[bd90]

I just want to challenge you a little bit. What is the purpose of approaching 200 women a day? Do you really care about the women and see them as human beings, or are they just your experiment to see if you can overcome your fear?

Yes, this was an experiment to see what would happen. I learned that it's perfectly normal to just say hi. Yes I do care. I don't think I was being rude.

You are afraid because you have an agenda. What do you want to get from them? What outcome or reaction do you want to get? What would happen if you don't get it?

I don't want to get anything from them. I think that's the whole point. To not be worried about the outcome. Just be.

Why bother with all these complicated nonsense and just switch to be truly authentic.

How do you do this?

Do you think that women can add or take anything from your being? If your sense of self was built on solid ground, then what is the need to get validation from women? This is your cure for approach anxiety. It is like trying to cure a tumor with painkillers (approaching to desensitize yourself) as opposed to removing it altogether. The true solution for this is not outside of yourself.

Good point. I sometimes think that being in a relationship validates me as a man. I think a lot of it is just years of social conditioning. The reality is I know that's not true, but those feelings are still there.

I know that approach anxiety will always be there. I'm not trying to eliminate. I'm just trying to work with it so that it doesn't paralyze me to not take any action at all. In some ways, its actually a rush to do something that exactly what you fear.

The point of my assignment was not to be manipulative to anyone and I sure hope I haven't been. The point is for me to build confidence. It's just like anything you learn in life. There is that awkward stage. I have found that as I take action, I get momentum, I feel better, my confidence builds.

Thanks for the challenge Diego. Good questions.