Yeah, I am very aware that my self-esteem has a huge part in this. Though right now it’s not very strong, and is mainly based on what I’m doing at the moment and if there is a girl involved and how she is reacting to me. In other words it’s an ego boost when I’m doing salsa and the girl seems to be enjoying it. And it sucks when I’m trying to learn a new dance but I’m just not getting it and I can tell that the girl’s becoming annoyed.
Hmm, I think I had a point for that issue.
zekko said:
On the one hand, noticing this type of thing is a bad mindset to put yourself in. Because every time you see things going against you, you're going to put yourself in this same frame of mind where you are "inferior" to the other guys.
But on the other hand, it's good that you're recognizing a problem so that maybe you can take steps to fix it and improve. Of course no one here knows you so we don't have any way of knowing what you need to work on. You probably need to loosen up and have more fun.
It's definitely a mixed bag. But as old as I am, I can't keep being ignorant.
You're right that nobody can really see how I interact with girls and can't really tell me what I need to work on. And that's what I need the most. All I can do is try to convey what I think is going on and get some feedback.
What I really need is to "wear a wire" and have a team in a van out back observing my interactions with women and giving me tips on what to say.
It's great that you're taking this dance class. All these interactions add to your experience, and you can learn from it.
Sounds like you need to work on being more warm and open yourself.
The forced interaction with girls is one reason why I take a dance class every semester. If I didn't have this class, I might go a few days or more without talking to any women.
As for being more warm and open myself. How? Pretty often I'm standing face to face with a girl for two minutes and I have no idea what to say to her. So I say something random and boring about the dance. Every now and then I run into a girl who is so outgoing or something and then conversations just happen or we seem to have a really fun time together.
blueline said:
Neither of you guys have failed. You haven't been extroverted enough and you haven't tried to get with girls you perceived as below you in terms of attractiveness. Trust me, you will get some of those girls.
I am trying to force myself to be extroverted and it's not easy.
As for chasing girls that are below me in attractiveness, I kind of already do that. I'd go after any girl that is height/weight proportionate and is at least cute.
As long as she meets my minimum standards what really attracts me to a girl is her personality and how she reacts to me.
I would gladly pass over a girl whose a 10 on the outside but a 5 inside for a girl whose a 6 on the outside but an 8 inside.
Though if you look over my history, you'll see that I don't get girls, period.
blueline said:
Here you go. Here's my answer to all of your issues getting laid. Follow it exactly and something might happen.
You are thinking too much about it. I literally tell women I've been on prozac for 10 yrs and it doesn't stop me from getting laid. I've never been told I'm a positive person, but I have been told I'm very thoughtful, which I find to be a much deeper compliment. I used to think I was too weird to get super hot chicks, but once you get to know some of them, you find out some are weirder and more painfully self-unaware than you'd ever imagine.
I actually think I'm approaching this from a different angle than you were. I've always thought to myself that I was a normal guy and never wanted to admit that I'm weird. I try really hard to fit in. I believed that I should be able to get girls. I thought I was better than the guys wearing Horde T-shirts. But now I'm starting to think that I am too weird to get women despite how I look or try to act.
It's funny that you mentioned girls being weird. I run into many weird girls in Japanese class and anime club etc, but the issue is that a girl being weird or awkward isn't really a negative for her. And those girls aren't any easier to get than normal girls; I've been rejected by two of them.
Talk about school if you want, I do it all the time. Just realize the conversation is not what gets you laid most of the time. Sometimes you do meet girls that like to keep friends with benefits and that is one situation where I guess it can be helpful with some girls. You can't charm some girl into liking you; the girls that like you are there for you to lose. The easiest way to find out if a girl likes you is to gaze into her eyes you talk to her. If she doesn't reciprocate, just walk away. However, if she does reciprocate, just stay there and keep talking to her. If you guys have been doing this for 15 minutes, she's probably started randomly finding excuses to touch you if she isn't shy. One of the best indicators of whether or not some chick you just met likes you is if she'll hover around you at a party after you stop talking to her. If you do this with enough people some night, you might meet a girl that likes you.
That's a very interesting technique. So it's not about the conversation? 15 minutes is a very long period of time to spend with a girl if you don't really know what to say.
Screen for attraction first, a connection later. If you want to get laid, physical attraction is the most important variable. You cannot generate attraction outside of passive means (looks, income, style, etc).
That's where I get messed up. I know I'm not attractive. At 5'6 I'm too short and I'm not that good looking. So I need to use my words to overcome the negatives about me. Though when I don't even know what to say, it's easy to see why I struggle so much.
Groovy said:
You don't have charisma or charm because you lack self esteem.
Every guy is naturally charismatic and charming. Think about it.
I really don't know about that. Honestly, I don't have any experience charming girls. Maybe every guys is naturally charismatic and charming, while I'm just an oddball.
What if this is your case? You were feeling down, so was the girl. But the other guy was with his groove on and so the girl opened up with him.
I think what happened was that I was having trouble with the new dance and wasn't happy with how I was doing. When I'm struggling I depend on the girl for encouragement and for her to explain it to me, since girls usually pick up the moves much faster than I do. The girl that I was thinking about, didn't do that at all. So my first thought was that she's just a b
itch. But when I saw how she was with the other guy, I started thinking that it's my fault for making her that way.
Friendship is trading positive energy... If you don't have it, making friends will be harder...
Positive energy. I really have been lacking it these days. In fact, I now seem to spend most of my day being angry and/or sad.
Making friends is hard enough, attracting women is mission impossible.
davewe said:
A friend reminded me of this bit of philosophy that I have used in my past but forgot about. It's important for any social interaction or in fact for anything in life. "Act as if this may be the last time you will ever interact with that person."
That's an interesting idea. I will have to give it some serious thought.
One other suggestion. You should be interacting with a woman to determine whether you like her - not the other way around.
I wish I could do that; and I would if every girl I have ever liked didn't reject me. I've learned that it's not important if I like a girl. I'm not the one who has the power to decide.
Korrupt said:
Great post here and just to follow up I want to ask you something. An example... Okay, so your life now if depressing and your self-esteem is low? Put yourself in this spot. You're rich, never have to work, have women all over you, male friends you hang out with all the time and you love life. If this were you, do you think you'd be confident, cool and charismatic or depressed with low self-esteem? Of course you'd be feeling great because you FEEL that your life is awesome. It's a mental problem; if you feel like your life is sh*t it will be sh*t but if you think you are awesome and your life is awesome it will be. Think about it.
Of course I'd feel confident, cool and charismatic. But I think you're doing a chicken and egg thing. I can't make myself feel great if my life is sh
it. Except for the brief moments of joy I get to experience, my life is a total drag.
I have tried CBT for several months, and there is just no way to change my thinking to be counter to what I experience in life. I really wish I knew how to do it. I wonder if that is why people turn to drugs. So they can see life as how they want it to be, and now how it really is.