This is one of the biggest lessons I've learned from starting pickup and I wanted to put a mental note for both myself and those out there that are just starting.

One of my biggest sticking points for not furthering a set was looking at the guys she was around and assuming that they were somehow in a relationship.

Countless sets where I would open a girl, build rapport, and start escalating were ruined by my mental assumption that the guy who would come up was somehow her S/O and I would never directly find out for myself!

Some Examples:

1) I sit next to a girl before class and open her, giving good signals, offering value , ect. After some time, a guy would come in and be in close proximity and try to get in the conversation, and awkwardly stand there.

2) A girl in my class sits down next to me and I start opening her and we have a good convo going. Later on some guy sits at the exact opposite seat from me and starts chatting her up as well.

3) Me and a wing approach a 6 set at a club. He goes off with two of the girls, while I take mine by the hand and do a move I learned from salsa. I talk to the girl some more and build even more rapport. At some point I feel someone touch me, an AFC, and told me to "Stop it."

Ect. Ect. Ect.

In all of these cases I assumed that these girls had a relationship with these guys and ended up either

1) Not closing

2) Not escalating

3) Backing out of the set

The most painful realizations I had found out later on was that these guys were ALL AFC's trying to compete for the girl I opened; with 3) being a double combination of an AFC and White knight. All of these guys never even talked to the girl until I opened them!!!

Imagine the big lesson hit me in the face as I would run into these girls later on, and the guy would either be wallowing in his self doubt not talking to ANY girls himself or was no where to be found only several minutes later!

Let this be a painful lesson you abide by:

Don't assume she is taken unless SHE says she is! AKA DO NOT COCKBLOCK YOURSELF

and If you EVER find yourself in a similar situation, ISOLATE, ISOLATE, ISOLATE!

I suffered multiple times to come to this conclusion, so learn from my mistake!

Note: If you've experienced something like this, please share below so I know I'm not alone :)