THE FORUMS

"The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort, but where he stands at times of challenge and controversy" - Martin Luther King Jr.

Background
http://www.rsdnation.com/node/106484

Goals
To overcome approach anxiety
Develop consistency
Push outside of my comfort zone
Experience a CLICK
Cut my learning curve
Approach the most sets ever in 1 night
Establish massive amounts of reference points
Do EVERYTHING Brad says

Bootcamp
Met up with Brad, his assistant and 2 other students at the Radisson SAS Hotel at 7:30 pm. A feeling of excitement, uncertainty and readiness came over me. This was my rite of passage and it was being instructed by a down-to-earth professional, who with his determination and passion overcame sickness and a throat border lining streptococcal pharyngitis, to deliver results.

We went over our backgrounds, the game plan for the night, set up ground rules of doing whatever your instructor tells you, mutual responsibility of success and covered fundamental content. My main goal for the program was to do literally EVERYTHING Brad said and after having invested 2.000 $, my time and effort, this was exactly what I intended to do.

A valuable topic covered, was the importance of social time. We hit the field, going through pubs and bars, until the club opened at a regular late hour of 11 pm in Denmark. Social time was exactly the warm-up and lack of outcome dependence I was missing, to take my approaching consistency to another level. As the night progressed, we exponentially increased the level of direct approaches, to a point where "You're sexy, I'm Duck" was the opener. Brad followed the interactions with his assistant like a team of ninjas and would text live instructions in set, making the whole experience an ideal environment for taking right action and positive feedback. Only time I was able to get away from their eyes, was by venue-changing the girls to secret locations and corners of the club – Indirect way of having me orchestrate the venue-change and leading!

The first night, I went through about 15-20 sets, which was most ever in 1 night. I got 2-3 number closes, 2 quick kiss closes – one of which, Brad heavily made out with by the end of the night, in the girls’ attempt to make, yours truly, jealous – Another indirect way of Brad demonstrating the importance of staying in set and plowing.

Individualized feedback at the end of the night was more spot-on than any DVD or book can be, since their wide range of advice, doesn’t determine the level of applicability to your own personal situation.

The train ride home had me eager for what was to come on Day2.

We met up at 2 pm and went over extensive amount of content for 4-5 hours. A valuable quote included the "Either go through the window or break through the glass" mindset. After that we took a break where me, Brad and his assistant went to grab some dinner and got ready for the night. I got us on the guest list to a more exclusive and upscale club than the previous night, so it was bound to be interesting.

10.30 pm we hit the street and do some more social game and I’m even willing to go running after sets to open. We roll into a bar while waiting for the main club to fill up and continue the approaches. They proved to be crucial, because what was to come, could best be described “The World Series” as Brad would put it.

The club was off the hook, energy level much higher than the night before, several turbos and we got at it. I experience a state crash at some point and Brad does a great job of providing an epiphany and helping me to push through it. I’m sent in set to approach a dancing girl who’s drunk and all over the place. She knocks her head into mine and the thought of drawing blood, fired me up even more. It was great to experience a club that seemed overwhelming and be able to come out of it with 15-20 approaches under my belt. THIS is what Ozzie was talking about, when he referred to pick-up as being messy. I got hit on the head, strained my voice from constant step-up of vocal projection, to beat out the music and felt like I was maneuvering through the environment to deal with social pressure, rejection and state. I loved it.

After that night, I felt amazing! I got 2-3 number closes and a long set at the end, going for the k-close several times until the social pressure on the girl from her friends, had me settle with the number and go for debrief. That night had me ponder about the future. And the mantra that was going through my head at the end stated that “This is where I belong – The World Series”. Debrief was solid and had me come full circle with the experience I had in the club.

Sunday was the final day where I asked every question I could think of and got each and every one answered. Wrapping up and going through this experience has produced some amazing results. Brad did a great job.

Results
Opening will no longer be an issue.
I got 40-50 solid reference points as a foundation to build upon.
Everything from Open to Close and Day2 to Ecosystem was covered.
A feeling of pick-up being a more down-to-earth skill-set, gives me a more clear idea of where to go next.
I have a game plan and the reference points of consistency to stick to it.
Experiencing how awesome it is to take right action will provide the motivation in going forward.
Brad gave me the permission to give myself permission, to do what I was meant to do.

Future Commitment
In the future I’ve committed myself to going out Thursday, Friday & Sunday, approaching at least 10 sets a night. My nights will start off with social game and then exponentially going more direct, as the night progresses. Friday and Saturday I will be striving to go into “World Series” venues. I’ll be working on getting more physical and venue-changing. This is the game plan until April 25th, where Papa will be in Copenhagen for the Free Tour. After that, I’ll evaluate my game and take into consideration any advice he has to offer and go along that path. I’ve planned a 30 day challenge from June 29th – July 29th, during my U.S. road trip through New York, Miami, San Francisco and Honolulu. A further goal is to reach a high level skill-set and earn the privilege of assisting Brad on his next Bootcamp here in Copenhagen - maybe next August as he mentioned.

Thank you Brad for an awesome experience, thank you to Real Social Dynamics for the massive amount of work that goes into providing all of their great services and thanks to my fellow 2 students for going through it all with me.

I wish you all the best of luck and look forward to detailing my progress and adventures here on RSDNation.

- The Duck