I've been into "pick-up" since the days of the book, "the game" and I would characterize my desire to learn about it as an effort to become better at the skill of creating desirable sexual relationships in my life.

I think that approach anxiety is probably the first major hurdle to overcome and I feel I can approach if the opportunity is there.

Most approaches still cause a more intense emotional response than I want in myself and I'm thinking, "is there an approach that leads towards progress but doesn't have to be too intense?"

I feel that exposure therapy i.e. doing multiple approaches does work but it still involves dealing with an overly intense spike at some point.

Proximity i.e. moving closer to whoever you want to talk to and eye contact are the initial stages and those are manageable, but once I get into the speaking aspect of it, it is usually a bit much...do you think that's just the price you have to pay?

Has anyone thought the same thought? Ways to approach and start relationships with a more smooth emotional curve?