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DAY

MISSION 1: Learn to Open

Your first lesson today: There is no such thing as a pickup line.

If there were a single sentence that magically made women fall in love or lust, every man would be using it. Most of what people call pickup lines are actually comedic one-liners that were never legitimately used to meet women in the first place.

What does exist is a specific sequential process that can be used to develop a romantic or sexual relationship with a woman.

And this process begins with the opener, perhaps the most important part of the interaction.

Your task is to turn to your Day 7 Briefing and read the field guide to openers before beginning the next mission.

MISSION 2: Prepare Your Opener

Your mission is to develop an original opener based on today’s briefing.

The simplest way to generate an opener is to think about anything you’re curious about, want to learn, or are confused about. Choose a topic that is likely to capture the interest of most people. It can be a meaningful, debate-inspiring subject based on a relationship or spiritual crisis, or it can be a specific, trivial subject based on a popular culture, travel, health, or social customs query.

Then, instead of asking a friend about the subject or looking up the information on the internet, use it as a reason to talk to other people. For example, if you can’t remember who sings a certain popular song, make it your mission when you leave the house today to ask strangers until you get a correct answer. If your friend’s girlfriend tried to kiss you, and you don’t know whether to tell him or not, by all means, get some advice from the woman in the street.

Even unlikely questions can be effective openers as long as they’re genuine. For example, I was having a debate with a friend one day over the names of the oceans. So, rather than seek the immediate gratification of Google, we made it our opener for the night: “Hey, how good were you at high school geography? Okay, how many continents are there? Right, seven. And how many oceans? Okay, five. So here’s the question: What are the five oceans? My friend and I have been stuck on this all day. We can come up with only four.”

As ridiculous as it sounds, it started a conversation every time.

Although today’s briefing mentions different types of openers, for this task, focus on indirect openers that don’t convey sexual or romantic interest. Make sure your attitude about whatever you ask is positive and that you avoid discussing anything that might reflect badly on you, such as creepy topics like serial killers or insecure questions about yourself.

MISSION 3: Test Your Opener

Get groomed, get dressed, and get excited. Your mission today is to approach three different women—or groups that include women—and deliver either an opener you’ve invented or one you read in today’s material. You may approach in the street, at a café or bar, in the mall, in an office waiting room, or wherever you choose.

It isn’t necessary to continue the conversation afterward, but feel free to do so if it’s going well. When the discussion comes to a natural close, exit with a simple line: “Thanks. Nice meeting you,” for example.

It is not necessary to have three successful interactions; just three approaches. Tomorrow we’ll add a few extra pieces that will greatly increase the success and effectiveness of your openers.

MISSION 4: Evaluate Your Approaches

In the space below, make a list of the approaches you did today.

If any went well, write down the reasons you believe they worked. If any went poorly, make a note of why you believe they weren’t successful.

Approach #1:

Approach #2:

Approach #3:

Now review your list. Do any of your reasons blame someone else for a negative outcome (“She was walking too fast,” “She was stuck up,” “She wasn’t my type,” “The guy she was with was an asshole”)? If so, cross them out and replace them with an error you may have made. Then write down a suggestion for what you could have done differently to make the approach more successful.