Have you ever been super awkward around someone you wanted so badly to impress? Of course you have. You’re human.

If you tell me you haven’t......you’re lying. Or you’re George Clooney. Here's a quick story about how un-Clooney I was.

In the summer of 2013, I went to Walgreens to pick up a few things after a workout.

I strolled into the store joyfully humming to myself when I passed the makeup aisle and spotted my kryptonite.

A really attractive girl. But not just any attractive girl. An attractive girl I used to date.

We’d been on a few dates and had fun...but the vibe wasn't great and we both knew that it was never going to work. So we stopped seeing each other pretty abruptly.

It was a pretty normal thing. Nothing to be ashamed of. Nothing to be awkward about…

EXCEPT IT WAS THE MOST AWKWARD INTERACTION I’VE EVER HAD.

I decided to say hi. Then completely panicked in front of her. As in, I couldn’t speak words. I tried to recover and rambled for 10 minutes in the makeup aisle about eyedrops (I kid you not.)

Last but not least, I called her after I left the store in a desperate attempt to apologize for being awkward. She mercifully sent me to voicemail.

Bury me alive. Seriously.

Now, this wasn't an everyday occurrence for me. I was normally a 6.5 out of 10 on the Clooney smoothness scale.

But when I was around someone I wanted to impress, my level of awkwardness went up dramatically. This was never more apparent than when I was talking to a super attractive girl.

Basically, as soon as any doubts infiltrated my brain, I couldn’t stop the fears from mushrooming. It was a disease and I had to figure it out.

How do I outsmart the nervousness? How do I eliminate my tendency to panic in important moments? How do I kill the awkwardness????

THE SECRET RULES OF SUPER CONFIDENT PEOPLE

I started my recovery by studying the smoothest, coolest, most calm-and-collected men I knew. I figured these guys knew something I didn't. They never panicked.

I noticed three major themes around their social interactions with women.

I call them THE 3 RULES FOR ELIMINATING PANIC ATTACKS AROUND WOMEN AT WALGREEN'S.

1. Realize you’re not going to die.

Awkwardness comes from discomfort. Discomfort comes when we perceive the interaction as a threat. Sure, it can go badly. But one thing super confident men do at all times is keep perspective.

No matter how anxious or uncomfortable they feel...they know it’s going to be okay. They know they’re not going to die from it.

Knowing that is like living a cat’s life. You can approach social situations with nine lives.Because they don’t see interactions as life and death...they can recover if they say something stupid. They can relax if they feel a little nervous. They can trust themselves in the moment and never give into the scary-as-hell doubts. They can swat the discomfort aside like an annoying fly.

2. STOP THINKING. (Get out of your own head).

The worst thing you can do when you’re nervous is try to fix it. Trying to calm down by thinking of your happy place or picturing the person in front of you is naked is well...fun, but not effective.

Why? You are fueling your fears.

You're saying: “Hey, I acknowledge that you’re here and if I don’t do something about you, you’re going to beat me.”

It’s like when your older brother would tease you growing up. If you ignored him, he eventually got bored and stopped.But if you showed signs of irritation or anger... you could expect him to keep teasing your ass for hours.

Instead, do this: Shut it all down. Stop thinking. Stop. Don’t. Do. It. Ever.

Instead, use rule #3...

3. Use humor to trick your brain.

Fear is a powerful dude.Even if we know we’re not going to die, we all need at least one weapon to fight back when he gets down and dirty.

That weapon is humor.

Humor tricks our brain into forgetting our egocentric tendency to worry about embarrassing ourselves in front of people. It grounds us. It reminds us we’re just talking to a human being. It reminds us that human interaction is not a trip to hell and back and that it can actually be a fun thing.

So how do we use humor? By making stupid jokes. Telling a funny story. Making fun of ourselves (my favorite). Making fun of someone else.

Let’s use my Walgreens awkwardness as a teaching moment.

When I said hi to that attractive girl, instead of trying to be super cool and confident, I could’ve made fun of myself. For example, I was carrying muscle milk. (and Tums for after the muscle milk). A natural joke to make.

Or when I realized I was rambling about eye drops for 10 minutes, I could’ve made a joke about that. I could’ve even hit the easy moving target: The person in line who shopped for their week's groceries at Walgreens.

Laughter breaks the fear cycle and puts both people at ease. Use it.

The Beauty of the 3 Rules

The 3 rules take the uncertainty out of unpredictable situations by teaching you:

  1. You’re always going to be okay
  2. How to stop fueling your fears
  3. An up-your-sleeve trick to outsmart your fear (humor)

If you implement the three rules into your interaction you’ll free yourself up to be completely natural in front of people. You’ll be free to use your sense of humor, your clever wit, and your irresistible charm. Free to talk to anyone you want to meet. Free from panicking at drug stores.

I could be wrong...but that will probably help your dating life.

For more tips I've learned from huge failures with women, visit www.honestpickup.com