Adam - yep definitely mate with the body language thing. After a few weeks of practice, I've already instinctively learned to pull my hands out of my pockets before approaching, and use them dynamically through the set to help with expression, control and energy. As ever today, once I got through that first set in the coffee shop, and then a further opener in the street, I would have talked to anyone...

Deano - good meeting you too mate! And I genuinely mean what I said - before even meeting you, I'd spotted you in Costa Coffee without realising it was you and thought "Fuck, that bloke's got well cool hair!"

Thought you did well today as well mate. Your big goal was to beat your AA - I thought you did that very well! We all have it to begin with, but as I think you found, AA just melts away after an approach or two.

And even if the girls don't speak English, you don't know that until you've opened them!!

To the next sarge comrades! Come ride with me, through the veins of history...

Thanks dude, now where's the :blushes: emoticon

Haha, just my luck. Defeat my AA and build myself up to open and the fecker doesn't even speak English

It'll be fun alright, any ideas on where we're gonna go?

Met my mate in town for lunch. Wasn't planning any game, but it didn't quite go that way, and what happened was actually very interesting.

We went a fried chicken place. Got seated, and then went up to order. 2 tills being worked by girls, one HB5 and another HB9, gorgeous, blonde, big eyes, tanned... Fantastic! (quick side comment: Aren't girls bloody brilliant?!?!)

So me and my mate are queueing, and I click into Game mode. Open my body language, full of energy, talking to my mate about fun stuff, smiling and laughing. Broadcasting "We are having a good time here, you can join us if you want..."

As luck as it, we got the HB9 to serve us. We go up to her till. She asks what we'd like. My mate very kindly says "I'll get this... What do you want?"

"You'll get it?" I ask, flashing the HB9 a knowing smile. "Bloody hell, that's a pretty amazing result..."

And suddenly, and this is the bit I really, really like, she burst out laughing. She thought it was absolutely hilarious! I have no idea why - what I'd said wasn't particularly funny or anything. But she was suddenly really enjoying the interaction.

I wasn't about to let her off the hook that easily. I was still standing side on to her, looking at her over my shoulder, facing my mate, broadcasting: "I am still talking to my friend, you are still a guest in our conversation". I grinned, and said "Bloody hell, that's not very professional is it?"

She laughed more, before regaining her composure. We ordered, with lively conversation and gentle ribbing of her throughout. Looking back this was an unconcious application of David DeAngelo - never give a straight answer. So:

HB: Do you want spices?
CO: What the fuck are spices?
HB: How hot do you like your chicken?
CO: That's a very personal question.
HB: Haha, no, look here, you can have four different levels of spices.
CO: You're so pushy! Maybe I don't want to tell you!
HB: Well you need too so I know what to ask for.
CO: What's your favorite?
HB: I like mine very spicy.
CO: Great. I'll go for medium.

I was picking up on a bit of an accent, probably European. Suddenly, I turned away from my brother, and faced her square on, leaning towards her on the counter and staring her down. Suddenly I was broadcasting "I have switched my focus to you. You are now the centre of my attention."

I looked at her with a smile, and said "I'm getting an accent. You're not from Liverpool, are you?"

She said no. My mate (poor kid, he must have felt so left out!) said it sounded like Newcastle.

CO: No, I don't think you're British. I think European.
HB: That's right.
CO: So where from?
HB: Guess.
CO: Ok... Say something and give me a clue.
HB: Like what?
CO: Say "sauna" [I thought she was swedish]
HB: [laughs even more]
CO: I know that laugh... Germany?
HB: No.
CO: Poland?
HB: Yes!
CO: Really, that's so cool, I'm going to Poland next month.
HB: Really?! Where?
CO: Erm... I'm not sure how you pronounce it... Waclaw?
HB: [Laughs more}
CO: Obviously that's wrong...
HB: You mean Vaclav [I think that's what she said!!]
CO: I guess I must do.
HB: Well I hope you have fun. What drink do you want with your meal?
CO: Erm can I have a can of coke... In fact no, I'll have a glass of coke.
HB: [Laughs even more. At absolutely nothing. Fuck...]

We paid up and left. And this is where I'm kicking myself: Why, oh why, didn't I fucking try and number close?! My mind set (see above) is still on learning game and opening. I haven't got round to the whole 'close' thing yet. It was so easy, the whole interaction went absolutely perfectly. All it needed was for me to say, 'So look I'm gonna go eat my chicken. But how about you give me your number - I need someone to teach me how to ask for directions and order water melon in Polish'. But I didn't.

The stupid, stupid thing is, the reason I didn't close wasn't because I bottled it. It was because at no point did I think 'Right, time to close'. At no point did I intend to close. Which is just ridiculous.

So, lots of positives to take from what was a thoroughly enjoyable experience. But one big negative, which needs to be addressed: I need to begin to think about closing. I am learning to open, I am learning good game. Yesterday I opened sets everywhere (including fucking 15 year olds... :s), I opened with direct game, and today I had a perfectly executed interaction with a really gorgeous girl.

But, I need to learn to close. Not even that - I just need to start thinking about closing. I just need to learn, not to go into an interaction thinking 'I'm going to close', but at some point during interactions to begin to think 'this is going well, and there is some potential to close this girl. So lets do it...'

But overall, the positives here far outweigh the negatives!

Naah braah, dont think of closing, you'll get stuck in your head and she'll close up.

You did great, stayed natural and this vibed better than you thinking gotta close gotta close...

Be natural and make an excuse to see her based on what you've talked about, like you said, I could use some polish lessons, its a natural extension of the conversation and you could have closed based on that.

But stay out of your head, dont go in thinking gotta close, it'll fuck your shit up.

Just have fun.

Co, shud have numberclosed the polish girl! fo sho!!!!!!

Pic.

I hate how right you are sometimes...

Well, I think in my head I've developed this defence mechanism. At present, I am learning to open girls, and that's what I'm practicing. Having 30 second conversations with girls, and not allowing a desired outcome route me through the conversation. Just letting it flow open ended. This is being done mostly consciously, since I am learning piece by piece (plus with the help of The Rules of the Game).

Through the set today, my thoughts 5 seconds after were "that was a really good interaction with a girl. That is good progress. Well done."

However, 5 minutes later, I had moved onto "Hang on - I should have closed there."

Today represents a watershed for me, then. The time for just opening girls has passed now. Truth is, when I'm winged, I will happily go and open any set you ask me too - precisely because, as you say, I know without a desired outcome, I can't be blown out.

Well, the time has now come to take a few steps further. I now need to push on in these interactions, and when possible, consider moving towards a close. I think, as Dolphin says, this shouldn't become a preoccupation, as I'll really fuck up my balance.

But when the opportunity presents itself from now on - as today - I need to close.

So the new strategy is to go in hoping to have a good interaction, and not worrying about closing at all. However, if the interaction goes well, then push for a close.

This is the next step.

Ok, so I hit the town last night with DeanoC. After a very frustrating night out on Friday, surrounded by my non-PUA mates and making all sorts of excuses not to open anyone, I was determined to kick on last night and make amends.

It was also my first ever night out sarging with a wing, so I knew we'd be ok once we got going. I also made sure I wasn't putting too much expectation on myself. I thought of last night as my debut in the field, so I was stretching my legs, and just seeing how I got on.

A quick run through of last night then, before some brief thoughts and action points. We went to Korova first and had a drink. Deano opened a set on the table next to us, asking for opinions on tattoos. The girls seemed to hook in, but then their boyfriends came and sat on the table behind them. We made a swift exit.

It was now my turn to open. I spotted two girls at the bar. Again, this bit represents huge progress from me from a month ago - I didn't have a hint of AA, and swooped straight in with a canned opinion opener ('Is it still cheating when your girlfriend goes out and kisses other girls'). However the interaction was low energy, and I didn't know how to transition into other stuff. After a minute we ejected again, and left the bar, re-evaluating along the way.

One thing that occurred to me was that opinion openers such as this are hopelessly unsuited to night game. I thought I might get some more joy if the opener was more fun - after all, girls were out to have fun, they weren't out to have in depth conversations helping me solve an imaginary problem for my imaginary friend!

Dean and I headed for Heebie Jeebies. We circled around the place, looking for a set to open. But this is where we went into a bit of a lull. For whatever reason, we just couldn't open! We came up with all sorts of excuses, saying they weren't my type or whatever. But looking back, I think these were just poor excuses for not taking action.

We went to the side of the bar, and took stock. This wasn't good enough. Fuck it, we said, we're not going to be the people who can't even open! So we headed back across the courtyard area of the bar, resolved to open the next set we saw, no matter what.

I spied a two set - HB6 and HB5 - standing looking sort of bored. I strode up to them, energetic and confident. As I did, I remembered an opener which was more fun than other stuff I'd been trying, and which had the backing of some highly experienced people:

"Hey guys. Quick question: Custard. Do you prefer it hot or cold?"

They both said cold, I said that's disgusting, we rolled on into a conversation, and chatted away to them both for about 15 minutes. I was working the HB6, going kino and negging and so on. And it went well.

From there, opening sets suddenly became really easy to do, and we opened several more. I used the Custard opener to death, but once the set was open, I didn't use any more routine or anything. Just me, talking to girls.

We left Heebies and headed for the Raz - a shitty student club, but packed with women. At this point, my game deflated a little. I was absolutely fucked, having been out until 5am the night before and up at 8am for work, and becoming increasingly drunk. We opened a few more sets and chatted away. It was fun.

All in all, a really good night! Points to take from it:

1. That period in Heebies when we couldn't open anyone wasn't acceptable. I will say this openly and frankly, I was intimidated by beautiful women. I didn't feel as if I had permission to open them. The only way to conquer this is to push into these sets in the future, and to begin to find it normal to speak to good looking girls. They won't bite!

2. Openers: I found the custard opener worked really well, and might work this into an opening routine of short questions which can lead into cold reads (Custard, hot or cold? Orange juice, bits or no bits? Coffee, black or white? etc). But once sets were open, I wasn't using any routine, and was just being myself talking to the girls. I found that worked fine.

3. Closing: I didn't attempt to close anyone, again, which I should at least have tried too. What was remarkable last night was the number of girls we spoke too who had boyfriends already. I didn't realise it'd be so many! Either way, the HB6, I should have tried to number close at the very least. If only for practice.

4. Winged night game: On Friday night, I didn't open a single set. I was with my mates, who are non-PUA, and found it difficult (if not impossible) to open sets. Ridiculous. I do feel as if I am allowing it to become too much of a comfort zone, that I can only open when I am winged. Last night was great, and I was much more confident, especially after we'd opened a few sets.

5. Drinking: I probably drank too much in the end, and by the end of the night I was finding it difficult to keep up with conversations. I'm not an energetic chatty drunk - I'm a drowsy, sleepy drunk (as a rule of thumb, from when I start drinking, I've got 6 hours until I need to go to bed!). Next time, perhaps I'll drink a little less, and get more sleep!

With my game, I will always see the negatives, because these are the things which need focussing on and changing. But I should also just give myself a little break! Last night, I did things I wouldn't have been able to do a month ago. So as much as there are things to take away and learn from, and as much as there are frustrating sticking points throughout my game which I will address, there are other parts of my game where there has been drastic improvement. Last night was just my debut, and I've got a few games to play yet before I start to work it all out. Only I can do that. Its in my hands and no-one elses.

We woke up this morning (Dean was staying at my place) hungover and messy. We headed out to a cafe for some scrambled egg on toast before driving Dean back to the station. We must have looked a state, puffy eyes, greasy messy hair, probably still a little drunk, me in my crusty old hoodie, Dean still in the same stuff he wore last night.

We finished breakfast, and went to pay. I noticed the girl serving was quite pretty. I scanned her up and down - HB7. Dark hair, slim, tights and shorts, and bright blue nail varnish.

"Cool nail varnish" I grinned at her.

"Thanks. I think it makes me look like a mermaid though."

Game on...

I am angry and pissed off. With myself, of course, there is no-one else to blame for this.

Met up with a wing on my lunch hour today. For the last few days I've been feeling very down beat. For all the reading I do about PUA, I've felt like I'm getting nowhere. I've been in the field, but increasingly, I just need some major progress to keep myself moving forward. All the momentum I had a fortnight ago has washed away. Its left me feeling like I need a shove / kick in the right direction.

I opened 2 x 2 sets on my lunch hour. Went fine. The first was two Spanish girls. I began to move towards closing, which is some progress - saying I wanted them to teach me Spanish. But they said they were leaving the country tomorrow. Fine, at at least I asked. The second set was ok, fairly fun conversation, even if just for 30 seconds. I didn't move towards a close though, just ejected.

Generally I feel deflated right now. A few weeks back, I was bouncing around. I was starting to open sets with ease, and it felt great to be able to approach girls in the street, and even in night clubs. But just lately, I've started to get very bogged down. I haven't seen any results yet. I haven't closed. And I'm getting impatient.

Today I wanted to move towards closing. I did, but only very lightly. I kinda felt like, after 30 seconds of street conversation, it was stupid to try and close from there. Grr.

Out tonight with non-PUA friends. Might get some sleep when I get home, and then NLP myself to the fucking eyeballs before going out to pump myself up a little.

But I've hit a massive hump with my game. It'll be great when I get over this. But right now, I am struggling.

Of course you're right K. I think today as well I was suffering the exhausting effects of a long week of 14 hour days in work. So I'm going to rest myself tonight, sleep in tomorrow morning, and then make sure I get a good few hours in the field tomorrow afternoon and tomorrow night. I am putting myself under an immense amount of pressure, which I don't need to do!

Tonight, after another 12 hour day in the office and after a week of early starts and late night, I am going to stay in, have a few tins, and watch a few films. Take it fucking easy for a change.

I'm meeting a wing for coffee tomorrow, hopefully get in a few hours of game, and maybe get a night out in tomorrow night if anyone's about.

Deeeeeeep breaths...

Was out this lunchtime with a wing from Liverpool. A much better day, much better than last week. The sets were fine - opened, talked a little, disqualified, etc. And I opened with ease.

But the important thing for me was just the approach I took, and my feelings towards what I was doing. Last week, I felt a little disconnected and disillusioned. But today, possibly after listening to Tyler Durden on the way into work discussing reality and breaking down reality to make it stronger, I realised that every time I'm out, its just another session in the PUA gym. Its just another session of lifting a few weights that I couldn't lift a month ago.

I'm not gonna become buff and ripped overnight. Its gonna take time. The important thing is to make sure I keep going to that f*cking gym, keep following my routine, and be persistent. Because even if I can't see the results on the surface, the muscles beneath the skin are definitely becoming bigger, stronger and more flexible.

I'm also dosed up to the eyeballs on Beechams. Hence a slightly misty eyed post!!