I had been frustrated with myself the past few months as it is my final year of college and I felt like a loser for not having a girlfriend. I wanted to change. I began looking up videos on how to pick up girls and had read a couple of seddit posts. One channel that had caught eye was Simplepickup. I don't really like the channel (the guys are pretty douchey), but I was impressed on how they were able get girls numbers in quick 1 minute interactions. I kept these videos in the back of my head, not really thinking much of them.

I had just gone running with my sister and we decided to eat at this small restaurant that was on campus. As we sat down, this very cute, brunette waitress came and served our table. She spoke softly but was fun when she engaged with me and my sister. She reminded me of Noel Wells from Masters of None (http://normalimage.cdn.ucbt.net/person_21690.png). Immediately, something triggered in my head, saying "I am not leaving her without asking her out".

Usually, I would cowardly ignore these thoughts. But clips from those SimplePickup videos had been replaying in my head. Their "fuck it" attitudes had made me curious if it actually works. So I decided to temporarily change my mindset for this one moment. I didn't want to ask out the waitress while my sister was there, so I waited for us finish our dinner, pay, and leave the restaurant. My sister was going drive back home. "Do you need a ride back to the school?" she asked. This was a perfect opportunity for me to be alone- so I took it. "No it's OK. I can walk to the school from here. Thanks." As I watched my sister turn the corner, I back tracked to the restaurant, my heart pounding as I knew what was about to happen.

I got back inside the restaurant and saw the waitress cleaning up our table. I scamper to the table and she sees me approach her. "Did you forget something?". The scampering and my sweat must have made it look like I had dropped something. I didn't want to directly ask her number, so I lied to break the ice "Yeah....I think I dropped my phone somewhere...and I can't find it..." (my phone was in my pocket).

She looked worried, so she helped me quickly scan above and below the tables to finding my "lost" phone. After about 10 seconds of looking, I did exactly what the SimplePickup guys did. I went up to her, looked straight at her, and cut straight through the bullshit. "Hey, I actually didn't comeback for phone. I thought you are really cute and I wanted to ask you out for a coffee." She was shocked by the turn of events. But she smiled back at me and said yes. We chuckled for bit about what had just happened. She told me that what I did was really smooth, which made me soar in pride inside. I got her number and left with a huge sigh of a relief and huge boost in confidence..

SO...THAT'S IT?: I know getting the number of a girl isn't a big deal. My intention wasn't to make this a bragging session and making it sound like I went from loser to a casanova. The date ultimately didn't work out (It is a shame but still shows I need to work on my dating game. I still wish her the best). This story is for those who are struggling to simply approach people in general.

HERE IS WHAT I LEARNED: You are not going to be 100% confident all the time. The truth is, no one really is. Confidence comes in spurts. Learning how to increase the frequency of these spurts takes time, experience, and practice. Fortunately, you have the ability to gain small doses of confidence by executing an action even though your brain is still trying to dissect the cons. To my shy friends, my challenge is this. Today, if a person catches your eye and your immediate impulse is to talk to the person, talk to the person. The conversation goes well, then great! If it doesn't, who cares! There are billions of people on this planet, and worrying about what one person thinks of you won't help you. Get over your fear by facing it.

Good luck and I wish you guys well!