For those of you unfamiliar with the 3-second rule, it basically states that you must approach a target set within 3 seconds. This stops you from overthinking things and is supposed to lead to better results.

In situations where you only have a small window of opportunity, I think this advice is gold. Since you only have a few seconds to make your approach, every second wasted in thought will harm you.

On the other hand, I have broken this rule several times and it has not really seemed to affect my results. If anything, the sets that I have ended up opening after some delay have worked better than many of the ones I approach instantly.

Here are some examples:

1) I am having dinner by myself at a restaurant. Midway through my dinner, a large mixed set sits down at a table. I mentally debate whether to approach or not for the rest of my meal. 20 minutes later, I have finished eating, order a cocktail, and pay my bill. AA is reaching a peak due to the time I waited, and I am this close to becoming a wallflower. Instead, I push through, walk up and open the set. They are immediately receptive, friendly and end up inviting me out to a bar with them.

2)I am drinking coffee in a cafe. I sit down a table away from a set of 2 girls. Again, I mentally debate whether to approach or not for too long (5 minutes or more). I finally bite the bullet, open the set, and spend the next hour in conversation with them.

3)I head out by myself one night. I head to the first bar, and order a drink. On the way to the bar a noticed a mixed set (1 guy, 3 girls). After getting my drink I again spend a minute or two deciding whether to approach or not. I approach, get stonewalled by the guy, but another girl in the set makes eye contact and I end up spending the next few hours with them. K-close and #close the girl, follow up with a day-2 the next day which goes very well.

I understand that ideally you would just instantly approach any set that you are interested in, and in the long run, overthinking/AA prior to approach is likely to harm you. I appreciate the underlying sentiment of the rule.

But I wonder whether people are missing out on some great interactions with people simply because they think they have wasted the opportunity if they don't immediately approach?

At least, that is how I felt before each of these sets. Part of the mental debate was whether or not I should still approach even though it has been a lot longer than 3 seconds.

What does everyone think? Do you adhere strictly to the rule, or do you still approach even when you have to wait much longer? Have I just been lucky?