Well this weekend is where I officially start putting into practice what Ive learned from the video's ive watched and books Ive read. It coincides nicely with a trip to Newcastle where I intend to make a real go of this stuff. I'm up there for 3 nights

Anyways, another forum mentions a newbie task as a way of getting over AA which I have an abundance of! You basically spruce yourself up a bit get into the shopping centre and say Hi to any girls that walk past, so I thought I best give it a go. It was made all the more tempting as the new college opens down the road from work soon and today is enrollement day so there was steadyish stream of girls

1st one - Bottled it (thought what you doing is this how its going to be)
2nd one Hi, didn't get anything back
and it was like this through most of the trip into town. I'm quite self critical and deduced that I wasn't saying it loud enough, confident enough and I make excuses to get out of it e.g. she's ugly (good excuse but hey i'm menat to be practicing) or she looks busy (if they were texting)
I saw a HB8 just before I walked back into work and thought "I can bottle it or take the chance" and I really confidenty and cheerily said Hi, she stopped said Hi back, we then both carried on walking and then she turned around and looked back I like to think more in admiration.

It's baby steps but each one felt easier to do and the sense of achievment I felt by the last one was great!! The only way from here is up!