I joined a local group's confidence challenge meetup. For week 1, the assignment was to put a banana on a piece of string, and walk it down a busy street. Feeling all the emotions, like shame, fear, and people staring, maybe laughing, maybe thinking you're crazy. It's similar to approaching a girl, because of everything you EXPECT to happen, and then all this preconceived rubbish getting dispelled once you actually do it.

So I went to a popular local outdoor food/shopping mall, and after a whole 30 minutes of sitting there almost shitting myself in fear, I figured I couldn't possibly walk away without having done it. So I stood up and walked that banana. The first 10 seconds were sickening exhilaration, adrenaline, very unpleasant. But then I felt weightless. I had no fear left any more, because nothing had actually happened and nothing really could happen. I didn't have crowds of strangers pointing at me, throwing tomatoes or drinks at me. A few people may have given me side glances; one or 2 people laughed, but most didn't even notice. Then I got to the end of the street, threw my banana in the bin and felt pumped up for the rest of the day. Possibly with a permanent shift in mindset.

So after you've done that, how bad can talking to a girl be?