I learned about the concept of state in the context of pick-up a while back, and I've had some thoughts kicking around in my head lately, so here goes:

What it is: "State" is a feeling of flow and resourcefulness in which you are outside of your head and have good energy. Hard to describe. The best metaphor I can think of, is that it's like a light-bulb turns on. Things feel different, like you have access to more of your brain. Fear and apathy diminish if they were there previously. But more than anything, I would say that motivation is increased.

How does it help? Being more motivated, having diminished inhibitions, and having your brain in a resourceful state to back you up can be amazing. Think of your best moments in life: conversations and interactions you owned (were funny, energetic, etc), job interviews, sports plays, academic tests, stretches during creative work, etc.

Focusing on the latter, from experience my writing feels almost unreal when I'm in state. Like when I review it later, it's almost like it's not even me who's writing it. Especially when compared to my "having a bad day" writings. When I write in state, it's like being in a trance and everything just flows out ever so perfectly.

Really though, what is state? I'm a logical person. I hate wishy-washy pseudoscience and frankly that's what this post has sounded like so far. I believe state is correlated with a strong release of the neurotransmitter dopamine, which has been linked to pleasure, and more recently, motivation, in humans and animals. You get a spike of dopamine after a good meal; about twice as much after sex; and 3-4 times that of sex when you do a line of coke (I'll talk about implications in a bit). EDIT - there is more than dopamine going on chemically; norepinephrine is also probably there, as are others, so just keep in mind when I say "dopamine" I'm referring to a variety of neurotransmitters that have upper effects

I think we evolved to naturally release dopamine in certain scenarios to increase our resourcefulness and effectiveness as human beings. Seduction should definitely be one of them; women are wooed by wit and charisma, and what better way to do this than to have your mind in a state of flow? To be able to take something she just said, link it to something you remember from X years ago, and make a witty joke? To have the audacity to physically pick her up and move her around for fun. You get the idea! Now think if you've ever done those kind of actions when you were feeling like shit; a good opposite scenario is the "morning fog" us non-morning people experience.

How can I get in state? Good question, I hope you guys have a ton of feedback here we can all use! I'll start with some prerequisites: live a healthy lifestyle. Get enough sleep, do 30-45 mins of exercise multiple times a week, and eat a balanced diet - high protein foods should help because certain amino acids are precursors to dopamine, and AAs come from protein.

Now, actual things I/we can do. When in a really shit state on my own, a bit of exercise can actually snap me out of it temporarily. Yes, drop and do a set of push-ups. Something else: when I read something I find very interesting or exciting. I like thinking about my work because I'm very passionate about it. Ok, so what about at the club or bar? I find humor to be good. This is where some routines can help - have something you can say to your friends or even open a set with, that you yourself find funny and maybe can get others to laugh.

A big thing for me is to force conversation. I am an introvert; that doesn't mean I don't like talking to people, it just means that it requires much more energy for me than it does extroverts to whom it's natural. When I force conversation, and don't have any anxiety by focusing on an outcome, it's like I'm revving up my brain. I just saw a really good post on here that reiterated something I sorta do: "nouning". Start off a conversation, listen to their response, focus on one of the nouns they use, and say something about that noun. Here's the link to the post in question: http://www.puaforums.com/how-flirt/3736-simple-art-conversation.html

Perhaps the most important part is momentum. Working up. I was at a dinner dance the other night, sitting around feeling like shit for two hours. So eventually I got up, and started small - some smalltalk with a few people I hadn't seen in a while. Then I grabbed a bro around me and I said, "Hey we're gonna go find some girls to talk to". So we walk around, not getting much done, until eventually we're dancing around some chicks and I tap one on the arm and introduce myself (to be fair I was trying to set a good example). Bam. It was over. Rest of the night went amazing.

I should mention that I think there are bad ways to get into state. Everything I've talked about so far has been more or less natural. Have you ever recovered so perfectly from morning fog with a well-timed coffee? There you go - stimulants get you into state. I don't want to say coffee is bad I just want to draw a point: when you're in the club, you could just as well do a line of coke than put in the effort to have interactions which naturally get you going; and of course, the highs will be of different quality.

This is one reason people in this community adopt the rule "No drugs until you're in state". Because once you get there, you won't need the drugs.

Why do these things get me into state? Let's start with stimulants, that's easy. Chemicals create chemicals which affect your brain - if you want anything more than that, seek out a chemist or wikipedia. I think people on /r/seduction are more interested in the natural activities.

A quick detour which will help lead to my thesis: there are many studies stating that alpha males of tribes have more dopamine. They are the winners: they have taken risks, been rewarded, and the cycle only continues.

Think about something like humor. Who can afford to joke around and have a good time often, those stressed out beta males trying to find a job who worry about what their parents and friends are thinking about them? Doubt it. So my theory is this: when you can concentrate really hard with your conscious mind and take actions that an alpha male would take, eventually the rest of your brain plays along and gives you the chemicals you need. Why would your brain do this? Because it's in your interest to increase resourcefulness in a situation where you have the opportunity to procreate, i.e. make sexy-time. See the link I posted at the bottom for a related study on potential reward/dopamine correlations.

Why do I think something like humor can be alpha? It's the opposite state of stress, and in the old times it was the kings and high court being entertained by jesters and drinks, making jokes, having a good time, while the peasants worried about the roof over their head. Which group do you think a girl would be drawn towards back then?

Another action that's very different from humor which I think would have the same effect is setting personal boundaries. You're at the bar with a mixed group of friends. One of your friends starts cracking jokes about some mental condition. You get all serious, stand up, and look them dead in the eye: "Hey, I know people who are like that, it's not a joking matter. Cut that shit out." "But isn't it really funny how they always - " "Shut the fuck up Jimmy." Now you sit back down and cut the tension by changing topics to something of your choosing. You know what kind of people don't tolerate shit they don't like? Of course you do. Ever done something similar to this and felt that pump you get from seizing status and control? Don't forget to have a one-on-one talk with Jimmy later to stay friends though.

Ways to increase dopamine in general? I've got a few ideas. For one, don't waste your state! Like, don't get excited and stimulated from watching porn, browsing facebook, or doing other unproductive bullshit. I am not sure if "state" as we've been calling it is a limited resource, but I at least feel that after an amazing night it's extra hard to recover the next day if I've been in heavy state. I also talked about the natural sleep/exercise/diet trifecta which should really be more important to you than something you shrug off just because everyone says it. I'm also generally against stimulants - even caffeine. I think these can be short-term performance enhancers to use occasionally, yes, but I think it's important you train your baseline (i.e. practice getting into state, maintaining it, managing it, etc) rather than relying on stimulants.

What about testosterone? I found a really good quote online that summarizes my present mental model on the relationship between T and what we've discussed:

"While testosterone creates the drive for status, dominance, and winning, it is dopamine that allows a man achieve these things. It is dopamine that creates the hedonistic, pleasure seeking bad boy. It is dopamine that creates the extroverted, social, charmer. It is dopamine that creates the competitive, aggressive corporate hard-charger."

Other thoughts and implications. There's this effect I feel sometimes (which I alluded to above) that arises from state mismatches. When you are in state, do something great, then reflect upon it later or try to do it again, it can almost feel like this is not me. That was someone else who did those things. I experience this with quite a few of my interactions with others - sometimes I just leave such a good impression that I feel I simply can't follow up. This creates a fair bit of anxiety and nervousness unfortunately.

You feel like you always have to be "on", you gotta "get in state no matter what", but of course trying to force it like this cannot work. In my experience, your good state must come from a stress-free place. And oftentimes this is no easy feat. Alpha males are outcome-independent, but clearly you are reaching for an outcome here, so... Something's gotta give. Perhaps over time your baseline state (and thus chemical levels) mature to something more desirable as you gain more life experience and your brain - your subconscious brain - starts to realize that.

Like everything worthwhile in life, I'm afraid there's probably no silver bullet - just long-term conditioning over a period of time to slowly improve yourself.

At the end of the day, the thought I want to end with is this: you need to take action of some sort to affect any change, whether it's short-term entering of state, or long-term "alpha conditioning" as I alluded to above.

I very much look forward to hearing your feedback, and I hope you enjoyed my ramblings.

Link:

http://www.linktv.org/video/6438/dopamine-jackpot-sapolsky-on-the-science-of-pleasure?hm