I'll tell you my story and you can tell me if you relate.

I had moderate success before studying pickup. Then when I started it seemed I actually had less success. It was kind of a one step backwards before I could take two steps forward kind of thing. I, like I assume most here, have always been a fairly intelligent person. Always been the funny guy, too. I just didn't have as much skill in new social interactions, especially with females.

This whole time with pickup, I've been putting a heavy emphasis on developing some kind of "Joe Cool" persona. I've been able to get a lot of opens and numbers from it, but not much after that. My bottleneck has been rapport. I've been presenting a cool person that gets their attention, but not offering any connection to keep them interested. This week I realized my problem is I need to be more myself. I need to harness my strengths. I've been trying to become the cocky funny guy instead of the confident, mature, interesting person I should be. I can offer engaging conversation and unique viewpoints instead of always busting people to be cool. It's like I'm a karate expert trying to defeat my opponents with solely boxing techniques. I have so much more to utilize! I'm a V8 only running on 4 cylinders! No wonder these girls aren't texting or calling back. They're not seeing all of me!

If I present what I truly have to offer, I think I'll have much more success. I'm not interested in meeting bimbos anyway. I wonder how many interesting girls I've encountered that discounted me as the typical dumb-alpha type. I'm going to start having real conversations with people and try to just be genuine.

I don't regret this journey. Trying other methods has helped me appreciate who I am. I have come full circle and stepped into who I've always needed to be.

Has anyone else had a similar experience? And if so, how has it worked for you?