Rules of the Game: Day 1

January 25, 2011

By revisingproust

Day 1 has 3 missions. I forgot to do the third mission (talk to 5 strangers) while I was out today. I’ll cram it into tomorrow’s missions.

Mission 1: Evaluate Yourself

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

Who are these other people? I’ll assume it means people I want to date. I’ve heard that I’m super intense at first, which may scare people away. If I’ve gotten to the point where I’m on a date with someone, it means that I’m giving 100% until something goes wrong. It’s just hard for me to date casually. I never learned how.

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

Obviously, I don’t want to scare worthwhile suitors away. At the same time, I want everyone who meets me to love me and walk away asking, “When’s the next time I get to hang out with Melissa?”

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

1. Tardiness

2. Overthinking

3. More follow-through on life projects

4. List 3 new behaviors or characteristics you would like to adopt.

1. More self-discipline

2. Normalized sleep schedule

3. Better organization/neater

Mission 2: Read and Destroy

Read “The Chains that Bind,” which is about overcoming self-sabotaging thoughts. Points that I should remember:

What most of us present to the world isn’t necessarily our true self: It’s a combination of years of bad habits and fear-based behavior. Our real self lies buried underneath all the insecurities and inhibitions. So rather than just being yourself, focus on discovering and permanently bringing to the surface your best self.

The best thing you can do for yourself and for her is to go out and interact with as many [men] as possible, until you realize that there are plenty of people out there for you-some of whom are capable of recognizing your worth and reciprocating your feelings.

Few [men] will resent meeting someone who is warm, funny, sincere, interesting, engaging, makes them feel comfortable, and isn’t going to stick around talking their ear off.

Mission 3: Operation Small Talk

(Will do tomorrow.)