So, I started reading through this stuff when I hit 25yo and got depressed because I'd never had sex or a girlfriend.

Wanted to outline the progress I've made so far on this stuff, my plan over the next 1-2 years to improve myself, and ask a few pointed questions that I have about TRP philosophy as applied to my particular circumstances.

Where I was/have improved:

  • Career: This is basically the only part of my life I felt confident in. I'm working in management consulting, top performer, getting lots of early promotions, etc. I make a pretty good salary for my age and I live very frugally. I have a general plan to FIRE ~32-33 if I keep on my current trajectory. The only real issue here is that I'm working 60 hours a week. Which I don't mind in itself--just limits my opportunity to build a social life that will help me get laid/find a gf.

  • Dating/Sex: Never dated, never had sex, never kissed anyone. I started going on dates, they mostly sucked. But I basically got to the point where I stopped caring about whether the girl liked me or not and just saw it as an opportunity to practice social skills, try out stuff, read body language, etc. I ended up living in Singapore for about 4 months for work and the white guy fetish factor was pretty nuts--extremely easy to get tinder hookups. Had first kiss and makeout, had sex with 4 women. They were all one night stands and I didn't enjoy any of them that much tbh--they felt kind of awkward to me and I generally don't feel that comfortable having sex with strangers. It was definitely a huge confidence boost, but now that I'm back in the US it's back to only table scraps for online dating. Got frustrated, deleted all my profiles, and have been going monk mode the past couple weeks.

  • Fitness: I'm 6'3". Went from 255 -> 210lbs over the last 5 months. Goal is to get to 180lbs and then start lifting.

I'm currently planning out my goals for the next 1.5yrs (remainder of 2017 and 2018). Wanted to ask some general questions about what to prioritize and how to cultivate certain skillsets.

  • I don't really like talking or enjoy being with women. I've always only really socialized with guys and found girls/women kind of annoying. Which is probably why I was in monk mode for so long. Basically my thought process is extremely analytical and I tend to be really blunt about everything. This never really went over well with women. A lot of TRP advice is to not be a beta dude who is too supplicating. My problem is almost the opposite of that--I'm way too aggressive (on an intellectual/logical level) right out of the gate and make women feel kind of threatened, I think. So advice like "if you disagree, state your opinion" which is true for most guys doesn't work for me, because I disagree with nearly everything that comes out of their mouth on some level. I've been told to trade emotions instead of logic, but I don't really know how to do this well. If I get friendzoned, are having platonic female friends useful to cultivate this skill? Also: how do I learn to have fun and enjoy talking with women given how uninteresting I find most of them to be?

  • I am pretty introverted and naturally want to minimize the amount of time I spend talking to people who I am not close friends with. It seems like this pick-up stuff is easier the more extroverted you are. Let's say I devote only 1 day a week (Saturday) to socializing/trying to build up social networks-- what's the most efficient way to use this time? I'm thinking that I pick up 1 social hobby that meets on Saturday (~2-3 hours), cold approach during the day (1 hr), then either go on a date or go out with friends to a bar and try to talk to women if I have nothing scheduled (3-4hrs).

  • Once I do build up social networks that contain girls, I am scared of asking those girls out for fear of jeapordizing the overall network/getting a reputation as being creepy/etc. The advice the subreddit gives is that you lose nothing by asking a girl out and having her reject you. However, the more time you have invested in your network, the less true that is. I realize that I am overthinking this and setting myself up for failure to some extent, but I want to hear someone reason me out of this.

  • I kind of feel like staying in monk mode until I get down to a normal BMI and holding off on dating/network-building until then. My basic reason is that I'm not really going to be confident at all going on dates and so I want to hold off until I feel like my physique won't gross people out. Is this type of thinking valid or am I just making excuses for myself?

  • A big part of my life right now is advancing my career and making money. How do I be honest about this without slipping into beta provider frame?