A beta assumes that girls aren't attracted to him unless he does something. So he goes out of his way to be overly nice and give them things and compliment them.

An alpha assumes that girls attracted to him, without exception. Sure, if you asked him he would explain the way he acts is because attraction has nothing to do with what he does so he might as well assume girls are attracted until proven otherwise. But deep down it's more than that. He can't even conceive of the idea that a girl isn't attracted to him. He doesn't go out to sleep with girls, he gives girls the opportunity to sleep with him.

This is something that I've read over and over in various forms but I think I'm finally internalizing it. My old ways of doing things are changing. When I was an AFC I would say, "Can I kiss you?" Then when I started pickup, I would say, "You want to kiss me." Now I'm realizing that we both know they want to kiss me, so it's pointless to say it. Instead I just do it. And I'm not surprised that it works.

Pickup isn't about techniques or phrases. Yeah, there's a certain amount of "fake it until you make it". But in the end if you don't believe in yourself, nobody will.