
John feels stuck and frustrated. He often sees attractive women he wants to talk to at bars and coffee shops, but he always freezes up and says nothing. (Sound familiar?) He’s about to break free of his approach anxiety—and you can, too! In this live...
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Connal Baritz
Was the not trying that bothered me. It's like, what kind of a man am I? Are you ready to stop being the boy who doesn't approach and ready to start being the man who steps up?
John
Absolutely.
Connal Baritz
Yeah. Let's do it. Let's do it. Welcome back to the how to Get a Girlfriend podcast. I'm your host, dating coach, Connal Baritz. I'm here to help you flirt with confidence, approach beautiful women and get a great girlfriend, all by being authentic, doing this with integrity and respect for women and no creepy pickup artist moves. Today I have a actual coaching call that I did with my brand new client, John. You are going to relate to John. John is a nice guy, good man. He's a midwestern fellow, works in the IT software world and he's a great guy. His whole life is absolutely together. He's smart, he's funny, he's super articulate, as you're about to hear. But he's got one area that he's really struggling with, which is dating specifically. He sees beautiful women all the time he would love to talk to, but he never does. He just never talks to women. And the reason for this is not that John is a coward or that he doesn't man up and that if you want to go talk to gorgeous, interesting, intriguing women day or night, but you don't do it, it's not because you're a failure. It's not. It's that you have a couple of internal blocks. You've got conflict. Either you're afraid that rejection will feel like you're just not good enough, or you're afraid that if you get rejected, if it doesn't go well, you're going to be seen as some sort of social weirdo creep, you're doing something wrong. Or maybe there's a combination of both of those things. Those are the two main causes of approaching anxiety. What's called approaching anxiety. Fearing that you're gonna find out you're just not good enough, or fearing that she'll reject you and you'll just feel like a social weirdo who's doing something strange. Neither of those things are true, but boy, they really feel true and they feel that way to John. And these are strong forces. And so you're gonna listen to John have a couple of really big breakthroughs. I'm gonna tell him exactly how to get confidently, freely walking up to women. And he's already doing it. He's already in the process of taking action. So I think you're gonna en coaching episode. And yeah, I'VE helped so many guys in this area. It's pretty powerful, these forces that stop us from approaching women. I had a client who was a fireman, probably still is, actually. He's a fireman out in the, in the West. And he came to me because he. I'll call him. I'll call him Juan. Okay? Juan wanted badly to go talk to women, but he couldn't do it. So he could literally walk into a burning building and put his life on the line. He was once in a burning building and he fell through the kitchen floor into the fire in the basement. Thankfully, he was fine. He was not hurt, but he can willfully walk into a burning building and not think about it. But he couldn't turn to the attractive woman standing up at the bar next to him and say, hi. That's how powerful these internal forces are that create conflict, anxiety, fear. But these are very fixable. As you're about to hear from John, have his very first coaching session with me. And by the way, if you are looking or interested in figuring out, hey, what is dating coaching about? How does Connell do his thing is dating coaching. Right. For me. In other words, if you would like to stop being too afraid to go approach women, or if you need help with flirting or you just want help getting a great girlfriend, if you'd like to, you can go to my homepage, datingtransformation.com and book a free call with me. And you and I will hop on the phone and we'll talk about how you can get a great girlfriend, how you can finally feel confident and comfortable enough to meet women out in the real world and get an incredible woman. So go to datingtransformation.com if you want to talk about this. I do one on one personalized coaching, and I don't have that many available coaching slots because I do one on one coaching. So if you're interested, go to datingtransformation.com and book a free call with me. And if you're not all good, listen to John and myself right now and enjoy this coaching episode with John. All right, John, I'm so glad to be chatting with you today, man. Happy Friday. Let's do some dating coaching. What's on your mind? How can I help you, bro?
John
Yeah, so the problem I've always had, I think, first of all, thank you for meeting with me. Of course. You know, I've always had this same problem since, you know, pretty much since I was a teenager really has always been approaching, you know, when I was just a quick you know, backstory. You know, I was that little shy, nerdy kid, you know, loved my, you know, anime and Power Rangers and stuff and martial arts and, you know, I was always, when I was younger, I was very self conscious about my interests and hobbies and, and always felt like, you know, I wasn't the kind of guy who approaches women, you know, in, you know, I know you talk about a lot in your lower self. You know, I would think of a thousand different reasons why, you know, I wasn't good enough at that moment.
Connal Baritz
Right.
John
And, you know, as, you know, life progressed, as I got older, became much more confident in myself. I started, I took up mma and I absolutely love it as a sport. And it, My confidence just bloomed as I got older and, And I don't consider myself like that anymore. I really, you, you know, I'm the, for lack of a better term, but it is the one thing that never really went away is that, is that fear of approaching. It almost feels like it's like a muscle that I never really exercised. You know, as I got older, especially, you know, in my college years, there were a couple approaches. It kind of just felt like that's what we were supposed to do. For a lack of a better term, My, My dorm was kind of wild, you know, so we had, we had, you know, a lot of stupid games between the guys and the girls. So there are a couple approaches here and there in college, but for the most part, you know, I really gravitated towards online dating as I got older. Just because Tinder and Hinge and all that, it took away the hard part for me. You know, it took away the having to know if she's interested to put myself out there once we, you know, bing, won't you match? I know already that, okay, there's at least some general interest, right? And, and that made things easier and so, but really all it did was make it a crutch. And so, you know, now that I'm older, now I'm in my 30s, you know, the relationship I thought would be my, you know, my, the final one, my bride to be, unfortunately didn't go that well. So, you know, I'm back in the dating pool and I'm, you know, I don't really want to do the whole app thing anymore for various reasons and. But as I mentioned, feels like that approaching muscle is just not there. And I still almost feel like I'm 14 again, trying to go up to a girl.
Connal Baritz
Oh, my gosh. I know that feeling all too well. I. When was the Last time you approached.
John
A beautiful woman, it would have been last year. I mean, it's beginning of the year, so this would have been, you know, maybe once a last summer at a bar with my buddy. And I was embarrassing. So my buddy's egging me on to say something to her, and I just. I'm freezing, like, in all this. So I remember I actually went up to her and she. We're both waiting in line to get a drink. I said, hey, what's that drink you have? And it was her White Claw or something like that. I'm like, okay. And so I was in front of her. I'm like, white Claw for me and her. And so, oh, thanks. And you're welcome. And then I just sprint away. And that was the closest thing.
Connal Baritz
All right. I know that all too well, that feeling of, okay, let me get out of here while I still can, while I'm safe and all right. So the last time you approached a woman was last year. In the last 30 days, how many wow. Girls have you seen and would have loved to have talked to? How many did you see?
John
You know, Quite a few.
Connal Baritz
Ballpark number, let's say.
John
Let's say 40.
Connal Baritz
40. Okay, so you're over 40 in the last month.
John
Yeah.
Connal Baritz
All right. That'll actually get you in the starting lineup for the Chicago White Sox.
John
All right.
Connal Baritz
Over 40, that's actually really good for them. But we want to do better with you in your. This game of approaching. So let's break down why you don't do it. And most guys don't do it because they're afraid of one or both of two things. They're either afraid that if they get rejected, she doesn't like it. That will make them feel like, ah, see, women just don't like me. I'm not good enough. Or there's also social judgment that men are often worried about. Oh, man. If I get shot down and those people who are within earshot here at the coffee shop see me get shot down, I'll be that weird guy hitting on girls at Starbucks. And. And that can feel like social judgment bordering on humiliation. Which of those two resonate with you? Or. Or both?
John
Definitely the social judgment aspect of it. Yeah. The rejection. I've had a rejection before. That's not the big. As much of a big deal. It is just that polarizing idea of, like, I'mma say it and the barista is going to hear and, you know, think I'm the. The new weirdo and ban me from this, from Starbucks or something like that. Or. Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Connal Baritz
The New Weirdos. That was my rock band in college, by the way. We were awesome. Ska band. The New Weirdos.
John
Yeah, I heard some of your music. Yeah.
Connal Baritz
Do you. Did you. I forget, did you read the. The part of my book where I talk about me being in Starbucks, wanting to approach that.
John
Yes. Brunette.
Connal Baritz
Remember that story?
John
Yes, yes, I did.
Connal Baritz
So. So, yeah, quick, quick flashback and then I'll. We'll get back to you. So I'm in Starbucks on a Sunday afternoon, this is 16 years ago. And I see that gorgeous brunette sitting by herself. She looked like Katie Holmes, who was my crush at the time. And I wanted to talk to her so much. I walked over to her table. I. I tried to get myself psyched up, and I circled a couple times like a scared shark. And then I went back and sat down because I remember. I remember. I remember specifically thinking, oh, that those people are sitting next to her. What if they. What if they hear me get shot down?
John
Yeah.
Connal Baritz
What if I say something wrong? What if I get those weird looks? And so I tried a couple times, and then she got up and left and walked out, out into the world. I never saw her again. And I remember thinking, man, there's another girl I will never see and date. It's another loss for Connell. And I said, I'm done with that. That was the moment. I said, I am fucking done letting women like that get out of my life without even trying. It was a not trying that bothered me. It's like, what kind of a man am I? Are you ready to stop being the boy who doesn't approach and ready to start being the man who steps up?
John
Absolutely.
Connal Baritz
Yeah. Let's do it. Let's do it. So my fear. Here's what was happening inside of me, and here's what's happening inside of you. Your mind looks at a woman you want to talk to, and it's thinking of all the reasons not to and that. That can go wrong. It's. Think of it as, like, think of two spheres. We have a part of our mind that can be promotion oriented. Promoting the positive wins the rewards that await you from taking a certain action. And there's prevention. Prevention. Oh, I'm. This is preventing me. Because what if she gets creeped out? What if she doesn't like me? That's what your mind goes to. Prevention, right?
John
Yes.
Connal Baritz
What are some thoughts that might promote action? What are some potential upsides to you breaking the ice with that attractive woman at the coffee shop? Give me five.
John
Vistara's having a Great conversation, you know, getting to meet somebody new, even if it doesn't work out, you know. Yeah. Potential relationship. Yep. Sex.
Connal Baritz
Yep. Maybe sex at Starbucks. Who knows?
John
Yeah. Sex at Starbucks. Yeah.
Connal Baritz
Come on. Trying to think of a coffee sex joke. Talk about a extra spicy latte. Anyway. No, but yeah, moving toward. Moving toward intimacy. Why not? That's why you're going up to her. Not why, but that's part of what you're looking for as a man. Nothing wrong with that, right?
John
Excellent. Yeah.
Connal Baritz
Two more. Give me two more things that make you think if I walk over and talk to this woman, I can feel good about two more things.
John
Just knowing that I took that action, that the, you know, that lower self, that self conscious puppy boy.
Connal Baritz
Right?
John
Yes. Yes.
Connal Baritz
You named your lower self that small identity puppy boy, which is a smart thing to do because you want to think, I don't want to go through life being puppy boy just like I was Connie.
John
And then another one is, you know, aside from just feeling that, you know, that good action, just having a story to tell, you know, just having to be a bit like, not even necessarily bragging, just being like, you know, oh, yeah, I met this, you know, great girl today.
Connal Baritz
Yeah, fantastic. Here's a question for you. Oh, great. That's all great promotion mindset pieces. We want to link a lot of reward, positivity, good mojo to taking the action. So we can start to rewire your mind to say, hey, wait a minute, why don't I say things that make me feel good about approaching instead of say all these things that make me afraid to do it? That's what we're beginning to do right here. So those are great five great reasons to walk up and talk to that woman. Here's three or four more that resonated with me. Every time I walk up, walk up to a woman and take some kind of chance, I feel like I'm building my character. I'm doing something that most men don't do. Most men, by the way, most men can't, or most men don't approach a woman because of fear, because of what they perceive as social, social judgment. They need liquid courage to maybe do it at the bar or they need some weird pickup line. What if this was your mindset about talking to an attractive woman at Starbucks? Every time I walk up to an attractive woman, I am living my. I'm living my character as a man, as a 1% man. 1% of men at most, can walk up to a woman, be authentic, be genuine, and take some kind of swing at Romance. Is that something that you could feel good about no matter what her response was?
John
Oh, absolutely, yes.
Connal Baritz
Yeah. We start linking, approaching to your very identity, a man of action, a man who takes risks, a man who says, fuck these apps. I want to meet people in the real world like we've been doing for a hundred thousand years. And that starts to make you feel like, ooh, walking over to her. That starts to feel better because you're now focused on what it brings you and rewards you instead of overly focusing on the thing you're trying to avoid. Make sense so far?
John
Yes.
Connal Baritz
Yeah. This is just the mindset piece. And then in a second, we'll talk about the how to, the what to say, because that's important too. But first we just kind of want to get our head on straight and say, all right, let's link so much pleasure to approaching, possibly intimacy, a phone number, growing as a man, linking yourself to that 1% identity of your higher self. How about this? Is it possible you might make her day, make her smile?
John
Yeah. Yeah.
Connal Baritz
You might compliment her and make her feel attractive and special and sexy?
John
Yes.
Connal Baritz
Yeah. So if you're gonna. If you're gonna let. When you. When you hear those horror stories play in your head of, oh, here are all the bad things that can go wrong, you have the ability to take those records off, kind of scratch the record, put on a new record showing how old I am. I talk about records, people are like, what the hell's a record? What the hell's a record, old man. But you can take off the bad, scary sounding record and put on a better sounding record, a song that you like, say, wait a minute. Every time I approach a woman, I'm growing as a man. I'm moving toward love. I'm trying to make her day better. I'm just being a social person. People socialize. And I'm seeking to make her smile. So I think it's all about contribution, giving to her and growing as a man. Does that feel better than, oh, no, am I a weirdo?
John
Yes, it does.
Connal Baritz
Yeah, of course. Now let's look at the other side that's been holding you back. These thoughts that have been holding you back. How many times have you approached a woman and somebody called you a weirdo?
John
None.
Connal Baritz
How many times have you talked to a woman in public and then they come on a loudspeaker. Attention whole food shoppers. There's a man approaching women in the frozen food section. Please call security. How many times have you been ejected from a public place for doing this?
John
Zero.
Connal Baritz
How many times have you done this and you actually caught somebody looking at you and, like, judging you and feeling like, oh, man, you're doing something wrong?
John
Not at all. People are usually in their own world.
Connal Baritz
Yeah. So the thoughts that are holding you back are completely hypothetical. Between the ears, Right? Yeah. Would your theory about what might happen when you approach a woman, would it pass the scientific method?
John
No.
Connal Baritz
Yeah. Let's go do a science experiment, a social science experiment. Let's go talk to some cute girls. And let's also do it in a way that minimizes the likelihood that you'll get weird looks or people won't like it. I have a quick story for you.
John
Okay.
Connal Baritz
About social judgment. I'm in Union Square here in New York City, where I live. This is. Man, this is 13, 14 years ago. This is when I was on my approaching journey working with coaches before I became one. I'm in Union Square in New York City. I see this really curvy, sexy blonde walking my way in the park on a weekend afternoon. And I'm like, okay, I'm going to do it. And I walk up next to her. She got short shorts on. She looks adorable. She looks really cute. I talk for 10, 15 seconds. She wants nothing to do with me. She has. I mean, she's not mean. She's just like, no, thanks, I'm not really interested. Basically what she said. And she kept walking. And I'm. I said, nope, no problem. Have a nice day. I admit it stung for a few seconds. I'm not going to say it didn't. Seconds later, a young, well dressed young man comes up to me. Mid 20s, glasses, look kind of like Urkel from that TV show.
John
Yeah.
Connal Baritz
His name is Phil. Hey, Phil, you're out there, Phil. I turn, find out his name is. He comes up to me and says, oh, my God, dude, that was amazing what you just did. You just walked right up to her. That was so cool. And I said, oh, thanks. I mean, I mean, but you saw what happened. I got blown out. I got rejected. He's like, yeah, but. Oh, man, that was so ballsy. That was so cool. I saw her coming a mile away. I couldn't talk to her. He was impressed. So is it possible, even if the worst happens, you approach a woman and she says, thanks, but no thanks. I don't want to talk to you. Is it possible that not only people might not even know, care or notice? Is it possible it might be impressive to somebody also?
John
Yes.
Connal Baritz
Yeah. So we just want to chop away. We want to chip away at those thoughts that stop us from doing it and say, you know what? I'm a man. I walk up to women and take a chance at romance or at least at socializing. And you know what? No one's probably going to care either way. And if they do, heck, if anything, they might be impressed that I'm doing it. And that happened to me other times, too. That story with Phil was just memorable because he became a friend of mine. We would go out and talk to women together. But, yeah, you might get shot down. Most people aren't even going to notice. And if they do, they might actually be impressed, even if you get shot down. That's what I've learned.
John
Okay.
Connal Baritz
Anyway. Okay, before I go on, I don't want to talk at you. I want to answer your questions before we get to the how to aspect of this. Is this all making sense? Any questions for me about the approaching mindset that we want to start adopting?
John
Not yet. Not or not so much? You know, I definitely. I really like the idea of, you know, kind of that's that good self talk, you know, to like, focusing much more on the good things as opposed to the bad things. Because obviously that's how our anxieties work, you know? So, yeah, I definitely like that idea of, like, no, I'm not going to focus on these. All these hypotheticals that have.
Connal Baritz
Have.
John
Have never happened and probably won't, you know, and to really focus on this good. This good outcome. Because even if I. I shouldn't say fail, but even if I get rejected, it's still. I feel good about having done that. Yeah.
Connal Baritz
Yeah, absolutely. And to go even further down that rabbit hole, fine, even if you get rejected, is that the end of the world? But is it. Is it even rejection?
John
No, she doesn't know who I am, so.
Connal Baritz
Right. Is it even rejection? Right. How can she reject you? You know, if my girlfriend Jess came to me and said, connell, I'm not in love with you anymore. You're hung like a baby carrot. You make weird noises when you eat. I'm done with you. That's rejection. I might be down at the bar for the first time in two years. That's something to feel rejected about a random woman you say hi to in a bar or a coffee shop. It's not rejection. She doesn't know you. She might be rejecting a conversation with you at that moment, but that's more indicative of her emotional state and her mindset at that moment. I was out with a client once, and we were at this bar. This. I'm trying to remember. This is like. I remember. This is right before the pandemic, because I remember everything from that. Those weeks leading up to it. But my client James and I are at a bar, and I approach a woman with him, and she gives me a pretty fast rejection. Stiff arms me. Not literally, but she's like, no, thanks. Walks away. Like, okay, at least I tried. No big deal. About an hour later, James and I are. James is talking to a girl, and it's going really well on the dance floor. I'm next to James doing kind of like my wingman thing. This is me out with my client here in New York City, and the girl who had rejected me, cute brunette, one hour earlier. She comes up and, like, dances up to me and, like, offers me a drink of her drink, and I take a sip, and all of a sudden, she starts dirty dancing with me. And we're making out like, two minutes later. The same girl who I approached an hour earlier, did she reject me? No, she was saying that right now. Give me an hour, and I'll be in a better mood. I'll come make out with you. That's my mindset around approaching. It's not even rejection. It's just a reflection of how she feels in that moment. Makes sense so far.
John
Yes, it does.
Connal Baritz
Okay, so that's the mindset. The mindset is every approach is a win because I either grow as a man or I either get a result. I might get a phone number. I might get a date. That'll change your life. That's incredible. Or even if you don't get that, you get to put another brick in the wall of that character as a man. Another brick in that cathedral of your character. So that's the mindset. And, man, that alone can change everything for how you feel about it. And then in terms of the how to. Let me ask you. What. What, what. What questions do you have about how to break the ice with women? How can I. How can I serve you? How can I help you?
John
You know, so I. In leading up to our conversation, I. I listened to your Valentine's Day episodes, which I absolutely loved. Great. And I loved a lot of, you know, information about your. The actual method of. To the madness, really, of going up of observation, comment, question, and then, you know, pivoting to your name and then another topic. I love that. I guess the one thing that's really in my mind right now, especially with, you know, I want to go out and start doing this stuff tonight is the thing for me is I think it feels Easier to talk to another person who's out by themselves. But the big thing is always for me is when I see like maybe there's a group of women, say there's four or five and there's only one that I am interested in. And obviously, you know, I don't want to just isolate her, just herself. But at the same time, I don't want to maybe have to talk to all of them forever just to get to one girl's number. So.
Connal Baritz
Right.
John
Do you have any like, you know, tips or plans or tricks or how to, you know, approach a situation when there may be is only one girl you find attractive in a group of like four or five.
Connal Baritz
Okay, good.
John
Qu.
Connal Baritz
I would say four or five for a group of that size. Let's say five max. You open them as a group.
John
Okay.
Connal Baritz
They're a four headed girl. I think I dated a four headed girl once from the circus. You treat her like a four headed girl. And to open the group, because that gets all of their attention, gets them all reacting to your assertion of positive, masculine, authentic, good mojo, gets them responding to you, which is attractive and gets a nice dynamic where you're giving, they're receiving, you open up, open up as a group. And that gets all their attention. And you essentially are giving them awesome, good social attention, which makes them feel good. As opposed to walking up to the girl who you think is hot and you're like, hey, what's up? You're hot. And the, the female, her friends are all watching what's going on and that's. They're going to pull her away pretty quickly from that kind of approach mostly. So you want to open them as a group for the first 30 seconds. Hey ladies. You guys are looking super stylish tonight. Damn, is there a fashion show going on here or whatever you would say you might feel a little bit on stage. You got to bring a little bit more energy because it is a group. So you got to talk loudly enough or you're magnetizing them with some of that oomph. But you certainly have that charisma to do that. And then you talk to the group for maybe 60 seconds or so. So don't worry, not for an hour, a minute or two. And then once they feel like, oh yeah, cool guy, confident. And then you gravitate toward that woman who you're more attracted to and see what the vibe is like with her. So basically you talk to the foreheaded girl before you talk to the girl who you are at least attracted to and see what your vibe Is okay, okay.
John
I like that, like that idea a lot. And you'd still like same mentality, same idea if it was, let's say a smaller group. Like it's just two of them or just three of them?
Connal Baritz
Well, yeah, I guess I would define group as three, three or four or more. If it's, if it's two or three, that's a little bit easier still. Still more complex than one. But if you, let's say it's two. Two girls. Have you ever had the situation where you see the girl you are very attracted to and her friend who you're not quite as into?
John
Absolutely.
Connal Baritz
Let's talk about that.
John
I had a situation where I wanted to talk to this girl and we even made eye contact a couple times. And actually it was the same night from earlier where I just bought the girl a drink and walked away. But we made eye contact a couple times and she was dancing with her friends and they had made like a blockade in front of her and it just, it just felt like, ah, I don't want to just, I don't know how to like really approach the situation. I only want to talk to you. And yeah, they're all dancing together so.
Connal Baritz
Well, you do want to talk to both of them. Well, I'll leave dance floor stuff aside because that's a high energy situation. Different situation. But let's say it's just two women standing at the bar, the hottie and the naughty. Okay, fair enough. We'll call it you're 10 and you're five.
John
Right.
Connal Baritz
For the record, I'm not a big numbers person, but just for simplicity, we know what that means. And so you got the 10 and the 5. What do I do? The right strategy is you approach them both like they're sevens, which is walk up social with both of them and you give them both that social good mojo and for the first minute or two, just basically be social and talk to them as two people, which they are of course. But then what you want to do is make a little shift. Basically you want to hit the social hook point first. In other words, what you don't do is walk up to the 10 and say, hey, you're gorgeous, and ignore the 5. That's basically asking the 5 to cock block you and pull the friend away. Here's a quick sidebar. By the way, we have this term cockblock. Why don't women have that term for them not getting to have sex? I think that we need a term like vagenae. What else? Something taco blocko. Just My female photographer friend who does my photos, she and I talked about this. So I do have women's approval. Anyway, we'll come back to that. So vajay nay.
John
Click clip.
Connal Baritz
Wait, what was it? Click clip. Oh my God. Jenny. Jenny totally click clipped me last night. This guy was so into me and she totally click clipped me. Anyway, so you don't want to get cock blocked or click clipped when you're talking to the 10 and the 5. So here's the right move. Walk up to both. Be social, be fun, playful. That's attractive to everyone. One to ten. Okay.
John
Okay.
Connal Baritz
That's two minutes that you want to hit what's called the social hook point. The social hook point. Don't worry about attraction for the first two minutes. Don't worry about even man to woman moves. Think I just want to be good social company, be present, fun, positive. That's enough to get in really good with lots of women. It's called hitting the social hook point. That just means socially they want you there more than they did when you started or they're now having more fun than they were before they met you. That is gold. Because women just want to follow the fun. Good emotions. Make sense.
John
Yes?
Connal Baritz
Yeah. So we go for two minutes, just fun, loose, light. Get that social hook point. And then. But you're a man with a plan. You're thinking, all right, but there's this 10 here and her five friend. Now what do I do? You? Well, it helps if you have a five male friend with you to be your wingman. But if you don't have that, if it's just you, here's a great way to think about it. Talk to the 5 like a friend. Talk to the 10 with a little bit of what I call that man to woman mojo. Bit challenging, maybe a little teasing. Ask the friend. More logical kind of friend zone. The friend. Basically, you keep talking to both. Don't get me wrong, you keep giving them both that social value. But for the five, you might be like, oh, cool, tell me more about where you work. Oh, that's great. How long have you been there? Bit more logical, interested, but not necessarily flirting with her. And then the 10, you're maybe might tease her a little bit or you might say a little. You know what I call what's called a push pull. You might say to the 10, you're like, she says something. You're like, you're either the weirdest girl I've met tonight or the. Or the coolest. I'm just not sure which. What do you Think five. I mean, don't call her five, but that'd be hilarious. What do you think? Five. Don't do that. But basically, you want to walk and chew gum here at the same time. Talk to the five in a more friendly way, the 10 in a more teasing way, a little bit more that what I call man to woman, which is good. Emotions, playfulness, and then you can do this. I got this move from one of my old coaches. I really liked this. He taught me this. He said, tell the five. Say to the five, let's say the five is Stephanie and the ten is Amanda. Right? Big Stephanie. I have a question here. Your friend Amanda here, I'm kind of digging her, but I'm not sure if I should ask her out. What do you think? Should I ask her out or should I. Should I get out of here? Is she gonna stalk me? What do you think? So you can flirt with the 10 through the 5. You turn the 5 into your wing woman if she likes you socially, and she'll appreciate that you're not ignoring her. You're not just talking to the hot friend. You're interested in the hot friend, which she gets. But you're involving her, and she could become your champion, and she could be like, oh, yeah, you should definitely ask her out. She's awesome. And you're also showing Amanda the 10 how confident you are to be saying this right in front of her. And the social dynamics here, of all the great signals you're sending, this can create so much attraction in the woman you're into. Make sense?
John
Yes.
Connal Baritz
Yeah. I did this in Vegas one night. I was in Vegas years ago, and it was, like, a big group of girls, and I really liked this woman named Sarah, and I was attracted to her. Sarah was flirting with me. I could tell at one point. Here's a good signal. At one point, Sarah said, hey, I'm gonna put some lip gloss on. Tell me if I'm putting it on right? And she, like, puckers up, like, right in front of me. Like, even I could get that signal. And so I'm really hitting it off with Sarah and her friend Amy. I'll call her Amy. I forget her name. Her friend was not romantically interested in me or vice versa. She was just a great person. She was like, oh, my God. Sarah likes you. You're great for her. You're way better than this lame guy she's been seeing back home. You should really. I'm gonna help you. She was like, I'm gonna be your wing woman tonight, so you befriend the friend. She can actually even help you with her girlfriend if she likes you. So that's why we give those good social cues to the whole group, because you never know who in that group might. Might help you hit it off with the woman you're into.
John
Awesome. I love that. Thank you.
Connal Baritz
All right, bottom line is. Sorry. Let me put one last bow on this. You didn't ask this, but a lot of men do. They're like, well, I don't want to be too overt. I don't want to take that chance. Actually, the first rule of what I call man to woman communication is putting a card on the table. Clarity. Let that woman know if you're into her. Let her know you're into her. It's scary, but it's powerful. So that's why not only do I want you to not hide which one you like, you can say to the Stephanie the five. Your friend here is really cool. I'm really kind of digging her with the friend standing right there. Women are so turned on by a guy who has that kind of honesty and, like, raw truth he's willing to stand in. Which is why I'm such a big fan of, like, the whole authenticity thing. It really does work for that reason. So clarity first, Fancy moves second.
John
Got it.
Connal Baritz
Next question.
John
One thing that I would say is, like, if I. If I had, like, I don't know, like, approaching bucket list. I know we hate the A word, but just, you know, going out to girls, talking to girls, bucket lists. I would. Would like to at least try a couple direct approaches. I know I already, you know, talked about how approaches always have been something that I've struggled with. I've had a couple of my college years girls I approached directly, but liquid courage was definitely a big factor of it. So without alcohol, I would love to do some direct approaches here and there. I guess my question would be, is, when would you say is a. When would you recommend doing a direct opener? I'm assuming you probably don't want to. Don't necessarily recommend them in, like, a Whole Foods, but when would you say is like, a good indicator that this is maybe a good situation to go more direct?
Connal Baritz
You can do a direct open anywhere, but you want to calibrate it for the environment.
John
Okay.
Connal Baritz
And by the way, a definition of a direct opener is you're putting that clear, romantic intent out there from the very first words. That's what a direct opener is. She knows exactly what this is about because your words are telling her so. Something like, I just Saw you. You're beautiful. Had to meet you some. That's basically a direct opener for anyone who doesn't know what that is. And you can be direct anytime, anywhere. You, you do want to calibrate it to the context of the situation. So if you're at a bar on Saturday night, on the dance floor or the bar, it's a wild, fun night, people are drinking, it's party night. You have social permission, I mean, you have permission to do anything you want within reason. But the vibe of the night is much looser than it was six hours earlier. And you could walk up to a woman there and say, hey, I just saw you, you are super sexy, you're gorgeous. I wanted to meet you. Hi, what's up? I'm John. It can be like a smoldering direct approach or, or high energy. If you're on the dance floor. I wouldn't do that at Starbucks at 2:00 on a Saturday, on a lazy Sunday PM at a Starbucks, I might. If I'm going to be directed at Starbucks, I might say, hey, excuse me, I, I never do this, but I just had to say you're adorable. And I just wanted to say, hi, what's up? I'm John. So it's more innocent, more G rated, kind of almost like a Hugh Grant movie approach.
John
Okay.
Connal Baritz
It's like, oh, gosh, I can't believe I'm doing this, but gosh, you're cute. That's like, that's the stuff of rom com movies for so many women. So I wouldn't say. Yeah, I wouldn't. It's not so much. Don't do it here and there. It's more like how like the, the level of sexual suggestiveness versus like innocence. Think innocent. G rated. Aw shucks. In the daytime bar at night you can, if you're feeling those vibes, you can be way more bold and more like intentful. Do you know the movie Vicky Cristina Barcelona by any chance?
John
I've heard the name but never seen it.
Connal Baritz
It's a. I'll play it. Actually, I'll play this clip after I set it up. And there's this, there's an amazing scene in there in that movie where Javier Bardem walks up to Scarlett Johansson and Rebecca hall, the actresses. And he walked, just walks up with this awesome Spanish man, Latin lover intent. And he doesn't use words but American. I'm Christina and this is my friend Vicky. What color are your eyes? Uh, they're blue. I'd like to invite you both to come with Me? To Oviedo. To come where? To Oviedo. For the weekend. We leave in one hour. What? Where is Oviedo?
John
A very short flight.
Connal Baritz
By plane? Mm. What's in Oviedo? I go to see a sculpture that is very inspiring to me. Very beautiful sculpture. You'll love it. Oh, right. You're asking us to fly to Obiedo and back. No, we'll spend the weekend. I mean, I'll show you around the city and we'll eat well, we'll drink good wine, we'll make love. Yeah. Who exactly is going to make love? Hopefully the three of us. Correct. And he just totally owns it. And you could certainly approach a woman that way, where you just walk up and say, hey, what's up? Wanted to meet you. I'm John. If that's how you're feeling, congruently in that moment. So. So yeah, Think, think. At night you can be more sexual or at least more sexually suggestive if you want. If you're feeling that way in the daytime, you want to avoid that kind of thing. Generally that'll be too much too soon for a lot of women. Make sense?
John
Yes.
Connal Baritz
Here's my favorite word. If you want to approach in the daytime, intentfully, directly, here's the magic word. Adorable. Excuse me, miss. I just saw you. You're adorable. I had to say, hi, sexy, you look hot. That's gonna get a lot of defenses up from women. Understandably so, because women get catcalled all the time or they get poorly approached. Something powerful about the word adorable. I dated an incredible woman named Alex many years ago. And I approached her. She was walking out of a Forever 21 with her friend, and I saw her with her friend and I was feeling really bold that day. And I just walked up and I said, hey, I just saw you, you're adorable. Wanted to meet you. Hey, what's up? I'm Connell. Face lit up. Her friend was like into it. Like, as a observer, she wasn't like, upset. It was like, ooh, what's happening here? And Alex later told me, you know what I loved about how you approached me? You were so. It was so innocent. It was really sweet and innocent. I just loved it. You just said I was adorable. Now, Alex said this to me as we're lying in bed and we had just had sex on every piece of furniture in my apartment. But she still is thinking about how sweet and innocent the approach was so you could have a beautiful, sweet, little G rated approach in the daytime. Women love it. And things can get X rated. And R rated later. I just remember how funny it was that she, when she said that. So did I answer your question?
John
Yes. Yes.
Connal Baritz
Okay.
John
That's you. So. So, like, my personal life, like, I am the king of overthinking things. That is like, you know, as my biggest, I wouldn't say red flag. My biggest critique for myself is I'm a big overthinker when I'm about to compete. I have an entire pre fight ritual that I do. Okay. It's just kind of gets me in that zone.
Connal Baritz
Mma, right?
John
Yes.
Connal Baritz
Nice.
John
So, you know, I have my specific, you know, motivational podcast. I listen to, you know, Mean Faces in the Mirror, stuff like that. Sounds corny to say out loud, but it gets me in that I gotta go hurt somebody's own because they're obviously not hurting people. But. And again, I may be overthinking this. Do you have like a, to kind of get you out of that in your head mentality and get into becoming like a man of action? Do you have like some sort of almost pre approach ritual kind of thing when you know that you're going to be going out, like, hey, we're going out tonight to talk to some girls. Do you have like your own little pre approach, like, or just pre going out, like, things you do say, kind of hype yourself up with to kind of get you in that kind of mentality?
Connal Baritz
I do. I'll. I'll take you through that process in a second. Before I do, I'm curious, what is your definition of in my head, what does that mean to you?
John
So in my head for me is I'm focusing so much on not messing something up and also fighting with the part of me that just wants us. Let's just go home. Let's just go home. Let's not do this. No, no, no. Let's not do this. That. I know that they say anxiety was made to get to keep us safe. So I'm fighting with that anxious part of me that is thinking of every excuse not to do whatever I have to do or wants to compromise by making sure everything is, you know, movie level perfect. And, and while I'm trying to come up with, you know, this, you know, impossibly perfect scenario, in my head, she just walked away. Okay.
Connal Baritz
You know, great. By the way, thank you for the honesty and you're so articulate how you describe your thoughts. You make my job as a coach so much easier because you're so self aware and articulate. So thank you. There's a reason why this is On a podcast. Because you're so freaking articulate. Articulate. And. Okay, so I won't lose thought. I'm going to answer your question about my process, but I want to see if I can serve you and help you with the in your head thing. So give me a. Give me an approaching little play by play for the. The in your head moment. The thoughts, the. The. The perfection or the things you're trying to not screw up. Take me. Take me through a little lump so.
John
I can give you a example. Recently, I. My gym is connected to a rec center. That rec center has a very big, very popular indoor beach volleyball group or just culture. They do indoor beach volleyball all year round. Hundreds of people. Very attractive girl. Oh, I've seen a couple times. Is there? I just got done with my workout. I see she's wrapping up her workout. And, you know, she. In between, she's, you know, talking to friends here and there, grabbing something to drink, getting her stuff. And. And I'm just trying to think in my. Okay, I want to say something to her. What should I say? Okay, no, no, can't say right now. She's talking to a friend. Oh, I can't say, right. Oh, she might go back to playing volleyball. Let me. Let me hold up a little bit. Oh, no, she's leaving. Okay, now she's going to the bathroom. Like, and really, I feel like I'm stalking her at this point. So it's just. It's just me trying to think of, like, find that, quote, perfect moment in my head. And every situation almost has to go through a filter of, like, is this perfect? And. And that's just my brain's way of trying to find something that's. Oh, no, it's. It's too sunny right now. Something like that to an excuse, I guess I should say. And so. So, yeah, she just walked. All right, see you guys. And just walked away. And I guess I'll say something to her. I see her again.
Connal Baritz
Got it. Okay. I know what's going on. That's so common. I did it the same way once upon a time back when I was learning all this stuff and just beginning the process of approaching women. Oh, my gosh. This scary new thing. I could approach any woman in the world as long as she looked at me and she smiled and nobody else was talking to her, and she was wearing a sign that said horny for gingers. If all of those boxes were checked, I could go right up to her. That's perfectionism. So it's almost like if you had to say you had a. If you're the head coach of a basketball team of your dating life, it's like your starting center, John, is perfectionism, and that is a bad player to have on your team because everything's got to be perfect for you to take an action. Instead of perfectionism, we want to put perfectionism on the bench, actually. We want to cut perfectionism from the team and have a different starting lineup. We want courage. The courage to say, I'm not sure this is the perfect moment. I'm not sure how this is going to go, but I'm deciding to go say five words to her and let the chips fall. Or another player on the team is uncertainty, possibility. Doing something that may or may not go perfectly, but who knows? That can be kind of exciting to see what might happen. Uncertainty can be exciting. The uncertainty of what a bottle of champagne might taste like. The uncertainty of a new movie. Is it going to suck? Is it going to be awesome? That can be exciting. So we want to basically put perfectionism on the bench and adopt what I call these super values, the values we want to have in place in our dating life that promote action, that promote taking risks, that promote authentic expression. Promote, promote. Promote. Action. Action, action. So I'd say, yeah, we just want to put perfectionism on the bench and say, all right, let's do. Well, you tell me which of those sound good to you. Uncertainty, risk taking courage. Which of those do you feel like? Oh, yeah, that's. That's the guy I need to give the ball to. There you go. Cool. Give me, if you would, three new commitments you're willing to make that basically. Actions, behaviors. That if you were to do these behaviors, you would be embodying courage. In dating, for example, the way I write these out with my clients, literally, I have them write them out on pen and paper so they can kind of upload, so to speak, a new mindset, new operating system. Anytime I see a beautiful woman and I want to talk to her, and I don't know what to do, but I do it anyway, and I say, hello, I will be embodying courage, or I will be living from a place of courage. Anytime I see a woman talking to somebody else and I come over and I break the ice in the most polite way possible as opposed to tiptoeing around her, I will be embodying courage. And we just want to come up with little ways we can use courage using that sort of structure. Anytime I insert courageous action here, I will be embodying courage. What are one or two that you could think of for you.
John
I would say, you know, anytime I just strike up a conversation with a woman I feel attracted to and just not give a fuck. I can say fuck, right? Yes. Okay.
Connal Baritz
This required, actually. All right.
John
Just not give a fuck about my own anxieties or what I think other people might be thinking about the situation. I'm embodying courage.
Connal Baritz
Nice. Beautiful. Need one or two more, if you would.
John
Anytime I ask for a number after, you know, going through the natural approaching method and conversation, I'm embodying courage.
Connal Baritz
Hell yeah. I love it because once you break through approach anxiety, which you're going to do very soon, very quickly, once you start taking action, then the next wall is going to be, oh my God, I'm talking to her. It's going well. Now I got to ask her out.
John
So Great.
Connal Baritz
That's awesome. I love that. Yeah. Anytime I go for that number, can you give me one more? That's. That would be you embodying courage. Something that's in your control.
John
Anytime I. I would say go direct, specifically, you know, maybe direct at a more nighttime or bar or something like that because I like a nice pub. Anytime I go direct, direct opener. I'm embodying courage.
Connal Baritz
Boom. Absolutely. Now what you're doing is you're linking a lot of positive empowering emotions to process based actions that move you toward dating results and that get you approaching women. And you're putting a new player on the team because perfectionism, perfectionism is your starting center and he never shoots the ball. Perfectionism's rules are anytime, 17 different factors are all aligned. Then I'll go talk to her. But of course, how often does that happen? Never. Right. So we need to get rid of perfectionism and yeah, courage, uncertainty. There are other ways to get yourself to take action, like feel good. For me, a big thing was fun and playfulness. I was afraid to approach a woman because she might reject me. But once I started reframing it as, what can I say to her that I would find fun and playful? How can I crack a joke that would make me smile and laugh that she may or may not like? But man, I'm gonna like it. That was. That made it easier for me to go talk to women because I was focus on what I was going to enjoy about it. So yeah, that's a great way to think about it is give yourself lots of ways to leverage courage or other super values as I talk about in my book. So that you're just taking action. This is all, just all These are just different ways to get you taking the right action so that we can show women how fucking awesome you are. Women you approach anyway because they're mostly not meeting you. And we want to fix that, right, Puppy boy? I'm going to get rid of puppy boy. Puppy boy, the perfectionist.
John
Yes. Definitely want to get rid of that guy.
Connal Baritz
Yeah. Oh, one more important point, and I'd love for you to find this out tonight, if you're going out tonight, is here's the power of courage. Is that right now, you, John, and you listening, you can talk to any woman anytime you want. No one can stop you. You have the agency, you have the power. Using courage. You can't do it fearlessly yet. You can't do it maybe even comfortably yet. You might be scared to death, but no one can stop you. A lot of men make the understandable mistake, I made it for 38 years. They make the mistake of thinking, well, I can't approach a woman until I'm confident. No, you can't get confident until you get courageous. So use courage. First, walk up to that woman and say, hey, excuse me, I'm really nervous. I never do this, but you're so cute. I don't care if your voice cracks. I don't care if you throw up in your mouth. That's a 100 out of 10 in my book. And you do it again and again and again. And all of a sudden you're like, hey, wait a minute, I'm feeling way more confident. Because courage is that currency that buys you confidence. So I can't possibly overstate the importance of good old fashioned courage. And that's. Courage is just the decision to take an action in the face of discomfort. But you do it anyway because that's what men do. So tonight, go invest in confidence by making some courage deposits. It'll pay off maybe very quickly. I mean, you could, you could use courage to walk up to a gorgeous woman. It goes great. 30 seconds later, you're 10 out of 10. Confidence, confidence can come automatically, but first you got to use courage.
John
Got you. All right. I guess like the only other question, which we've kind of already hit a little bit on it right now. I know, like, I think I love what you said. You can talk to anyone with any time with confidence, with courage. Excuse me. Yeah, I guess since I know that that lower self is definitely still going to pop up here and there, I guess. And this is by no means any kind of like, give myself an excuse or a way out or anything like that would you say there's like any. A good idea of like, when. Okay, maybe right now isn't a good idea. Like, I know, like, obviously, oh, she's got a car accident. Maybe don't say something to her right now while she's sorting those things out. But.
Connal Baritz
But she's trying to fly the plane. Maybe let her land that 747.
John
Exactly. Like, is there any, like, indicator of like. So that way you can. I guess I can tell myself, like, all right, no, that's logic. Don't do it now versus no, that's just your lower self.
Connal Baritz
I'm glad you said that. Yeah. I didn't mean to say always walk up to every woman, every moment, using courage blind to what's going on. Absolutely. You want to read the room, Read the situation. You want. I guess. I guess common sense is the answer. You know, I. I was at a shoe store once. No, I was at Macy's actually. And I saw a gorgeous woman I wanted to talk to, but she was in the middle of having her shoe size checked on. And then she went up to the register and was paying. Am I going to walk right up to her in the middle of her paying for her shoes and interrupt that? That would lower my status in her eyes because it'd be doing. I'd be doing something that really is kind of socially miscalibrated, however. So, you know, I waited. This might. And this, you know, what if this sounds creepy? I guess I'm creepy. But I waited a few minutes. I was like, all right, I'll give her a few minutes. I'll just do a little window shopping. And then as she was done with her purchase, I walked alongside her and said something. And I don't remember how it went. It's been so many years ago, but I waited until it was a reasonably good moment. So we just want to kind of figure out, okay, am I avoiding this because I'm just afraid or is there really a good reason why I shouldn't talk to her yet and wait for a reasonable window to open? Are there any. Can you give me any examples of the kinds of window. Of whether this is a window I should let open or I should just barge in. What are you. Any. Any specific examples?
John
Think about that same girl. I promise, I'm promising, not obsessed with her.
Connal Baritz
The rec center girl?
John
Yes. Like, so I know she's. I know she's one of the volleyball player athletes there. And so I know it's like they go in and out, take braids, jump back in there. And so There have been times I'm like, okay, is she done now and then? Oh, no, no, she's, she's just taking a break. They're jumping back in. So like, obviously I'm not going to try and talk to her while she's in the middle of a game, so. Right, that was one.
Connal Baritz
Yeah. I mean, so like this, she's in the middle. She's playing volleyball or practicing volleyball.
John
Right. So they do inner tournament games like a couple times a week. So sometimes a little tricky to know, like, okay, are they done done right or is it just a break?
Connal Baritz
Gotcha. In that setting, I would play a bit of a longer game or at least a medium game and understand, okay, what moment makes sense for me to go chat her up. She's just went to the drinking fountain, or she and one of her friends or teammates are just talking and chatting, but they're not engrossed in the game. Don't walk up to her as she's about to hit the serve. But if it's a five minute break and she's talking to another player on the team, you could walk up to both of them in a social way. Not even a hitting on her way, just a social way. Be like, oh, hey guys, you guys are crushing it today. How's the practice going? How's the game going? Even if it's a 10 or 15 minute little icebreaker now you're creating a warm lead in a social situation because this is the rec center. You've seen her there multiple times, right?
John
Right.
Connal Baritz
Yes. You don't have to shoot your whole shot right away. You can just kind of make a nice little warm lead, introduce yourself, say hello, give value. Not trying to take anything at first. You're just trying to give and play maybe a longer game. But it's about finding that golden mean. To quote Aristotle, that golden mean in the middle. You know, don't walk up in the middle of her trying to spike the ball. But also don't never talk to her and always find some excuse. There's a golden mean. The golden mean in the middle might be, oh, she's getting a drink at the water fountain, she's talking to one friend and, but you know, she's a little bit of downtime. That would be the time to go in.
John
Okay, awesome.
Connal Baritz
These are great questions.
John
Thank you. I think that pretty much answers most of my main, my main questions really, you know, like in preparation, you know, for us talking. I loved her. I loved your Valentine's Day series on approaching and really it just having that Good framework. And it's. It's funny listening to it. I just felt like this is how we talk to normal people. Like, it's like I could have a conversation with like any guy or any person who I'm not interested in. It's only when there's a level of attraction added to it do we at least. I feel like I kind of reinvent the wheel and just having that kind of framework to go back to. No question. Compliment, observation.
Connal Baritz
Yeah.
John
You know, explore that topic. Hi, my name is John. And then going to another topic that really just gives me a concise way to kind of like organize my thoughts, I guess, is a great way to.
Connal Baritz
Say, also gives you a. Or will give you. Tell me, tell me this week, next week, check in with me. Tell me what happens tonight or this weekend. But when you go out and follow what I call the. The. What do I call it? I should know this. It's my podcast. The Natural Approaching Method.
John
Yes.
Connal Baritz
What's my. What's my latest marketing name? The Natural Approaching. Following the Natural Approaching Method. Basically, that just means A, B, C. You can give yourself three simple options. Compliment that's G rated, or a question that makes sense to ask or make an observation and call out that observation. What I found is as a very, very high percentage of approaches that are received well, very high. Like really high. As long as you commit to it. As long as you have good social skills, which you certainly do. And so go test drive that tonight, this weekend. See how it does for you. Not in a batting average obsessive way, but just to see. Hey, wait, you know what? Most of the time, women respond pretty well. There's really not much to be afraid of. Not much. And then every so often, you'll get a woman who may be, you know, hey, excuse us. We just want to have our conversation. Thanks. That's not even about them or that's not even about you. That's about them. And that's cool, too. It's a free country. They're allowed to say, no, thanks. Just remember, you can approach one woman at 10pm by 11:30, and she rejects you. By 11:30, she's making out with you on the dance floor. Like, what happened to me? Your mileage may vary.
John
Fingers crossed.
Connal Baritz
And yeah, so I talk a lot about courage, but really what you're going to find out, I think is, oh, my God. This is what I was afraid of. It wasn't so bad. This is easy. I'm just talking to people. Just talking to women. Some like me, some are neutral. Every so often there's like kind of a mean girl, but no worries, she's a good person. Probably just caught her at a bad moment and then you're going to find out there's really nothing to be afraid of. Okay, but before we go, I want to ask you what you're going to be, what actions you are committed to taking tonight and, or this weekend for all the listeners of how to Get a Girlfriend and for Coach Connell, what actions are you going to take tonight? What are you committed to doing or to this weekend?
John
No pressure.
Connal Baritz
I've never done this live. I just.
John
That's totally fine. No, I, I am committed to the, for this. So for this weekend, it's St. Patrick's Day weekend. I am off on St. Patrick's Day. So I am committed to. I want to approach at least I want to say five, five women who I find attractive. Not just, I'm just saying this to get. Because I don't feel anxiety or worry if it's somebody I'm not interested in. So five, at least five women who I find attractive. And I want to do. Go through the A, B and C, like, you know, of, of the, of the approach. And I want to force myself to have that two minute conversation with them even if I'm feeling kind of, of stuck or kind of fidgety of the situation. And then just I, I want to know. Part of me wants to, you know, commit to a lower number, like, oh, just shoot my shot with one. But I'm gonna say I want to shoot my shot with five.
Connal Baritz
Nice.
John
And because that I know if I only do one, then I'd be like the last person I talk to. And then whether she says yes or no, now I, now I feel confident. So I know.
Connal Baritz
Right.
John
Once I shoot my shot with that one with one, regardless of if she says yes or no, I know that's going to give me that like, that boost of like, oh, that was easy. So then I can keep doing the rest. So I'm. My commitment this weekend is to. Again, I said I should say keep saying the a word approach, but have a good conversation with five women who I find attractive and shoot my shot in terms of trying to get their number or contact information with at least with all five of them.
Connal Baritz
Great. We have a verbal contract.
John
Absolutely.
Connal Baritz
With you and thousands of listeners.
John
Everyone, everyone heard it. You know, I can't back out.
Connal Baritz
Exactly. Yeah, exactly. No, I mean, I, I'm only half kidding. But also, it's important to commit to actions. Right. It's important to Say, all right. Information's great. Podcasts are great coaching sessions with me. Look, there's no bigger fan of my coaching than me. I'm my number. I am my number one fan. But you know what the right five minute approach with the right woman is worth? 10 hours on the phone with me, it's worth more. It's worth more than that. The breakthrough that you might have, not to mention the relationship that might happen, but just the aha moment. There's only so much a coach can do. Yak, yak, yakking at you. The real gold is buried out there in the field. That's where the girls are. That's where the. The breakthroughs are. That's where the love is. That's where the growth is. So, yeah, I love it.
John
And I will let you know what happened no matter what. I'm not gonna ghost you after this is all right.
Connal Baritz
I know, I know. Yeah.
John
So it was great. She's still here at my house.
Connal Baritz
She won't leave or, you know, Fantastic. Yeah. Action is always the answer. Action. And then look at how, look at, look at the events of the evening afterwards. But no self judgment in the field. Basically five women. I'm going to chat them all up. I don't let go of results, no judgment, and just say, yeah, break the ice with five women, you might lose track and talk to 10. Or you might really click with the first or second one you talk to. By the way, I give you permission to not get to 5 if you click with a real cutie and things happen. So that's how you can get out of your five. If, if number two or three turns into a really nice approach and you make something happen, that's. That's your get out of jail clause. That's okay.
John
Got you. Okay.
Connal Baritz
Yeah. Awesome, man. Anything else I can do for you tonight?
John
No, sir. You've been a huge, huge help.
Connal Baritz
Thank you.
John
Just, you know, came in your. You and your content kind of came into my life at the perfect time. Went through a horrible breakup last year and yeah, my mom was like, the per. Bought me your book as a. Like.
Connal Baritz
Oh, right.
John
Your mom just bought me your book as a. As a. Hey, I know the breakup was tough, but I want grandchildren, so read this book that I got. So. So you came to my life a really good time.
Connal Baritz
Let's go get her some grandkids.
John
Absolutely. Let's go get some grandkids.
Connal Baritz
Come back in nine months. Let's make this a really good weekend. Come back in nine months. There'll be three of us on and.
John
Three of us, maybe four of its twins, you know.
Connal Baritz
Thank you, John, so much for joining me and thank you for listening. I know you have so many podcast options out there and I appreciate you listening to mine. By the way, quick little marketing moment. If you are looking for a dating coach and you like what you heard tonight, you can book a free call with me. You can go to datingtransformation.com and book a free call and you and I will speak about some of your dating goals. I can help give you clarity on what's been holding you back and help you come up with a plan to go out and meet your dream girlfriend. So if that interests you, go to datingtransformation.com if it doesn't. All good. Keep listening to the pod and thank you so much for being here. And don't forget, you're a dream girlfriend. She's out there and she's gonna love you, but she's gonna have to meet the real, authentic you. All right, until next time.
Podcast Summary: "Why You Freeze When You Want to Approach Beautiful Women—& How to Fix it NOW (Live Coaching with John!)"
How to Get a Girlfriend with Connell Barrett delves deep into the common anxiety men face when approaching attractive women. In this episode, dating coach Connell Barrett engages in a live coaching session with John, a midwestern IT professional grappling with the fear of initiating conversations with women he finds beautiful. The episode unpacks the psychological barriers to confident flirting and provides actionable strategies to overcome them.
Connell Barrett opens the session by introducing John, a likable and articulate client struggling with approaching women despite his overall confidence and success in other areas of life.
[00:00] Connell Barrett: "If you want to go talk to gorgeous, interesting, intriguing women day or night, but you don't do it, it's not because you're a failure. It's not. It's that you have a couple of internal blocks."
John shares his history of social anxiety rooted in his teenage years, where he felt self-conscious about his interests and lacked the "approaching muscle" necessary to engage with women confidently.
Connell identifies the primary causes of John's hesitation: fear of rejection and concern over social judgment. These internal conflicts create a paralyzing anxiety that inhibits him from taking action.
[00:13] Connell Barrett: "John is a nice guy, good man... But he's got one area that he's really struggling with, which is dating specifically."
John agrees that social judgment is a significant factor, fearing that a rejection might label him as a "social weirdo."
[10:07] John: "Definitely the social judgment aspect of it."
Connell guides John to reframe his mindset from one focused on fear to one that emphasizes potential positive outcomes. He introduces the concept of "promotion" versus "prevention" thinking.
[12:08] John: "Absolutely."
Connell encourages John to list the positive aspects of approaching women, such as the possibility of forming meaningful connections, building character, and experiencing personal growth.
[13:01] John: "Having a great conversation, you know, getting to meet somebody new, even if it doesn't work out."
This shift helps John see approaching women not as a daunting task but as an opportunity for positive experiences.
John raises concerns about approaching women in group settings, especially when he's interested in one individual within a larger circle.
[26:03] John: "I had a situation where I want to talk to this girl and we even made eye contact a couple times..."
Connell provides strategies for handling such scenarios by engaging the group as a whole, thereby creating a comfortable environment and avoiding the pitfalls of focusing solely on one person.
[26:14] Connell Barrett: "You open them as a group... Hey ladies, you guys are looking super stylish tonight."
This approach not only eases the tension but also increases the likelihood of making a connection with the person of interest.
Addressing the balance between being direct and contextually appropriate, Connell advises John on when to employ direct openers.
[37:46] Connell Barrett: "You can be direct anytime, anywhere. You do want to calibrate it to the context of the situation."
Connell differentiates between settings like bars, where a bold approach might be well-received, versus quieter environments like a Starbucks, where a more subtle, innocent opener is advisable.
[39:20] Connell Barrett: "It's more innocent, more G-rated, kind of almost like a Hugh Grant movie approach."
John describes his tendency to overthink interactions, leading to missed opportunities. Connell introduces the concept of courage as the key to breaking through this mental barrier.
[44:35] Connell Barrett: "We want to cut perfectionism from the team and adopt what I call these super values... courage, uncertainty."
Connell helps John commit to actionable steps that embody courage, such as striking up conversations without worrying about the outcome.
[51:24] John: "Anytime I just strike up a conversation with a woman I feel attracted to and just not give a fuck... I'm embodying courage."
Towards the end of the session, John sets concrete goals to practice his new strategies. He commits to approaching at least five women over the St. Patrick's Day weekend using the methods discussed.
[63:00] Connal Barrett: "And I give you permission to not get to 5 if you click with a real cutie and things happen."
This commitment serves as a formalized contract between John and himself to take consistent action towards his dating goals.
Connell emphasizes the importance of taking action to build confidence, stressing that confidence follows courage. He reassures listeners that fear is a common hurdle but can be overcome with persistent effort.
[55:40] Connell Barrett: "Courage is that currency that buys you confidence. You can't get confident until you get courageous."
He wraps up the episode with motivational advice, encouraging listeners to seize opportunities and embrace their authentic selves in their pursuit of meaningful relationships.
This episode serves as a comprehensive guide for men seeking to overcome the fear of approaching women. Through John's real-life struggles and Connell's expert coaching, listeners gain valuable insights and practical strategies to enhance their dating lives with authenticity and confidence.