I wrote this as a reply to a comment on my post here, which blew up way beyond what I expected.

I'm new to this so I'm not billing myself as an expert, but I'd have liked someone to explain this to me. So take it for what it's worth.

I don't think being direct is a sufficient condition of success. That's why I said that one has to be both direct and tactful. One can be direct about one's interest without coming across as overinvested. If one actually is overinvested, you have to show restraint and work on your inner game. Here's an example- I was texting a hot girl from Tinder and I sent her a few texts in a row and she didn't text back. I actually do this to everyone; guys and girls- I just text if I find something interesting that I want to share. But to girls I think it comes across as needy and a passive-aggressive way of saying "why haven't you hit me back?"

So she sent me a text basically saying that her life has a lot of stuff going on and that she can't make me a priority, so we shouldn't keep talking since that's what I expect. I texted her back just saying something like "definitely not expecting that, i just text everyone like this; I like you but if you're not into it that's cool and I'll respect that."

I actually didn't expect this to do anything and figured I'd made a misstep and had lost her. Disappointing as we had vibed pretty hard on the phone, but not devastating. Anyway, a half hour later she sent me a long series of texts telling me that it was cool, that a bunch of other stuff in her life had happened that day, that it wasn't about me, that she definitely still wanted to hang out, and so on. As soon as it was clear I wasn't overinvested and was not going to throw energy into trying to pull her back in, the problem fixed itself. If I actually was so invested that text-bombing her was my instinct, then being direct would have instantly fucked me forever and I probably would have gotten my number blocked.

We all have to work on our inner game together with our outer game. They grow together. The more results we get, the more our inner game will naturally fix itself. And the more it fixes itself, the more sufficient "be direct" becomes. Once your attitude is aligned with what interests compatible girls, you don't need anything but inner game and directness. But almost nobody starts off that way, which is why "techniques" and lists of rules are very useful as training wheels.