"For unto everyone that hath shall be given, and he shall have abundance. But from him that hath not shall be taken away even that which he hath." -- Matthew 25:29

Simply put, those that have success at something will be rewarded with further success, and those who fail shall continue to fail. It doesn't take a genius to see how this applies to pick up. Anyone can identify the guy in their group of friends who seemingly effortlessly picks up women. On any given outing he'll be the one flirting with a girl and getting her number, kissing her, and taking her home, while the rest of you and your friends look on in slack-jawed awe. A similar sentiment has been stated in the Pareto Principle: 80% of the effects come from 20% of the causes. As it applies to mating, 20% of the men will do 80% of the mating. At first, it can be a daunting statistic. If you're in the 80% of men that only get 20% of the girls, how can you improve your odds?

Part of the problem is the temptation to look at that kind of man and think "Oh, he's just a natural. He's always been good with women. He has a talent for women." We do the same thing with anyone who is at the top of their field. We are willing to recognize that to become a top athlete or CEO takes lots of hard work and determination, but they must have that X factor, right? That intangible innate talent that sets them at the top of the pyramid.

Malcolm Gladwell writes in his book Outliers to caution us against this line of thinking. He explains that a lot of the advantages that we usually chalk up to innate talent are actually the product of arbitrary advantages. Many athletes are dis-proportionally born in certain seasons of the year. A great number professional hockey players are born between January and March. Similarly, a great number of professional baseball players are born between September and November. Is it because boys born during these times are inherently more talented than boys born the rest of the year? Not at all. But because of arbitrary cut-off dates, those born closest to the cut-off date, will be older and more mature while talent assessments about who will advance to the next level are made. The difference between a 10 year old and 9 year old as far as physical development can be huge. Just because a boy is older, he will be judged as bigger, stronger, faster, etc... and given more practice time, better coaching, more resources, etc... and by the end of high school, he really will be better than the other boys his age who got less practice.

So how does this apply to seduction? Unlike hockey or baseball, these "arbitrary advantages" which boil down to sheer opportunity are completely under your control. While a boy can't choose which month he's born in, we are totally able to control our opportunities to approach women. If you seize as many opportunities as you can, you will improve. And once you have a little more practice, you begin to see quick improvements. It's a recursive cycle. More opportunities mean more practice. More practice means better results. More results means more opportunities. Even if you're only a little bit better than an AFC, that means you're better than 80% of the guys out there. You are that 20%.

In the past two years, I've gone from a guy who had only kissed one girl ever (not counting Spin the Bottle), had never had a girlfriend, and had never had sex, to a guy who has a reputation not just in his social circle of friends for being good with women, but within an entire community of a city. That is a bit of a boast, but it hasn't been all positive. I've heard nasty rumors about me cheating on my girlfriend, which are completely false. While my numbers are nothing compared to some seduction artists -- perhaps 15 girls in ~2 years -- compared to an AFC who is lucky to get 1-2 girls a year, that sets me far ahead of the game as far as they're concerned. So, when it comes down to it, when I'm out gaming, I know I have the experience to make the most of any opportunity.

Seddit is a great resource for learning the basics about the game, but when it comes down to it, reading doesn't get you shit. Get out there and make some opportunities happen.