I took a walk to the bar this morning to retrieve my truck after the events of last night and it afforded me the opportunity to reflect on what I learned. I was in a pretty good mood and I saw a few people out on their own walks in my neighborhood. Given the opportunity, I decided to try the "talk-to-everyone" exercise and give some sort of "Hi" "Good morning" "How's it going?" greeting to everyone I passed. If I observed someone had their head down or seemed lost in thought, I'd still give them the smile and nod. I walked the half mile to the bar, grabbed my truck, got some lunch, and just got back home. I'm in such a good mood right now that I think I'm going to take that walk every morning (obviously woke up late today, but I can keep a morning schedule during the week).

It reminded me of the story about the suicide jumper that left a note that said "I'm going to walk to the bridge. If one person smiles at me on the way, I will not jump." The exercise is this: Be the guy that smiles at people as if your smile is saving their life. I got myself in the line of thought that these people cherished my smile. That they would camp out in tents waiting to buy tickets to see me smile. That my smile is a must-see attraction when people come to my town. Got me feeling pretty good. It clicked for me when it started raining a little bit, I just put my hood up and shrugged it off. AFC me would have got a "Oh this is just fucking GREAT! >_<" mood in that rain. Confident, smiling me was "Heh, guess I don't need to get my truck washed now." If I can take this laid back mindset into a set, I know I'll make huge progress.

I'm reading over this and knowing AFC me would have said "That is SO stupid." and dismissed it. If you're reading this and saying that to yourself, I challenge you to try it. If it doesn't work, at least you got some exercise on your walk.

TL;DR: Go for a walk. Say hello and smile at everyone as if your smile is saving their life. Experience some confidence.