I'd like to share a valuable lesson with you I've learned today and I'm sure one or another can resonate on this!

So, to give a little brightening context, the trigger for the realisation was an encounter with a girl (I'm m/19) at a bus station. She gave me occasional looks, enough to show interest but not too much to look needy. Just how it should be. I didn't take action (at all), I like her looks and now here I am full of regret.

I am the type of guy to wait for the perfect moment to talk to a girl, waiting for a clear path to walk to her and more often caring too much about what people standing by might think of me when I would approach her (this sounds quite familiar, doesn't it?). And that's what decreases your chances, every second you don't approach, drastically.

There's no perfect moment but the first few moments.

You have doubts and feelings, and so does she. You come off as insecure if you just look at her and shy away. Your hesitation leaves her wondering why you don't want to talk to her, and no one benefits from this situation.

~ You put her on a pedestal, and she can feel it, because you are more nervous than her. See her as an equal being, and see and admit your own worth, that's a must. If you can't you first have to fix your self-esteem, which takes a ling time when your broken inside, but if you don't give up that easy it will pay off in the aftermath. ~

If you reduce the time to approach to few seconds you also reduce the chance of her getting doubtful near zero, which, if done right, can leave a very good first impression. Of course you still have to hit the right spot when doing small talk, words matter but what's even more important is the presentation. Shivering or any other nervous behaviour cools her off very quickly and she can feel it. Why's it more important? Women think emotionally rather than we (mostly) logically thinking men.

Adopting some mindsets is always a good way to conquer your hesitation (something like: we're all humans; we all die eventually).

If you're not good at bending your will you still can train yourself to minimize your "loading time" by doing a thing you don't want everyday, e.g. greeting/ talking to strangers; say your mind out loud and don't think too much; and plenty of more.

That's my "small" takeout for you, feel free to criticise or ask something!