Читать книгу The Rules of the Game - Neil Strauss - Страница 15

DAY

MISSION 1 : Evaluate Yourself

Fitness programs require you to weigh in on the first day. Financial plans ask for a list of your assets and debts. So to revamp your social life, you’ll need to make a social assessment of yourself.

Your first mission is to write answers to the following questions. Don’t worry about what anyone else will think of your answers. Your goal is to be as honest with yourself as possible.

1.	Write one or two sentences describing how you believe other people currently perceive you.

2.	Write one or two sentences describing how you’d like to be perceived by others.

3.	List three of your behaviors or characteristics you would like to change.

4.	List three new behaviors or characteristics you would like to adopt.

MISSION 2: Read and Destroy

Before moving on to your first field assignment, it’s necessary to eliminate any self-sabotaging beliefs that you may have about interacting with women. Your next task is to read the manifesto titled “The Chains That Bind,” included at the end of today’s assignments in the Day 1 Briefing.

MISSION 3: Operation Small Talk

Your first field assignment: Make small talk with five strangers today.

It doesn’t matter whether they’re male or female, young or old, friendly or unfriendly. The stranger can be a businessman in the street, an old lady in the supermarket line, a hostess at a restaurant, or a homeless person.

The goal is simply to start a conversation, with no intent other than filling in the silence with a question or pleasantry. The conversation doesn’t have to progress beyond a comment and a response.

If idle chatter doesn’t come naturally to you, scan news headlines before you leave the house. Small-talk topics include:

Weather: “It’s beautiful out today. Too bad we’re stuck inside.”

Sports: “Did you catch the ________ game last night? I couldn’t believe it.”

Current events: “Did you hear that ________? What are they going to think of next?”

Entertainment: “Have you seen the new ________ movie yet? I wonder if it’s any good.”

Remember: The answer doesn’t matter. Whether you receive a long story or a cursory grunt in response, you’ve completed the mission simply by opening your mouth and speaking to a stranger.