this fear was quite simple, and it was the only thing that worked for me after years and years and years of just *****ing out every time. So what I did was just make it my goal to get rejected by a girl, therefore I was actively seeking rejection, to me getting rejected meant success. The easiest way to do this in my head was just to go up to a girl and immediately ask for her number without saying anything else. Obviously most girls are going to say no, this is exactly what you expect and want. Usually what I've noticed is because you have 0 desire for a different outcome, and you know pretty much exactly what the outcome is going to be, it's easy to be in the moment and have a positive vibe. I've actually noticed that the girls will usually smile or laugh because they can tell that your not upset by the rejection in the slightest, actually the opposite.

Anyways guys, this is how I got over my approach anxiety and not make such a big deal about talking to girls, after chronic lifelong approach anxiety. I know it might sound a little too complicated, but for me it was the only thing that worked. Tell me what you think if you've dealt with severe AA
 

Serenity

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Yup, exposure therapy is proven to be very effective. If it feels uncomfortable and scary then you're doing it right, that's where progress happens.

I had a different approach to it than you had, but I see a lot of similarities as well. The difference is that I went in balls deep instead of progressively increasing the challenge. I went from phone anxiety levels of social anxiety straight to dating. Like you I set my bar really low, going through with it no matter the outcome was all the success I needed. I signed up on OLD, got a match, essentially forced myself to set up a date and go through with it.

We talked for like an hour, trying my best to appear at least somewhat normal. It was probably painfully obvious to her how nervous I was. She was polite and all, the date ended and we walked our separate ways. Nothing more came of it, but I was really happy about having done it.

It was extremely intense, but I feel like it was a time saver compared to the progressive way of going about it. It didn't put me off doing more of it, on the contrary the sense of accomplishment motivated me to push my comfort zone harder. Almost addicting.
 

corrector

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There is like a mental block to ask for a number. That is a good idea to work the nerves.
 

JamesonGuy

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Yup, exposure therapy is proven to be very effective. If it feels uncomfortable and scary then you're doing it right, that's where progress happens.

I had a different approach to it than you had, but I see a lot of similarities as well. The difference is that I went in balls deep instead of progressively increasing the challenge. I went from phone anxiety levels of social anxiety straight to dating. Like you I set my bar really low, going through with it no matter the outcome was all the success I needed. I signed up on OLD, got a match, essentially forced myself to set up a date and go through with it.

We talked for like an hour, trying my best to appear at least somewhat normal. It was probably painfully obvious to her how nervous I was. She was polite and all, the date ended and we walked our separate ways. Nothing more came of it, but I was really happy about having done it.

It was extremely intense, but I feel like it was a time saver compared to the progressive way of going about it. It didn't put me off doing more of it, on the contrary the sense of accomplishment motivated me to push my comfort zone harder. Almost addicting.
That's great, it doesn't really matter what these girls think, I mean do you care about any of the girls in the past now, probably not
 

Serenity

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That's great, it doesn't really matter what these girls think, I mean do you care about any of the girls in the past now, probably not
Nope, but I have run into a couple of them later actually, although by then I had developed way past them and they were below my league. They were being very positive towards me, like they regret not going further with me the first time, either way I lost my interest long ago and when I'm done I'm done for good.

Most of them I never saw again and what they think of me is inconsequential.
 

manfrombelow

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Wonderful post there, OP. You have already achieved what many can't (me included lol). Keep up the positive vibe, brother.
 

BackInTheGame78

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Only one way to do it. And that is to literally do it. Accept that it's going to be uncomfortable at first and that you will likely bomb the first 5 or 6 times you do it. Like anything else in life, the more you do it, the easier it becomes and the less nervous you will be doing it. And once you stop being nervous from doing it, that is when you can have fun, experiment with different things and figure out what works and what doesn't. Then do more of what works and less of what doesn't
 

9-3enthusiast

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I had terrible AA when I was younger... how the hell I ever got married in my late 20s I'll never know.
Well I do know... she came after me LOL...

Anyhoo - I got over mine very gradually between ages of about 30 and 35.
I plucked up the courage to do a presentation at a hobby 'club'
(I've always been very deeply into astronomy - knew/know a LOT about the subject)
My local Astro Society was desperate for a speaker at a monthly meeting, so I reluctantly stepped up - It helped that I knew the subject, and that the people there already knew me, and knew that I was knowledgeable.
That presentation went really well, and other local clubs/societies asked me to do the same presentation... It just kinda snowballed into more and varied presentations, at more and more clubs/societies... people came to speak to me afterwards, and sometimes a woman would even flirt a little - I was married, so I never tried to push further at the time.
Then at 50 yrs old, I left the ex-wife and became single again - By that point I was very comfortable speaking to new people, I recognised women's flirting signals when they came, and had the experience to take advantage.
I've found that for older guys (40+) - if you have your sh*t together - if your health and grooming is good - and you can hold a decent conversation.... Getting dates, and turning those dates into bedroom fun, is way... Way... WAY... easier than it ever was in my 20s.
 

MoMoses

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Anyways guys, this is how I got over my approach anxiety and not make such a big deal about talking to girls, after chronic lifelong approach anxiety. I know it might sound a little too complicated, but for me it was the only thing that worked. Tell me what you think if you've dealt with severe AA
Thank you for sharing your story and congrats on the progress. It's refreshing to see people use this forum to share positive things like this in stead of nagging and complaining about women all the time. Too many dudes do this...

(which I do understand to a certain degree)
 

JamesonGuy

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Wonderful post there, OP. You have already achieved what many can't (me included lol). Keep up the positive vibe, brother.
Thanks man, just keep going out as much as possible, and just feel that ****ty feeling of not approaching day in day out, that's what I've been doing, it sucks but I guess you gotta sit through the suck until you loosen up
 

JamesonGuy

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I had terrible AA when I was younger... how the hell I ever got married in my late 20s I'll never know.
Well I do know... she came after me LOL...

Anyhoo - I got over mine very gradually between ages of about 30 and 35.
I plucked up the courage to do a presentation at a hobby 'club'
(I've always been very deeply into astronomy - knew/know a LOT about the subject)
My local Astro Society was desperate for a speaker at a monthly meeting, so I reluctantly stepped up - It helped that I knew the subject, and that the people there already knew me, and knew that I was knowledgeable.
That presentation went really well, and other local clubs/societies asked me to do the same presentation... It just kinda snowballed into more and varied presentations, at more and more clubs/societies... people came to speak to me afterwards, and sometimes a woman would even flirt a little - I was married, so I never tried to push further at the time.
Then at 50 yrs old, I left the ex-wife and became single again - By that point I was very comfortable speaking to new people, I recognised women's flirting signals when they came, and had the experience to take advantage.
I've found that for older guys (40+) - if you have your sh*t together - if your health and grooming is good - and you can hold a decent conversation.... Getting dates, and turning those dates into bedroom fun, is way... Way... WAY... easier than it ever was in my 20s.
Nice, that's good to hear, a lot of the times I feel like time is running out to build up my confidence, even in my 20's and it puts a lot of unnecessary stress on me
 

coyote_astro

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Great job OP! The power of exposure therapy!

Your progress reminded me of mine on giving presentations (similar to the other poster's story above).
I would naturally suffer from stage fear/anxiety, but was forced to confront this fear, as talking in front of an audience is part of my job. There was no way out of it!

The beginning sucked, but over time I got better and better, and actually realized I have a natural charisma for presenting, when I'm NOT stuck in my head. People actually compliment me about it nowadays. Little did they know how bad it used to be in the beginning..!

I still get butterflies in my stomach before an important talk sometimes, even up to this date, but I have the reference experiences to handle it, and actually the adrenaline rush makes it more interesting. I've heard similar things from people that got over their AA.
 

Atom Smasher

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I wholeheartedly agree with the OP. I’ve been preaching for years that the key to social ease is the art of small-talk. Just talk to people casually in your day-to-day and you become much more confident and relaxed, and it shows. It’s important to do this with both men and women, 50/50.
 
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