Picking Up Women with Sleaze

Guest Post: Getting into Shape Without a Gym (II) by Anthony Myers

2012-01-25T11:58:00.000-08:00

Here is the second part of Anthony Myer's post on getting into shape without a gym. It contains more great tips, and may help you to save a lot of time and money. Enjoy!

Jump Rope

When I first started working out I was mostly concerned with losing fat. I couldn’t afford a gym membership, and I hated jogging. I’m asthmatic and my chest would be burning and I’d be ready to throw in the towel after only running a block or two. Plus, jogging was just plane boring. I decided to ditch the jogging for a while and get a jump rope.

A jump rope is about the cheapest, but most effective pieces of cardio equipment you can get. I’d opt for a jump rope over a treadmill any day. I started jump roping every morning at 6:30. Not only was jump roping a lot more fun than jogging, but it also seemed a hell of a lot easier. My chest didn’t burn, I didn’t feel like giving up after only a few minutes. The best part? It seemed to be much more effective than jogging. I lost nearly 40lbs and jumping rope was my only source of cardio.

Dips

Here’s another killer bodyweight exercise. Dips will put more mass on your triceps than pretty much any weighted or machine exercise. It’s unfortunate that they are so underrated. There are two ways to do a dip.

Method #1:

Method #2:

If you have access to the right equipment, opt for method #2. It will not only help you build killer triceps, but with a little tweaking you can turn it into one of the best chest exercises ever. Simply lean forward a tad and dip lower than you would when targeting triceps. If you don’t have the access to the right equipment, no worries. The first method pictured is still really effective for building triceps. Plus, you do it almost anywhere. I used to do these with my hands on my bed and my feet on my computer chair!

Hanging Leg Raises

There’s no shortage of expensive and useless exercise equipment. Especially equipment designed to target your abs. Most of the equipment is designed to make the exercise easier, which to me, is absolutely ridiculous. An exercise shouldn’t be made easier. If anything, it should be made tougher by adding more resistance. I’m not going to lie, hanging leg raises are tough. However, they are the ideal exercise for achieving six pack abs. It’s no secret that the bottom two abdominal muscles are the hardest to target. If you’re having a hard time getting them to pop out, start doing hanging leg raises.

Planks

You’ve probably noticed by now that since I started talking about abs I haven’t mentioned sit ups or crunches. Those are OK, but exercises like planks will do much more for you. If you can only hold an abdominal plank for 30 seconds, don’t worry. Keep practicing. Eventually you’ll be able to hit a minute or even more. Also, you can throw side planks into the mix to target your obliques.

Bicycling

I have great calves. I get compliments on my calves more often than any other muscle group. It’s almost weird. Either way, I know for a fact that biking 5+ miles a day is the primary reason for my bad-ass calves. It’s also a great form of cardio. If you’re trying to get abs, you need to lose the fat on your stomach, and riding bikes is a great way to do that.

There you have it, a list of the most effective exercise that require little to no workout equipment. The fact is, most people use an unnecessary amount of machines and equipment. There are plenty of people who use machines and equipment on a regular basis, but if you asked them to do a few sets of pull ups or other exercises in the list above they would be huffing and puffing as if they’d never worked out in their life. Master these exercises and you’ll be well ahead of the “average” guy.

Having a Pain-Free Back

2012-01-24T12:57:00.000-08:00

My friend Illuminatus recently reviewed 8 Steps to a Pain-Free Back by Esther Gokhale, which seems to be a great book on improving your posture and preventing back pain. I have read his review with great interest, and checked out the freely available YouTube videos.

So, if you spend a large part of your day sitting, then check out the review. It may help. In his review, Illuminatus also draws attention to the fact that attraction and posture are linked, and you tend to view somebody with great posture as more attractive. I know that many people have problems "implementing" some of the absolute basics. Thus, have a look at the review.

AaronSleazy.com and Forum online again!

2012-01-23T07:30:00.000-08:00

There were a few hiccups with the move to my new server, but the support crew was very competent and eventually everything worked out fine. Both AaronSleazy.com and my forum are fully operational again.

Thank you for your patience, and look forward to some more substantial posts in the very near future.

AaronSleazy.com is Moving!

2012-01-19T16:54:00.000-08:00

My website AaronSleazy.com is being moved to a different server and thus currently unavailable. It should be back online within 72 hours.

Once the site is back online and running again, you can expect some more posts on my blog as well, and a new piece from Anthony Myers is in the pipeline, too.

I'm sorry for the inconvenience.

Crowd Wisdom and Minimal Game

2012-01-16T12:00:00.000-08:00

Collecting user data seems to be all the rage among corporations. Facebook is built around this idea, Google exploits search phrases for advertising, and Amazon has no reservation recording your reading habits. There is a rather creepy feature on Amazon.com called "Popular Highlights." They collect passages users of the Kindle highlight in their books, and if particular phrases are selected by a few customers, they publish them on the respective product page. You could thus say that Amazon is looking over your shoulder as you read.

In the case of Minimal Game, the following is a collection of phrases people found most noteworthy. If you have read Minimal Game, then you'll probably nod approvingly as you go through the list, and if you haven't bought it yet, then maybe you want to check it out afterwards!

One of the keys to success in seduction is to talk to strangers as if you know them already.

Only in a sexual relationship is it possible to really get to know someone, because you not only share intimacy, you are being intimate with each other and are not afraid anymore to really open up to the other person.

Your level of success with women is determined by how attractive your life is.

If you just appear to be somewhat secure of yourself, chances are that they will quickly look up to you.

Do not introduce or excuse yourself, but instead say something like, “That's a really nice color.” Full stop.

A guy who makes strong eye contact, stands close to the girl, and possibly even casually touches her, exudes sexuality.

What you should create when interacting with girls is what I call the lover's vibe. Treat her as if the two of you have had sex already. You may indeed only have spoken to her for about fifteen minutes, but if you stop making a difference in how you treat a girl you have already had sex with and a girl you want to have sex with, your life will change drastically.

The more time you spend talking to a woman without being sexual, the harder it will be to finally get sexual with her.

If you don't get anywhere with a particular kind of girl, you have two options:
Focus on different women
Change yourself

Seduction isn’t making someone do what they don’t want to do. Seduction is enticing someone into doing what they secretly want to do already.

Seminar in Frankfurt on 11 February 2012

2012-01-11T13:55:00.000-08:00

I'll do a seminar in Frankfurt am Main in Germany on 11 February 2012, together with German dating coach and author Kolja Alexander Bonke. This seminar will be held in German, and thus the announcement is in this language as well. (My English speaking followers may excuse this.)

Here is the full announcement:

Aaron Sleazy & Kolja Alexander Bonke
Dating und Partnersuche Seminar: „Viel Erfolg mit wenig Aufwand“
Am Samstag, den 11. Februar 2012, 11.15 Uhr in Frankfurt am Main

Das Pareto-Prinzip ist auch unter dem Namen 80-20-Regel bekannt: 20 % Aufwand bringen 80 % Ergebnis. Dieser Effekt lässt sich auf Dating und Partnersuche übertragen. In diesem einmalig stattfindenden Seminar lernst du, wie du mit relativ geringem Einsatz deinen Erfolg bei Frauen gewaltig steigern kannst.

Wie das genau funktioniert, zeigt dir Aaron Sleazy aus Berlin. Aaron ist ein international renommierter Autor und Coach, seine bisherigen Veranstaltungen in Skandinavien, UK und USA waren große Erfolge. Dies ist sein erstes Seminar auf Deutsch und deutschem Boden. Es basiert auf seinem jüngsten Buch „Minimal Game: The No-Nonsense Guide to Getting Girls“ (http://www.aaronsleazy.com/cms/aaron-sleazy-minimal-game), das von der Kritik sehr wohlwollend aufgenommen wurde.

Autor Kolja Alexander Bonke aus Frankfurt am Main wird seine Sicht auf Wert und Anziehung zwischen Frau und Mann darstellen. Nach seinem beim humboldt Verlag erschienen Dating Ratgeber „Erfolg bei Frauen“ (http://www.datingberatung.de/erfolg-bei-frauen-bonke) wird er sich in Zukunft hauptsächlich Romanen widmen ─ diese Veranstaltung ist deshalb wahrscheinlich eine der letzten Gelegenheiten, Kolja zum Thema Partnersuche zu hören.

Das Dating und Partnersuche Seminar „Viel Erfolg mit wenig Aufwand“ findet am Samstag, den 11. Februar 2012 um 11.15 Uhr in Frankfurt am Main statt. Über den genauen Veranstaltungsort wird jeder Teilnehmer selbstverständlich rechtzeitig benachrichtigt. Aaron Sleazy und Kolja Alexander Bonke werden jeweils 90 Minuten sprechen, fürs leibliche Wohl ist gesorgt. Der Frühbucherpreis bis einschließlich 31.01.2012 beträgt 99 Euro, danach kostet es 129 Euro. Anmeldung via http://www.aaronsleazy.com/cms/contact, Bezahlung per PayPal. Falls du mit PayPal nicht klarkommst oder andere Fragen auftauchen, schreibe bitte eine Mail entweder an Aaron Sleazy (http://www.aaronsleazy.com/cms/contact) oder Kolja Alexander Bonke (http://www.datingberatung.de/kontakt).

Getting laid is easy!

...und das wird dich im Detail erwarten:

Aaron Sleazy
Partnersuche leicht gemacht: Mit wenig Aufwand viel Erfolg bei den Frauen!

In meinem jüngsten Buch Minimal Game: The No-Nonsense Guide to Getting Girls schildere ich die absoluten Grundlagen der Verführung. Während dich andere "Gurus” mit absurden Theorien und hochkomplizierten “Taktiken” verwirren, liegt der Schwerpunkt meiner Methode auf einleuchtenden und leicht umzusetzenden Ratschlägen.

Mein Seminar basiert auf Minimal Game. Zur Einordnung wäre es prima, wenn du das kurze und für ein paar Euro zu erhaltende Buch gelesen hast. Die Lektüre ist jedoch keine Grundvoraussetzung. Du kannst dich auch ohne Vorkenntnisse in mein Seminar setzen, und wenn du davor keinen Plan hattest, wirst du danach wissen, was du machen mussst, um dein Liebesleben auf Trab zu bringen.

Mein Seminar wird folgende Punkte behandeln: 

- Sich selbst kein Bein mehr stellen: Psychologische Hürden, und wie man sie überwindet
- Realistische Ziele: Durststrecke überwinden oder Don Juan werden?
- “Ich seh’ nicht so gut aus. Hab’ ich denn gar keine Chance bei den Frauen?”
- Mit Kleidung punkten: Stilempfinden vs. “Peacocking”
- Fitness & Ernährung: Wie man mit wenig Aufwand in Form bleibt und sich gut dabei fühlt
- Wissen, was man will: Polarisieren und selektieren
- Marktplatz: Wo und wie man effektiv Frauen trifft
- Wie man all das kombiniert, um sich erfolgreich von der Konkurrenz abzuheben

Dieses Seminar basiert auf meinen Erfahrungen als Verführer und Coach. Im Gegensatz zu anderen in dieser Branche werde ich dir nicht erzählen, dass du jede haben kannst, egal wie du ausseht oder wie viel Geld du hast, sondern darstellen, wie du das absolut beste aus deinen Möglichkeiten machen kannst, damit du entweder überhaupt mal zum Schuss kommst, oder mehr Auswahl hast. Ob aktiver Aufreißer oder Jungfrau — hier lernst du bestimmt was dazu!

Kolja Alexander Bonke
Erfolg bei Frauen statt Pick-Up-Luftschloss: Wert & Anziehung, WTF?

Aussehen oder Kohle spielt keine Rolle, ein paar Psycho- oder Zaubertricks und du landest bei deiner Traumfrau.

Nein, so einen Quatsch wirst du von mir nicht hören ─ dafür sind andere zuständig.

Den Weg, den ich mit "Erfolg bei Frauen" gegangen bin, gehe ich auch mit diesem Seminar weiter: Ehrlichkeit statt Marketing-Gedöhns und realistische Konzepte statt abstruse Techniken. Pick-Up-Luftschlösser dürfen gern andere bauen.

Mit fremden Frauen ein Gespräch anfangen fällt dir schwer?
Während der Unterhaltung gehen dir oft die Themen aus?
Du bekommst häufig falsche Handynummern oder keiner geht ran?
Dir fehlt Selbstsicherheit?
Du wirst immer nur als Kumpel gesehen?
Du willst, dass in deiner Beziehung mal wieder richtig Funken sprühen?

Sowohl bewährte auch bisher unveröffentlichte Facetten meiner Sicht auf Wert und Anziehung zwischen Mann und Frau werden dir nach diesem Seminar dabei helfen, Probleme wie diese zu lösen.

Interessiert?

Dann beeil’ Dich, denn der Frühbücherpreis von 99 Euro gilt nur bis zum 31. Januar!

Bis bald in Frankfurt!

Aaron Sleazy
Kolja Alexander Bonke

Guest Post: Getting into Shape Without a Gym (I) by Anthony Myers

2012-01-10T15:02:00.000-08:00

This is the second post by Anthony Myers from MuscleClass.com. He discusses how to get into shape without equipment or access to a gym. Part II of this post will follow in a few days.

In a comment to my introductory post, Don Draper asked:

“Could you also share some good exercises for people who are always traveling, so you can perform the exercises without any instruments (like dumbbells)?”

And that’s exactly what today’s post is about, getting into shape even if you have no access to a gym, or equipment.

Personally, I prefer working out at a gym and I suggest you work out at a gym if possible. After all, you will have access to tons of equipment, professional knowledge from the staff, motivation from other gym members, and even the opportunity to meet women, sexy women who take care of their bodies and care about their appearance. However, if there’s some reason you can’t get into a gym, I have compiled a group of exercises below that require little to no equipment.

Pull-Ups

While I didn’t place these exercises in any specific order, I can tell you that pull ups being listed first is not a mistake. They are the not only the best bodyweight exercise, but I’d put them in the top 5 of all exercises, ever. The pull up will be your #1 tool in creating that sexy ‘V shaped’ tapered body. Pull ups help develop this physique by widening your back, specifically your lats. Also, pull ups are going to do more for your biceps than any fancy dumbbell or barbell curls ever could. If you want to focus more on your widening your back and creating that V shape, perform a traditional pull-up, gripping the bar overhand style with your arms slightly wider than shoulder width apart. If you want to focus more on your biceps, perform a underhanded chin-up with your arms about shoulder width apart.

It doesn’t matter if you can only do 1 pull-up. Do 1, rest and do another. Rinse and repeat until you’ve achieved your desired amount of reps; eventually you’ll be able to do 2 in a row, and then 3 in a row, etc. I consider pull-ups the core of any good back routine, so I start off every back workout with 4 sets of 10-15 pull-ups.

Push-Ups

The push up is to your chest as the pull up is to your back. It’s extremely simple and extremely effective. Also, there’s a ton of variations that target different areas and keep things from getting boring. If I were new, I would start off by doing 3 or 4 sets of as many standard pushups as I could perform on a regular basis. You can even replicate incline bench presses and decline bench presses by elevating your feet during pushups or elevating your upper body by leaning on table to put more emphasis on the top or bottom of your chest. Lastly, you could put more emphasis on your triceps by doing close-grip pushups. Simply put your hands closer together while doing pushups and you will be targeting your triceps.

Note: Most people who want big arms spend a lot of time on their biceps. Since this is “Minimal Bodybuilding” and we’re concentrating on greatest reward with minimal time invested I’m going to share a little secret with you. Somewhere along the line things got mixed up. People started spending a ton of time on their biceps and not showing much love to their triceps. Well, your triceps account for nearly 75% of your total arm mass. So spend a little more time on your triceps by doing things like close grip pushups and your arms will start to appear bigger in a shorter amount of time.

Jump Squats

I have a love hate relationship with Jump Squats. I hate to do them, but I know how good they are for me. There are plenty of guys in the gym who can squat 225lbs for 10 reps. I challenge you to show me a guy who can do 4 sets of Jump Squats without feeling like he just got his ass kicked. These are a great workout for toning up your legs, and also aids in fat loss.

Gawker and WSJ on Pickup

2012-01-08T15:12:00.000-08:00

One of my readers (thanks, E.!) sent me a link to an article on Gawker with the title How to Talk to Real Live Women. It was easily the most amusing piece on pickup I've read in a while, but check it out yourself:

And she kind of looks at you for a long moment with a quizzical look on her face like she really seriously doesn't know what you're talking about, and kind of smiles politely and says "Okay," and starts to turn back to her other conversation again. And you're like "HI, I'M NICK" (yelling).

Yes, this article is a parody, but if you've spent some time on typical Internet forums on seduction, you'll probably admit that it is eerily close to some of the accounts you can read on there.

On an even more absurd side note, Gawker links to a recent article on Wall Street Journal, On a Wingman and a Prayer: Singles Bow to Cupids-for-Hire, that made me check the date twice. I just found it hard to believe it wasn't published on the first of April:

Paired with a confident wingwoman, her customers "can see prospective partners right away, and know right then and there if there is chemistry." Ms. Baxter, whose fees start at $130, insists that clients who go out with a pro have better odds of success than those who troll with an untrained male buddy. Often, the friend "says stupid stuff, like 'my friend thinks you're hot,'" she says.

Please note that "Ms Baxter" is 32, and not selling her body but wants to get paid for hanging out in a bar. For $130, though, her services better include anal in the bathroom, otherwise, this sum is completely ridiculous. Yet, the absurdities don't end:

Josh Mitchell, 27, started his Indianapolis wingwoman service, "Miss Pivot," last year after attending an event for young entrepreneurs. Romance aside, there was something else that convinced him he had a winning concept. No one, he says, seems to know how to have a face-to-face conversation anymore. "A lot of social skills you used to pick up watching your parents, but now everyone is busy watching stuff online or playing videogames online," he says.

Mr. Mitchell now runs Miss Pivot with a team of five friends, including a "head coach," plus eight freelance "pivots" for hire at $45 to $65 an hour.

Honestly, if you pay a random woman that amount of money to "hang out", then get your head checked. What I find really odd is that even though the typical guy seems to want to get laid, they are unable to put two and two together, and just hire a call girl. I thought that most people prefer the path of least resistance! Not that I want to promote whoring, but if somebody told me that he paid a woman $65 to go to a bar with him, in the vain hope to pick up other girls, I'd question his sanity.

What did Einstein again say about the universe and human stupidity?

Last Minute Tips for New Year's Eve

2011-12-31T11:56:00.000-08:00

Many of you probably can't resist the urge to go out tonight, and indeed, new year's eve is quite possibly the easiest day to get laid in the entire year (the few days before Valentine's Day are normally very good, too, but those girls are often hell-bent to have a "boyfriend" for Valentine's so that they don't feel sorry about themselves. In the US, Halloween is also great, but it's less so in Europe.)

Probably a lot of you are going to go out tonight, and if you want to maximize your chances to get laid, then follow these quick tips:

- Show up early. On New Year's Eve clubs are generally extremely busy, and you surely don't want to spend two hours waiting in the queue. Be there at 10 p.m. at the latest, and if your friends think it's too early, then ask them whether they want to get laid or not.

- Don't drink, or at least restrain yourself. Pretty much everybody else is going to get wasted. There will be so many opportunities for you that you should be on top of things all the time. You surely don't want all those girls walking off to some other guy just because you couldn't find the keys to your car (not that you should drink and drive anyway).

- Strike early. The further the night goes on, the more depressing it usually gets. In your typical club or bar on New Year's Eve, you can regularly see people falling asleep on a sofa or on the counter. Sadly, this also happens in more exclusive venues. Thus, try to seal the deal by 1 a.m. at the latest. If she seems interested, then try to leave with her right away. She'll probably never be as willing as on this night during the entire year. Also, you'll notice that the atmosphere can quickly go downhill afterwards. On NYE, club nights are normally not particularly great (because everyone wants to go out), and they all degenerate into sausage fests.

- Forget about phone numbers. New Year's Eve is a typical "doesn't count" day, so forget about collecting numbers and meeting her during the week. She'll probably have a really hard time remembering you when you call her the next day anyway.

- Play high risk, high reward. Shortly before the countdown to midnight starts, have a look around and try to find the hot girls. As soon as it's midnight, they'll all do their "happy new year!" act, squeal and hug their friends. It's all chaotic, so just walk up, open your arms for a hug and say "happy new year!", and then make out with her. See if you can segue this into getting her away from her friends and leaving with her. Don't push it too hard if there is resistance. Instead, walk off to the next girl. Those five to ten minutes are the easiest five to ten minutes of the entire year to get laid. Really.

- Capitalize on your Opportunities! On New Year's Eve, many girls desperately want to get laid, and many will be very outgoing. Remember, it "doesn't count", and they can get away with getting really drunk because all their friends are doing it, too. If a girl comes up to you to wish you a happy new year (she's probably playing the same gambit as the one I previously mentioned), decide very quickly whether you want to have sex with her or not. If so, hug her, and try to kiss her. This often leads to a wild makeout. Break the makeout after a few second and say to the girl, "Let's go!", and leave with her. Yes, it can really happen that quickly! Her friends most likely forget about cockblocking as well, and may say things like, "Have fun with him, sweetie!", or "Good job!", or they may clap, high five her, or give her thumbs up. (Caveat: Trying to leave before midnight is a very bad idea, but once it's past 0:00 a.m., it's fine.)

New Years Eve can be quite ridiculous, so make it count!

Happy new year! I hope that you are all going to have a lot of sex in 2012.

About Models and "Models"

2011-12-30T12:50:00.000-08:00

In a discussion of "Krauser PUA", neparlepas from my forum posted a screenshot from a video that guy posted, in which he claimed to "pick up" (getting a flaky phone number?) two Estonian "models." I've discussed "Krauser PUA" before, and I've thoroughly rebuked him on my forum, when he wanted to get kudos for banging a girl exactly once after investing a serious amount of time and money. Here's my money quote:

I have just skimmed your report of the pick-up, and I wasn't surprised that it took you quite a long time to actually bang her. You mentioned five dates with nothing happening except some finger-banging, and that you meet up with her in Turkey after a few months, while having Skype contact from December to March. And in the end you only fuck her once.

Doesn't this strike you as slightly uneconomical?

Krauser PUA didn't show his face on my forum ever again afterwards. He's probably too busy picking up "models" in former communist countries. But what's wrong with picking up "models" you may now ask? Well, here's a picture of one of the "models" Krauser PUA boasts having picked up on YouTube:

As you can readily see, the issue is simply that the label "model" is used in such an inflationary fashion that it makes Rudolf Havenstein look like a choir boy. Neparlepas analyzed it this way:

If the two girls on the Youtube video are models, then im Brad Pitt. It seems to me that when a self-described PUAs start having a modicum of success with non-fat girls sporting blond hair&blue eyes, the change is so dramatic, they are automatically labeled models.

Indeed, "PUAs" throwing around the word "models" is nothing new. Part of it is just juvenile boasting, but the label "model" is much more problematic. When a girl tells me she's a model, I usually just laugh. Given that I have never bumped into women like Adriana Lima, I have every right to. If she can actually live off her modeling, then she's a model. If not, then not. On a side note, I can call myself an author because I have written a couple of books, and even though I am not Hemingway, I can at least show those works to people. On the other hand, what does a "model" who gets booked twice a year for two or three years of her life, until she's deemed too old, really achieve besides some ego stroking? I used to do live modeling, but I never defined myself through it, and certainly not the same way some of the "models" in New York or London do. They may do some modeling from time to time, but they certainly aren't models.

I know how to move chess pieces, but would I care calling myself a chess player? Magnus Carlsen surely is in an entire different league, and this would still be true if I had an ELO rating of 2,500. By the same logic some women dare to call themselves "models", and "PUAs" fantasize about "pulling models" (i.e. non-fat girls who don't even call themselves "models"), I could easily construct my live to be one of a superstar. After all, I hang out with "publishers", "models", "singers", "basketball players", "pianists", "painters", and "philosophers" all the time.

If you are Batting 0.001

2011-12-28T03:49:00.000-08:00

Recently, a guy on my forum, Warped Mindless, pointed me towards a post on RSD Nation that made me shake my head in disbelief. It was about some dude celebrating himself for approaching over 1,100 women and getting laid exactly once. He also mentions two blow jobs, but something tells me that this probably wasn't quite the kind performance you witness in your favourite POV porn clips.
Just witness the absurd level of delusion you must have to write something like this:

My 1000th post will be about my background, my journey and about where I am at. Maybe it will inspire some of you guys to take action.

...and this:

Whenever i feel a bit down or frustrated i just remember what Jeffy told me, something along the lines that I am going to be a beast at the age of 25 and that I got the leverage.

Sure, dude, and when I'm forty, I'll have ten billion dollars in the bank.

I don't want to bash this poor dude too much, but seeing that he gets congratulated by a myriad of people who tell him that he is an "inspiration" is beyond belief. If anything, it tells you how little the average guy on RSD Nation actually gets laid. Warped Mindless offered constructive criticism, but was called a "hater" instead.

Frankly, having to approach over a thousand woman only to yield this kind of results is pathetic, and even if your ratio is ten times better (i.e. one in a hundred), it's still phenomenally bad. In this case, I can only advise you to take a break from pickup and focus on literally every other area in your life. If you fare that poorly, then something is seriously wrong about either you or the situations you put yourself in.

Further, it shouldn't take you much to realize that whatever you are doing is completely wrong. Just compare it to any other field. Let's say you've started working out, and after ten months in the gym you still haven't gained a single pound. What do you do then? Do you keep doing what you are doing, or figure that there must be better way (because it can hardly be any worse)?

I don't want to calculate how many hours this guy has "invested" into pickup, but just a small fraction of this spent on working out would have gotten him in much better shape. Further, he seems to view his time as nearly worthless. Let's assume that he spent over 500 hours "in field." Even if he valued his time at a mere $1 an hour, the outcome is ridiculous, and the price he's paying for pussy is laughable.

There is only one solution: Take a break, and get your head straight.

Guest Post: Introduction of Anthony Myers

2011-12-27T07:55:00.000-08:00

As I have recently announced, Anthony Myers from MuscleClass.com will contribute to this blog. In this post, he tells you about his background and gives an overview of his knowledge. In subsequent posts, he'll give you practical advice on improving your health and fitness.

My name is Anthony Myers. I'm a formerly fat, asthmatic, socially awkward, wannabe professional gamer (Yes, seriously.) My former self would rather be alone than risk embarrassing myself by approaching a girl. Aaron has allowed me to be a guest posted on his website so I can share with you my story, and also teach you how I changed myself for the better.

My Story
I spent most of high school sitting in the corner of the classroom, quiet, with my head down. When the teacher called on me to answer a question in class, you could literally hear my voice tremble. I thought everybody in the classroom was looking at me and picking me a part. Looking back on it, they most-likely weren’t. They probably were more like me than I thought, they wanted class to end and to go home just a badly as I did.

In the movies high school is portrayed as the best years of your life. High school is a time when you’re supposed to be partying, going to football games, drinking, hanging out with your friends, and getting laid. That wasn’t true for me. I didn’t get invited to parties, the football team jumped my friend and I when we were walking to 7-11 to get slurpees, so I sure as hell wasn’t going to their games to cheer them on. Oh, and I definitely wasn’t getting laid.

The only “parties” I experienced in high school were LAN parties. If you know what those are, you’ve probably been in my shoes. If you don’t know what a LAN party is, prepare to laugh. A LAN (Local Area Network) party is where several guys gather up, usually in a basement, all connected to the internet so they can play PC games together. If you’ve ever seen the “World Of Warcraft” episode of Southpark it’s exactly like that. Just to save me from any embarrassment, no, we didn’t play “World Of Warcraft”, what do I look like, some kind of nerd? We played “Counter-Strike 1.6”.

I did have friends though, a group of guys from my old school that I could actually be myself around. When I was with them, the real ‘Anthony’ came out. I could make all of them laugh, they thought I was cool. In this puzzle of brothership I was a major piece. When I was with those 5 or 6 guys I was in my comfort zone. The problem is, those 5 or 6 guys weren’t always around, and if I wanted to be successful in making new friends, getting invited to parties in the future, heck, even getting a good job, excelling in my career, and especially meeting women… I would have to figure out how to let “The real Anthony out” more often.

My Inspiration to Change
The person that gave me my first taste of what an actual party was like is my cousin, Frank. He regularly hosts pool parties over the summer. To say beautiful girls attend Frank’s pool parties would be an understatement. The ‘worst’ looking girl that attended would blow the hottest girl at my high school out of the water. I’m not fond the PU communities rating scale, because what woman can be beautiful in so many different ways, and what you might think is a 7, another guy may think is a 10, but to paint a picture for you, these girls are the kind of girls that regularly get husbands in trouble with their wives for checking them out while shopping.

Although Frank is 7 years older than me, and constantly surrounded by beautiful women, he didn’t treat me like the loser I thought I was, because around him I was comfortable. The real Anthony came out. I was funny, smooth, and quick-witted around him and the other people that were close to me. So he let me come to his pool parties and even introduced me to his girlfriends as somebody he was proud to be related to. They were nice to me because I was his cousin, but I was nobody they would remember for long. They just knew me as the little creep who kept checking their asses out under water with Goggles.

When the pool parties ended and I lay in bed, I would always wonder how Frank could date such beautiful girls. Why, even if he had a girlfriend, other beautiful woman still wanted to be friends with him. I came to the conclusion that it was his body. Did I forget to mention, Frank is an Amateur body builder? Not only is Frank an Amateur bodybuilder, he’s also an extremely good-looking dude. I’m trying to put this in the most non-gay way possible, well… just look at him:

So, I came to the conclusion that looks do matter. There are some things you can’t easily change about your physical appearance, at least not without a lot of money and surgery. Your nose, jaw line, teeth, the way your facial hair grows in, etc. However, there is one thing that everyone can change for the better. Not only is it easier to improve than most people think, but improving it will result in a bigger increase of confidence, and more initial attraction from the opposite sex than anything else. What I’m talking about is your body.

Note: I say initial attraction because simply having a nice body isn’t going to get you laid or into a relationship. You’ve got to be able to approach a girl, hold up your end of a conversation, and have the balls to close the deal, and all of that other stuff Aaron teaches you how to do. However, if you go out enough, you’ll run into situations where you meet girls who are looking to have sex, and all you’ve got to do is NOT fuck it up.

The problem was that I was 5’9”, 195lb of pale chubbiness. I wasn’t going to be running into any of those situations, and if I did, I most likely would have fucked it up.

What I Did About It
I set out on a mission to learn everything I could about building an attractive body. I must have bought every book on bodybuilding, nutrition, and weight training ever written. I signed up to just about every fitness forum. If there’s a fitness website out there, I’ve been to it. I borrowed Frank’s old FLEX magazines. I even started researching Human Psychology and Evolution to understand why girls liked guys like him and not guys like me.

I went from 195lbs of fat, down to 155lbs of skinny, and back up to 195lbs. However, this time when I was tipping the scales at nearly 200lbs… it was muscle. The best part is, I’m no longer that easily forgotten, chubby cousin of Frank’s. I evened the playing field. He regularly introduces me to girlfriends of his, and if one of his girlfriends has a friend that needs to be entertained. I’m the first person he calls. It feels good to go from looking up to him to having his approval. There’s even times he’s looked at me picking up a girl and said “Dude, how the hell did you do that? That was awesome!”

What I Learned
Everybody is cool to somebody. It doesn’t even matter if you’re a socially awkward wannabe professional gamer like I was. Somebody out there thinks you’re cool. It could be your best friend, your neighbor, somebody in your class or even your mom. Somebody out there thinks you’re cool, and somebody out there is bragging about you. They are bragging about you because they see a side of you that you might sometimes be afraid to let out.

Bodybuilding helped me change myself for the better and it can do the same for you. As you start to see your body changing in the mirror, something happens. You start to really like what you see, and you come to the realization that other people probably like what they see too. This does a lot for your self-esteem and confidence. You finally start to feel comfortable in your own skin, and the “real you” comes out more often. The “you” that your best friend, neighbor, and Mom brag about.

What Women Think About a Nice Body
I have a mentor that owns several multi-million dollar businesses, has a beautiful wife and kids, and no matter where he goes, people (women and men) just seem to like him. Even before they know about his success in business, and that his wife is beautiful, people like him. He’s the center of attention in every room he walks into. He’s also tall and well-built. He is a Frank. I was embarrassed at first, but I thought if I was ever going to crack the code, I had to ask him what the hell he is doing differently that makes everybody like him so much.

Here’s an excerpt from our e-mail conversation: Women are still attracted to the primal man. It's a biological desire coded into their genetics. Example, in the wild kingdom the female gazelle seeks out the male gazelle with the biggest and straightest horns. The lioness seeks out the bigger lion with the fuller mane, and they ignore the gazelle with the broken horn, or the uneven horns, or the limping lion with the mangy mane... not for the sake of looks but for safety, survival, breeding... all the biological and genetically hard coded stuff that makes a woman want to be with a MAN... a knight.

A strong and fit body on a human is equivalent to a fuller mane on a lion, or straight horns on a gazelle. It a sign that you will be able to produce healthy off spring, that you will be able to provide and protect. She might not be dating or fucking you purely for your body or looks, but you can damn sure bet she likes what she sees when the clothes come off. You are a lion, embrace it.

It’s Easier Than You Think
Fortunately for you (and me) women’s expectations of men aren’t what the media and Hollywood would want you to believe. You don’t have to look like Gerard Butler, David Beckham, or even my cousin Frank. They simply ask that we aren’t fat or weak looking. If you can do that, you’re well on your way to being the most “initially attractive” guy in the club, bar, classroom, wherever it is you are. Think about it, most guys are lazy. They don’t care what they eat, they don’t work out, and they don’t really care too much about their body at all until it’s deteriorating before their eyes.

If you’ve ever stepped into a gym you might get intimidated because of all the big guys walking around. Here’s the thing, though. There are a lot of big guys in the gym, because that’s where they go to get big. When you go out to a club on the weekend, fit guys are the minority. Women are surrounded by limping lions with mangy manes and gazelles with bent or broken horns. You have very little competition!

I know some of you might laugh at my idea that looks and body matter. You might think that if you master “game” you can blow these “AMOGs” out of the water with some Anti-AMOG tactic you learned from some dating guru. Sure, you might be able to blow out some ‘AMOG’ who doesn’t know what the hell he’s doing. However, an “AMOG” who knows real game is your worst nightmare.

I’ve been called a Jersey Shore looking douchebag by more people than I care to admit, but have you ever watched Jersey Shore? It might not be the most educational thing on T.V but those guys are in shape and they get laid. Whether you want to admit it or not, they ‘smoosh’ (Hah!) I’m not saying you should invest in steroids, Ed Hardy clothing, Rosaries, and vodka, but you should take care of your body.

I don’t like the way peacocking was interpreted in The Game. People lined up at the stores to buy leather pants, rocker boots, top hats, and all kinds of crazy looking clothes and accessories to attract attention in the club. Having a nice body and dressing well are a better version of pea cocking. They are attention grabbers, and although I’ve never tried wearing a trench coat, leather pants and goggles to a club. I have a hunch that the attention a nice body brings is a lot more positive and will go a lot further. What you do once you have a woman’s attention is up to you, but that’s why you guys have Aaron!

How You Can Get Started
Hopefully by now I’ve been able to turn you guys into believers, that having a nice body, while not 100% necessary for getting laid or getting into a relationship, will dramatically boost your results given you know what to do with it. If you liked what I had to say, Aaron is going to let me do a mini-series on “Minimal Game Of Bodybuilding.” The concept isn’t to turn you into a 200lb bodybuilder, but to get you out of the ‘Average looking guy’ category, which, if you haven’t realized by now, is a lot easier than it sounds. I’ll reveal things like muscle groups that woman find attractive (hint: it’s not just abs), the best exercises for getting those muscle groups to show in the minimal amount of time, and how to get into shape even if you don’t have a gym membership or equipment.

Anthony Myers
MuscleClass.com

Upcoming Guest Poster: Anthony Myers from MuscleClass.com

2011-12-23T10:34:00.000-08:00

After my Reddit Q&A, Anthony Myers from Muscle Class contacted me. He liked my position on "game," and I found his view on working out very reasonable. Since he was looking to broaden his exposure, and I got the impression that you guys will learn a lot from him as well, it seemed a good idea to bring him on board as a guest poster.

You will very soon be able to read his introduction. This will be followed by a concise series of posts on effective fitness routines. The working title for this is "The Minimal Game of Working Out." Obviously, it doesn't make much sense to devote a large bulk of one's spare time to either fitness or picking up girls, so if you like my no-nonsense approach to pulling girls, you'll surely find Anthony's guide helpful to. Afterwards, Anthony will post on health and fitness topics, regularly with a connection to "game."

Look forward to it!

The Final Word on Height

2011-12-20T03:03:00.000-08:00

I get annoyed when people try to attack me for my "negativity" when I tell them that height matters a great deal. Yes, if you you are short, you shouldn't be afraid of "cheating" by wearing shoes with a (slight) heel, and possibly height-increasing soles. After all, many women were heels as well. This strategy, however, is limited, and if you think you could gain some more inches by artificial means, then I'm sorry to tell you that doing so will completely mess up your proportions. In this post I thus want to present some strategies for successfully dealing with the issue of height, if it is a concern for you.

A case in point for a questionable coping strategy is "DJ Fuji" who prefers boosting his height by more than just a couple of inches. Unfortunately, I couldn't find an unaltered picture in my 45 seconds Google image search, so I had to settle for one off PUAHate. Notice how his upper body immediately strikes you as being too short. Thus, you invariably look down and notice his shoes.

If height was such a non-issue, then "DJ Fuji" surely goes to great lengths to compensate for his lack. Similarly, Mystery and Strauss advocated boosting your height by all possible means. Do they know something the average seduction student doesn't? Here's a typical comment, copy & pasted from some forum:

Seems to me like Aaron has submitted to the social conditioned brainwashing that its all about your looks height and money. Funny enough I know some tall good looking guys myself who have a very hard time hooking up with girls while their short average-looking friends seems to get all the attention in the bar. Sleazy is absolutely overestamating (sic!) the value height or looks is for a girl, a hot girl is so damn used to that shit its just "usual stuff".

Let me just deal with the last argument first, and imagine you were a male model that was being chased by one beautiful girl after another. Would you then think, once you see an unattractive and overweight girl, "Ah, finally not the usual stuff!", and immediately go after her? I'll leave the answer as an exercise to the reader.

Of course, I am not saying that if you are not tall, then your only option is to masturbate until the cows come home. Quite the opposite is true. It is simply a fact that women generally prefer men who are roughly the same height, but also that there are ways to compensate. For instance, if you are 5'5" or shorter, but have a really great body, you'll still get plenty of attention. I have very recently witnessed this in real life, namely a body builder picking up a couple of books in the library. He was wearing a tank top, thus exposing quite a bit of skin, and plenty of girls were eye-fucking him. Money and popularity will help, too, but that's not news to you, at least if you are roughly familiar with my view on seduction, or generally prefer reality over fiction.

The argument normally goes that X knows someone who is tall and/or good-looking but can't get anywhere with girls, while he has a short friend who cuts a wide swath. Upon further probing, though, it always emerges that the short guy has some redeeming qualities, and that the tall one is, say, very awkward. However, the tall awkward guy can fix his behavior, and ceteris paribus, he will then stand a better chance than the short guy.

The message is thus to strenghten your foundations. If you are a tall, socially awkward guy, then acquire solid social skills, and if you are short and are neglected by the ladies, then working out will severely boost your chances. By the way, Frank Zane was just 5'9", and this is what he looked like:

The key to dealing with height is to simply accept it as it is. You can't change it, so don't spend mental energy on it. Instead of arguing that someone who points out to you that ceteris paribus a taller guy is almost universally more attractive than a shorter one (beyond 6'4" or 6'5" this is debatable, though) is "negative", hit the gym, make more money, or try to increase your popularity. After all, it's improbable that you'll ever compete with for a particular woman with a guy who is exactly like you but two inches taller.

Improving the Reward to Effort Ratio

2011-12-19T02:22:00.000-08:00

Johnny, a reader of my blog, brought up some interesting points in reply to my post Reddit.com Q&A Afterthoughts.

I feel day game in general has very low reward to effort ratio. Street game is just downright pathetic in this regard. I was initially sold on the idea that not every chick goes to bars/clubs but everyone definitely has to, say, do grocery shopping. Very quickly, after getting my first 10-15 numbers (and all of them flaked), I realized that it is a complete waste of time. You have zero control over the variables involved.

I completely agree with this statement. What is particularly questionable about street game is that you often can’t even make a good guess about basic compatibility because most people have to dress in a certain way for work. Obviously, you’ll do a lot better if you are able to style yourself for a particular audience.

This observation bridges to the second statement Johnny has made:

The issue is the one of reward to effort ratio. A lot of people get dismayed by hearing about these PUA gurus, pulling so many chicks, about how you should have an abundance mentality regarding women, blah blah blah. Something which these guys are not so explicit about is the amount of time they spend focusing on this, and thus their actual reward to effort ratio.

IMO, if some dude is in mid 30s and has been going out, say, 3 nights or more every week for the past 10 years, and then even if he has slept with 30-40 women, it just sounds fucked up on so many levels. First, its a pathetic reward to effort ratio. Second, the reason why one would want to do this for say 10 years, is completely not clear to me. We are not even having a chat about whether these numbers are even real, and the quality of chicks in question.

Anyway, my question is, what do you think are some of the key things which a guy can do to improve his effort to reward ratio? Also, what do you see are some of most common mistakes which guys make that make this ratio crap?

It is indeed the case that hardly anybody in this scene likes to talk about actual numbers. When I was posting on public forums a lot, someone pointed out to me that I had published more “lay reports” than Style, Mystery, and a handful other “big name gurus” put together. I wasn’t aware of this because I never took those people seriously to begin with. But of course, the difference between myth and reality is a great starting point to explore this topic.

First of all, I’d like to remind you that Style admitted, in The Game, that he was teaching Mystery Method before he even had one “lay” using his master’s method. You’d have to be severely deluded to find nothing questionable about that. Compared to this, you should probably applaud Mehow for starting teaching after one (!) “lay”. He admitted this after being publicly questioned, and the sources are to be found in my ebook Debunking the Seduction Community.

Strauss and Mehow are not the only offenders, though. To a great extent, it’s a matter of perception. Some people seem to think that just because someone posts a group picture of himself and a couple of girls in a club, that he has banged all of them. Nothing could be further from the truth, and in fact, for many “PUAs” the regular outcome of the night is to go home empty-handed. They even admit this themselves, if you are able to connect the dots.

For instance, TylerDurden from Real Social Dynamics used to brag about having banged "over 100 girls" in three years. This may or may not be true, and I won’t tell you right now what my opinion is, but given that he also said that this was the end result of going out 1,000 nights in a row (probably an equally exaggerated claim), the ratio is pathetic. Tyler seems to select his coaches on mathematical ability, since the same calculation is presented by Brad Branson, who similarly claims to have been going out “at least 1,000 nights in three years” and, of course, has been with “over 100 women.” You can read this and other fairy tales in his Reddit Q&A.

So, given that “gurus” claim that getting laid one in ten nights is good enough to teach, why do people then feel insufficient? Of course, “one in ten” sounds much less intimidating than “five out of five”, or Mehow’s classic “I can steal any girl from her boyfriend in 15 minutes.” (Sure, and I run faster than Usain Bolt.) In terms of reward to effort, the ratio is still rather bad. You have to remember that those guys claim to live for pickup, so it’s not like us normal guys who like to go to clubs because we like going to clubs, and shag some birds when we feel like it, until we eventually settle down.

But what do you do to improve the ratio? One key mistake, of course also perpetrated by pretty much every "PUA" out there, is to not knowing what you go for. If you dress generic, then this is you. If you go to a mainstream club because you listen to nothing else than what is played on the radio, then this is you, too.

To really boost your ratio, given that you have taken care of the absolute fundamentals like being (somewhat) in shape, and having your own place in a good location, you have to make an active effort in finding girls who are compatible on some level. I’ll just run you through some bullet points now, since I have explained this process in great detail in Minimal Game:

- some similarities; could be as simple as liking the same kind of music (this is your “entry point”)
- equal or higher socio-economic status (less important for hook-ups, but even for flings, it starts to matter)
- comparable level of beauty
- roughly similar height; ideally you are two to three inches taller than her (this measure may include her height in heels in a club)

Many guys go wrong by going for girls who are out of reach for them. Of course, you can now say that I am “negative” and “tell people to settle for scraps.” However, there is a competition going on for girls. The most attractive ones normally have no shortage of suitors, and if you think that a little bit of “game” will compensate for your lack of popularity, looks, and money, then you’ll be in for a rude awakening. Yet, this is where so many men fail, and they do so because the allegedly easier option is so much more tempting. Eventually, though, they will learn, due to their utter lack of success, that they have been sold snake oil.

This resentment, albeit with a focus on relationships, is mirrored in a recent post by Assanova on RealMadeMen, "Getting a Girlfriend 101”:

One constant theme that keeps coming up with single men, is that the women constantly flake and they can't seem to get anywhere with them. What that tells me is that either most men don't understand what I'm about to tell you, or they do, and are completely delusional about where they really stand.

I'll tell you guys, outside of a social circle type setting, game is completely useless when it comes to getting a date or a girlfriend. And I don't need to tell you that game is useless outside of a long-term setting, because the results speak for themselves. Most of you have to approach tens or hundreds of women, or go outside of America, just to get one single date. There's absolutely no point in arguing because I am right, and like I said, the results speak for themselves (and please, don't come at me with a guy who is already comparatively attractive, popular, or has money, and try to use him as an example of "game" working.).

Now that you're ready to listen to the truth that I speak, understand that a woman will only date you if one of three things occur: you appear to make MUCH more money than her (and are willing to show it by spending some serious cash), you look MUCH better than the men that approach her (it doesn't matter if she is fat; what matters is what the men who approach her look like), or you appear to have a MUCH better social life than her.

So, to repeat: If your “ratio” sucks, then it’s probably because your foundations are severely lacking. If your ratio doesn’t improve after you’ve fixed it, then you probably don’t market yourself properly to your audience. Thus, improve your looks as much as you possibly can, make sure you’ve got a stable income, and maintain a circle of friends. This is the bare minimum you have to do. If you fail, then you may nonetheless boast with having been with “over 60 women in ten years”, but leave out that you had to go out over a thousand nights, and approached probably 10,000 women. (I know of at least one guy like that, and a few others who I suspect might be similar but haven’t bothered to probe into their history.)

Now some may object that you want to have a “quality girlfriend” and don’t really care about the number of girls you sleep with. This is a different objective, and hardly one a “PUA” who boasts about the almost proverbial “100 women” can claim to follow. Yet, the process is the same, and the only difference is that you will turn down, or not react to, the many women who would want to get with you.

Review: Models by Mark Manson

2011-12-17T08:17:00.000-08:00

I am not quite sure why Mark Manson decided to call this book Models as it is neither about that category of woman nor about presenting role models. The subtitle A Comprehensive Guide to Attracting Women is much more fitting though, and Models succeeds in what it sets out to do. It is a good guidebook that offers interesting insights into the mind of one of the very few honest dating coaches on this planet.

In the introduction, Mark states his general goal as outlining a “new masculinity,” which he understands to be “the direction to a new way of being attractive, masculine, dominant and in control of your relationships with women and your life in general.” That he couldn’t just write “masculine,” while the reader automatically thinks of the other adjectives as well is probably less a sign of the verbosity of the author than of his perception that people don’t really know what masculinity means anymore.

Obviously, I am not going to agree with every single bit in a book that outlines its subject in a whopping 370 pages, and I am talking about densely formatted ones, not the “20 page special reports” of our beloved “gurus” that contain 30 words per page at most. There is a lot of content in this fine book. However, how much you get out of it depends a lot on your level of experience. Mark had the great idea of adding a step-by-step guide for taking practical action as well, but it’s unfortunately hidden in the table of contents under the headline “Conclusion: Moving On.” If you are a first-time reader of Models, I thus urge you to start with this chapter first and do the reading as you gain more experience with women or work on improving your life.

I was most pleased that Models is indeed a book about picking up women in real life. It does come with quite a bit of theorizing that may or may not be true (I’ll discuss one instance in a moment), but it’s always with a view on actual interactions. I wish other authors would similarly have their focus firmly on reality instead of dreaming up bullshit. Mark gets some more brownie points by almost completely ignoring online dating. He probably shares my view that the downside compared to other options are just too negative, in addition to the sad fact that too many women on those sites look like the “before” pictures on Weight Watchers.

Models is a bit verbose at some points, but it is up to you to view this as a lack of structure or of a representation of a more colloquial style. One big benefit I see is that thanks to a plethora of examples and sometimes interesting, but other times somewhat distracting side notes, it is not a dry book and for most parts quite fun to go through it.

My biggest gripe is actually to be found in the first section of the first chapter, as Models opens with Freud’s infamous quote that even after thirty years of counseling he still doesn’t know what women want. I love to pick this quote apart whenever someone utters it in my presence, and my arrogant standard response is that Freud obviously spent too much time listening to women and too little fucking them. Given Mark’s wide-ranging introduction, I was thus a little surprised to see him write that ”there’s still no clear-cut definition or model of what drives female attraction yet”, and that “male attraction is pretty straight-forward.” But just as most guys like skinny chicks with perky boobs and firm asses, so do women want tall, muscular, handsome men. They also love money, and if you’ve got plenty, it wouldn’t even matter if you looked like Quasimodo. This is one of a few instances that show Mark being a tad too “grounded” in traditional pickup mythology, despite offering plenty of realistic advice otherwise.

Frankly, I am quite sick of reading about the alleged simple-mindedness of us men, even more so if male authors hint at it. Feminists love to state how plain our emotional lives are, but, frankly, the average man is a much more complex creature than the average woman, just by looking at the things we are interested in. The curiosity of women usually doesn’t extend beyond mere gossip, while the gossip men are interested in is called science or politics, and that’s a big difference. Or consider areas like comedy and fiction. I literally don’t know a single female comedian that made me laugh, and the most acclaimed female writers can’t hold a candle to their male counterparts either. If women have such complex inner lives, and are gifted with a special sense of perception, they sure have a hard time expressing it. Really, the last thing we need is other men adopting the feminist view of the alleged superiority of the female species.

Mark claims that women are very adept at decoding the most minute status signals, but if this is the case, then why does height override literally any other criteria? What women want is really obvious. As I said before, they are attracted to good-looking guys, and it would be awesome if they had money, too. A hot guy is attractive to a wide range of women, the same a hot girl is appealing to many men. Mark’s counterexample is that he was once in a club and one bitch called him a creep. Yet, one hour later he found one that was into him, which makes him conclude that female attraction is whimsical. After all, those were allegedly similar girls, but they gave him opposite responses. But what about the possibility that either the girls weren’t that similar (if you honestly think that there are ever two people that “look exactly the same”, then please go shoot yourself), or the other just didn’t feel like hooking up. Men sometimes feel like that, too, you know.

After this relatively rough start, though, I began to thoroughly enjoy the book and can state without reservation that there is a lot of good information in it. In fact, it’s often too much to digest, and if you followed every little bit of advice he gives, it would probably take you years to implement. For this reason, I would have liked summaries after chapters or possibly margin notes.

Some passages could have been presented in a more concise manner, however. For instance, it shouldn’t take fifteen pages to explain the difference between women who react disinterested, neutral or interested. Then again, if you live in some wonderful pickup la-la land and run the “Who lies more?” routine on every woman that is unfortunate enough to be spotted by you, you might need an author that keeps hammering a point over and over. Chances are that if you aren’t getting anywhere with girls, you just can’t read the writings on the wall. If this is you, then Models is definitely a great book for you.

In some areas Models really shines. I was most impressed with Mark’s description of humor and the basic examples he gives. Obviously, his outline will not quite suffice to get you a gig on Saturday Night Live, but it will certainly help you out if you have difficulties spicing up your conversations. The material really is powerful. I wouldn’t be surprised if after digesting that section, you could already give Tucker Max a run for his money. Of course, we are talking about typical US-American in-your-face humor, but you will find that in general people are infinitely more susceptible to that kind than, say, dry British humor. This is probably true even in Great Britain.

There is also a great amount of “inner game” spread in the book as well. One insight that should help a lot of men who have a hard time coping with their lack of success with women is that, “rejection exists for a reason — it’s a means to keep people who are not good for each other apart.” This is a somewhat tautological explanation, but it’s better to just accept it than to look for explanations, which is one of the biggest issue of the mainstream pickup industry, namely that with the right technique you could get any girl. Consequently, for them there is always a reason if you didn’t get a particular girl, and it’s something that can be fixed if you just by some other inane product. Thus, I am glad that Mark does not only offer good pickup advice, but also, sometimes subtly, but at other times in a rather confrontational manner, attacks the mainstream seduction industry for their often implausible teachings.

Another strong point is the psychological perspective on the dating and mating process. You probably didn’t see this coming, in light of my opening remark on Freud, did you? There are many discussions of common thought processes, the most striking one being about a guy who talks himself out of approaching a girl he finds attractive but considers “trashy,” even though he knows nothing about her yet. To some extent, we are all guilty of prejudices. Yet, especially men who lack success with women tend to project a negative image on women. Of course, if you think they are all “sluts” for wanting to have sex, and your ideal partner is Virgin Mary, then you shouldn’t be surprised of your lack of experience. If you feel that you are your worst enemy in this regard, you may find some solutions.

While I agree with most of the content, some parts of the process of getting better with women are somewhat glamorized. I cringed when I read, “Show me a guy, any guy, who is good with women, and I’ll show you a guy who has been shut down and rejected by more women than you can possibly fathom.” Well, I can show you some guys who are extremely good with women, and always were, and they have in common that they are good-looking, tall, and work out. The idea that "game" is a skill that you gradually improve is highly questionable to begin with as your level of success depends on obvious factors. Yes, I know that Tom Cruise is short, but I also know that he is world-famous, good-looking and has a net worth of a few hundred million dollars. So, what was your argument again, Neil Strauss?

Overall, Models does a good job providing you with the necessary information about picking up girls. Yet, I do think that Mark overshoots his goal significantly and makes the process sound more complicated than it is. But don’t get me wrong here: he gives you an overload of relevant information, but some of it is just barely relevant. If you work with this book, it would be like using a TI-89 calculator for basic arithmetic. Yes, it gets the job done, but you could do the same faster with the in-built calculator of a ten year old cell phone. On the other hand, many other pickup books only confuse you with for the most part completely irrelevant advice. Extending the previous example, they hand you a brush and a palette of aquarelle colors instead of a calculator, so bad are they at doing their job. Gladly, Models does not belong to that category, and being over-equipped is certainly preferable to having a completely useless set of tools.

Models is available as a PDF from Mark Manson's website, and on Amazon.com as a paperback or an ebook for Kindle.

Reddit.com Q&A Afterthoughts

2011-12-13T05:34:00.000-08:00

Despite my expectations of having to battle hordes of guru fanboys and people who were otherwise deluded, like proponents of "indirect game," it turned out that after having thoroughly rebuffed two guys, the others remained in the woodwork.

The range of questions was indeed interesting, covering more than you'd expect. Starting from factors that generally improve your level of success with women and discussing particulars of effective approaches, people went on to pick my brain on topics such as sexual tension, Zen meditation, and how the contemporary social climate in Western societies makes men systematically emasculates men.

If you haven't checked out the Q&A thread with me on Reddit, then please go ahead and do so. You'll surely get a lot out of it!

Minimal Game now also available for Kindle

2011-12-07T15:07:00.001-08:00

I have received a lot of requests for an electronic release of Minimal Game. Even though I wrote that I would publish it in Amazon's Kindle in early 2012, people just kept emailing me about it. After over two dozen requests I realized that the interest was apparently greater than I thought, so I made the Kindle version a top priority. The conversion went a lot smoother than I had imagined, and Minimal Game is now already available for the Kindle.

You can buy it on Amazon.com, Amazon.co.uk, Amazon.de, and any other international Amazon website.

You can read Kindle ebooks not only on Kindle readers, but also on the following platforms with the free Amazon's Kindle reader software: iOS (iPhone, iPad, iPod Touch), PC, Mac, Blackberry, Android, Windows Phone 7.

Q&A on Reddit next Thursday

2011-12-02T00:47:00.001-08:00

I will do a Q&A session on Reddit (a so-called AMA) next Thursday. The exact time is: December 8th, at 6 pm Eastern time.

The announcement was posted some hours ago, and you can file questions as comments to the thread. There is already one great question on there about how to find out what really works, which should be very illuminating. Also, some community nerds are jumping on the thread already, so this Q&A session should indeed be great fun.

So, either participate yourself by posting your question in the comments within the next few days, or join me over there next week and watch me slaughter the RSD and MM fanboys one after another.

Review: Freedom Twenty-Five: A 21st Century Man’s Guide to Life by Frost

2011-12-01T04:19:00.000-08:00

Maybe you are familiar with Frost. He blogs on Freedom Twenty-Five about his attempt to find meaning in a world without. Having given up his well-paid government job, he nowadays resides in some Third World paradise. Freedom Twenty-Five: A 21st Century Man’s Guide to Life is his first book, and the title is more than fitting. It was released today and is available on Amazon as a paperback and in an electronic version for their Kindle ebook reader.

Frost challenges us to cut the bullshit from our lives, escape our mundane existence, and find ourselves. He himself hasn’t found all answers to the questions that were pressing him either, but he is able to share a tremendous amount of insight in this short book. The review is long and detailed, but if you trust my judgment without reading it, or you simply belong to the “tl; dr generation”, I’ll tell you straight away that I highly recommend this book. It may well be the best investment you have made all year long.

Using Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs as a framework, Freedom Twenty-Five is a tour de force taking on your whole existence. It is split into five chapters, which are inspired by Maslow’s categories. As a framework, Maslow may be helpful, but if I was to criticize this excellent book for just one thing, it is that there are a few broad generalizations in the beginning, such as “Success with women is also a necessary precondition for success in the next levels.” In this part, Frost tries too hard to male his philosophy of life fit a common model in psychology.

An obvious counter-example is what Freud called “sublimation”, i.e. using your sexual drive to succeed in any other field of endeavor. I am not sure this is a correct interpretation either. However, the fact remains that many outstanding men have seemingly completely neglected their sexuality, almost as if it was beneath them to engage in such activity, and devoted all their life to extending the frontiers of science. That John von Neumann or Richard Feynman had a reputation of being womanizers does not refute this argument either.

However, this shouldn’t detract from the immense benefit you will reap from this book. In fact, I have read it in two sittings, which was easy to do since the book is concise, and it’s also written in a very lively language. Some parts are exceedingly funny and made me laugh out loudly, while others are much more introspective. For a non-fiction book, the range of emotion Frost manages to hit is impressive.

I was more than pleased to note that Frost is an adherent of the same no-nonsense philosophy I follow. In fact, going through the biographical sketch he provides, I could already see that we would agree on not just a few points. I did learn a few things as well, though. The first was his recommendation of Paleolithic Nutrition, which addresses the problem of unbalanced energy levels which are, ironically, the result of a balanced diet according to general wisdom. My nutrition was certainly not bad, but by cutting carbs and substituting it with meat, I quickly began to feel more active and alive throughout the day.

That’s not all there is to the Paleo Diet. In fact, if you are the average American, then you may have to completely change your nutrition. This diet has many more benefits, such as taking less time to prepare and removing the need to have three to five meals a day.

The remainder of the book is full of such no-nonsense advice. For instance, he recommends a work-out plan that consists of two sessions at the gym a week, for half an hour each, and tells you how to really maximize what you get out of it. Of course, this won’t make you look like Schwarzenegger in his prime, but it will easily put you above Joe Average and the few of his buddies who spend hours on training muscles most medical students wouldn’t be able to identify.

Reading advice on how to minimize the effect of alcohol on your body struck me as somewhat contradictory, but that’s just from my perspective. Frost’s philosophy is to enjoy life, and if getting wasted every now and again is part of it, then so be it. If you are on a tight budget, you will surely appreciate his tips on how to get a bigger buzz for the buck.

The chapter on money should be illuminating for many, especially given how common it is to grossly overspend. Frost discusses typical spending habits, and by doing so he hopefully raises your awareness that your possessions lock you in. For instance, a mortgage on a house usually ties you to a certain geographical region. He gives an excellent overview on money management, and thus I can only hope that this book finds many readers among high-school students who should think twice before saddling themselves with an amount of debt that they may find impossible to ever repay. As Frost correctly analyzes, not even the safe jobs are safe anymore, and the decision to go to college shouldn’t be made reflexively.

Especially in the “Money” chapter the author’s pessimism for Western civilization, which he describes to be in its autumn period, is most visible. However, I do agree with him. Where he might sound a tad too euphoric, though, is in his recommendation of entrepreneurship. If real wages are stagnating or declining, and more and more people lose their job, then you will only compete for an ever shrinking pie. This is the only instance where he seems to buy into purported myths, even though he does a great job imploding them everywhere else in this book.

“You will sink or swim based on how smart you are, how hard you work, and how well you execute,” just doesn’t tell the whole story. Of course, the typical biography of a successful business man is most often a hagiography that makes no mention of factors such as luck or simply connections due to having dropped out of the right womb. Those books read as if their heroes could single-handedly defeat armies, climb the Mount Everest barefoot, and learn a foreign language by osmosis simply by sitting next to a Chinese or Arabian on the plane.

Obviously, it’s not that simple. If you believe business “gurus” who proclaim that guys like Bill Gates, Warren Buffet or Donald Trump would have become billionaires no matter under which circumstances, then please talk to me. You may be interested in some of the property on the moon I could sell you for a great price. Really. However, I respect Frost for stating that you shouldn’t blindly take his advice as he’s not yet a successful entrepreneur himself.

The chapter on “Sex” is a very good introduction to seduction. I was pleased to see that he shares my criticism towards the seduction industry and, just like me, follows a simple and straightforward method. Since Freedom Twenty-Five is a book on life it goes far beyond pick-up. Frost’s analysis of the fundamental problems of the hook-up culture deserve to be fleshed out in a different book. I certainly would like to read more of him as it is obvious that he has had quite a bit of experience, and has learnt about the implications of easy sex as well.

His ties to the “manosphere” become evident in this chapter as well, with a scathing and brilliant analysis of how feminism makes women bad marriage material:

The harsh reality, which 21st century women seem to be largely unaware of, is that men are generally uninterested in committing to aging women with triple-digit sexual partner counts. (…) Men with options simply don’t like sluts, unless we’re trying to sleep with one and so are trying to make her feel unjudged, in which case we’ll say whatever needs to be said.

Truer words were seldom spoken.

Note that this is not a contradiction because it is a big difference, after all, whether you just want to get your rocks off, or whether you are looking for the woman of your children. Jenny with the big fake tits and an an obsession with experimentation that would have made Isaac Newton envious may have been the ride of your life. But while it’s easy to forget the fact that you probable weren’t the second guy she’s ever slept with, you do hopefully have higher standards when it comes to the potential mother of your children.

Arguably the most important chapter is on “Wisdom.” In a powerful opening paragraph, Frost diagnoses the “millennial generation” to have sever attention deficits, and that the need to always be “connected,” and seek entertainment around the clock ruins our lives. You may not be such a bad case, but even then, you will find many great tips on making you aware of how you actually spend your time, and how to become productive.

The culmination of the book is the chapter on “Purpose”. It’s written in a motivational tone that would have made Obama’s speechwriters proud. They wouldn’t approve of the content though, as Frost diagnoses symptoms of a broken era and calls out to change the world for the better. He doesn’t provide many ideas, but he does give you plenty of motivation. Thus, there is hope that Freedom Twenty-Five: A 21st Century Man’s Guide to Life will make one or the other guy forego spending his evenings playing ego-shooters on his Xbox 360, and look for a higher purpose instead. Frankly, I hope this book will give more than a few slackers the kick in the butt they need to finally do something worthwhile with their life.  

Freedom Twenty-Five: A 21st Century Man’s Guide to Life is available on Amazon as a paperback and in an electronic version for their Kindle ebook reader. Also, check out Frost's blog at Freedom Twenty-Five.

Upcoming Reviews

2011-11-28T05:13:00.000-08:00

This is just a quick note to let you know about some of the books I am going to review soon. Some of those have been lying on my computer for more than a few weeks, but had to neglect them because I was busy with completing Minimal Game. Another one, I've received very recently.

The books are:
Game Revision System by 60 Years of Challenge
Models by Mark Manson
Freedom Twenty-Five by Frost

In addition to that, I am going to review the movie The Great Happiness Space, which is a documentary about what could best be described as male escorts, but, given that it describes a part of Japanese culture, it obviously comes with a twist.

Look forward to it!

Minimal Game now on Book Depository (free international shipping!)

2011-11-27T04:25:00.000-08:00

My book Minimal Game is now also available on Book Depository. This is noteworthy because unlike Amazon.com, Book Depository offers free international shipping and only adds a modest premium to the retail price on imported books. In this case, this means that you can get Minimal Game for the amazing price of just €8.70, which means that it's a great option for everyone living outside the US and UK.

Guest Article on GirlsChase.com

2011-11-26T04:22:00.001-08:00

Amidst all the excitement surrounding the release of Minimal Game, I found the time to contribute an article to Chase Amante's blog to read my article "How to Truly Get Intimate with a Girl." This piece is especially useful if you are hung up on the idea of "really getting to know a girl" before daring to turn the interaction sexual.

Here's an excerpt:

I advocate a method of seduction that operates on the premise of having sex with the girl as early as possible. What this means depends of course a lot on your inclinations and circumstances. In any case, though, it should not take you three dates and six weeks until you finally make a move.

This position flies in the face of mainstream dating advice, and also within the seduction community I have been vigorously attacked for it. While the former group thinks it’s a sign of moral decay to want to have sex with a girl quickly, although girls also want it badly, the latter seems to share this opinion as well. While there is the typical boasting and ill-intended advice to get over a girl by “GFTOW” — I’ll let you google that acronym for yourself, but you should also know that this concept is nothing but a fantasy for “PUAs” —, suddenly there is a regression to the morals of our grandparents once a guy realizes that he actually really, really just wants to have a girlfriend.

Minimal Game beats a Cosmopolitan Guide

2011-11-22T15:09:00.001-08:00

I skimmed some lists on Amazon.com recently, and was quite surprised that Minimal Game has captured the second position on the list of "Hot New Releases in Human Sexuality" aka. "Sex." My book is beating out a guide published by Cosmopolitan with the title "Satisfy a Woman Every Single Time."

I don't want to know how much money they have put into advertising it, while on the other hand Minimal Game sells only due to word of mouth. But without wanting to sound overly arrogant, I probably have more experience than all the "Editors of Cosmopolitan" put together, so I rightly deserve to beat them.

Thanks for the support guys!

RealMadeMen.com reviews Minimal Game

2011-11-21T03:13:00.001-08:00

Minimal Game is now out for a week, and all the feedback I've received has been extremely positive. Also, the first review of it is available. RealMadeMen.com writes:

What's the gist of the book? Getting women minus all of the bullcrap that you've been fed by your seduction gurus. Not that nothing else works on women, but a lot of what is preached by various other gurus, is completely unnecessary.
(...)
It's not for guys who are caught up in the PUA fantasy of waving magic wands and spending hours memorizing banter that is a waste of time. And that's what I like about it. It's to the point, and tells you the truth that gurus have been hiding in order to keep their students in the dark. In other words, it is the most honest book that I've read about picking-up women.

Read the complete review over at RealMadeMen.com, and then please order your copy of Minimal Game! :)