He recently released his first book, and to help the dude out, I shot him off some email interview questions for you guys. We talk about new ways to look at approach anxiety, the idea of “balance” in picking up, and what NYC models are like. Enjoy

1. Since you’re kind of a newer guy on the national scene, can you give everyone a brief introduction of yourself, what (or who) you do, and maybe a brief description on your specialty and strengths when it comes to women?

Sure. I’ve been a lover of womankind since I popped my first boner. Unfortunately, I spent the better part of the first two decades of my life neutered by “nice guy” tendencies. My only goal when I entered the pickup community was to meet a nice girlfriend I could introduce to mom. The events that have transpired as a byproduct of that goal would be so utterly revolting to my devoutly Catholic mother that it defies irony like peacocking defies dignity.

Essentially, the strength of my game (and my teaching) rests on complete, unflinching normalcy. I find it hard to believe that a man hooking up with a woman has become such a complicated, nuanced affair—yet I once believed it. I suppose my last big “epiphany” occurred when I realized most guys in the pickup community prefer to love game in place of loving actual girls.

Maybe to fully grasp that, a guy has to go through those phases of bizarre behavior and “incongruence.” I did. But, when I came out on the other side, I sifted away the nonsense, buffoonery, and boldfaced lies in order to fully celebrate my throbbing love of women with lewd and inappropriate acts. (Sorry mom.)

Essentially, a guy needs to decide whether he loves game or he loves hot women. At this point, I can only help the latter group. If you need more time to realize this, I understand. I was there once too—find me when you’re ready.

As a “newer guy on the scene,” my sole purpose is to dramatically reduce the time, effort, and embarrassment my students need to endure before they realize their full potential in meeting, attracting, dating, and (most importantly) keeping the women they REALLY want. As the community evolves, the amount of time a guy needs to learn “game” will contract while his potential will expand.

2. As you know, these days the PUA community has like 32910 different “models” or “methods” to break down pickup. In your book, you talk about the “4 Elements of Game.” What makes your approach different and why should guys out there care about it?

Yes, I’m proud to say that after the publication of my book, the PUA community now has 32911 “models” to break down pickup.

Well, first I’ll tell you what my system is NOT: it does NOT have its own lingo, it does NOT force you to act weird or awkward, it does NOT proclaim picking up girls is achieved by living in egoless nirvana, and it does NOT involve penis pumps of ANY kind.

My “4-EG System” (btw, the nerd in me had to give it a dorky-sounding name, sorry!) is so simple I can’t believe no one else has uncovered it before me. In its essence, it’s founded the two essential factors of ANY pickup: TENSION and RELEASE. To give a quick small-scale example, when you step up to a girl and say she’s hot, it creates tension. If you’re smiling as you say it, there’s a release.

The complimentary factors of tension and release constantly cycle throughout an interaction. Any guy who’s talked to a babe knows that when there’s too much tension things get awkward and/or creepy; when there’s too much release things get friendly and/or nonsexual.

Building on that foundation, I realized there are two “elements” of attraction that create tension (DRIVE and MECHANICS) and two elements that allow release (INSPIRATION and CONNECTION). Not only that, but the elements form an “axis” where DRIVE opposes INSPIRATION and MECHANICS opposes CONNECTION.

Think about it: you can’t be genuinely getting to know a woman (connection) if you’re constantly thinking what you should do next (mechanics). Likewise, you can’t be flirting with a woman and bantering with her (inspiration) if you’re putting the moves on her and getting physical (drive). There’s a time and a place for each element.

The key, however, is BALANCE.

A guy can overcome his “sticking points” when the girl’s in front of him (not later on the Internet, with a bunch of dudes) just by assessing where he is in relation to the 4-EG system. It’s not incredibly complicated: if you’re “coming on too strong,” you know to counter-balance your drive with inspiration. Similarly, if you’re bordering on becoming “friend zone” guy, you step up your mechanics.

This system is so frighteningly simple that learning it puts you in serious danger of having amazing sex with lots of hot chicks in very little time. As I said before, that might not be your thing. But for guys who want to hookup with hot girls while acting totally normal, I’m leading the next generation of “PUAs” into the “date hotter girls” movement. We’re all about balance and babes.

3. My favorite concept in the book is the idea of “Approaching for Truth.” As a guy who had absolutely horrible Approach Anxiety when he started out, I wish that section had been written 4-5 years ago. It would have saved me many a frustrated and lonely nights. Can you talk about it and the idea behind it?

I appreciate that, bro. The concept of approaching for truth comes from the age-old “try/try not” paradox men have struggled with since the dawn of sex. That paradox goes something like this: if you try to get girls, you usually fail because it’s obvious you’re trying; however, if you “don’t” try to get girls, it’s still trying (because you’re trying not to try) so you still fail. The pickup community has thrown gasoline on that fire as the whole community is based on “trying” yet we all know that’s “try-hard” (so it’s gonna fail).

One attempt to solve this dilemma is the old “abundance mentality” adage: you should approach women like you have a harem of babes bouncing off your cock at all times to sidestep seeming like you’re trying. Hmm…that makes perfect logical sense…EXCEPT THAT MOST GUYS DON’T HAVE A HAREM OF BABES BOUCNING OFF THEIR COCKS AT ALL TIMES.

Whenever people advise you to adopt a mentality that’s built on bullshit, please see it for it is: BULLSHIT.

Essentially, you can’t “try” and you can’t “not try”—so then, how does anyone get results? Well, I really had to ponder that. I not only dissected my own thoughts, I also paid attention when I was around guys like you, Entropy, among the other lady-getting, extraordinary gentlemen my journey has afforded me the pleasure of meeting. Eventually I noticed a pattern: guys who get girls don’t approach for validation or for a “skillset” or for ANY other reason than to get at the core TRUTH.

This mentality is why the “good” guys can have a girl attracted from the opener. It’s also why when they do get “rejected,” they can laugh it off, not letting it affect them one bit. When you’re approaching for truth, you’re taking yourself out of the equation. You’re approaching for something deeper and more significant than anything the community has defined; yet you’re also approaching with less anxiety to force an outcome or feeling a need to prove yourself to a stranger. You’re still trying, but it’s a refocused trying—it’s an attractive trying.

I know this all sounds very philosophical and abstract; although, to simplify all the aforementioned nonsense, buffoonery, and boldfaced lies that haunt the male brain, these mind-shifts are absolutely necessary. It reorients your behavior to its simplest, most attractive, and most potent form.

4. You’re fortunate enough to live in Manhattan, one of the model capitals in the world. I’ve seen you and Zack both running around with a couple on your arms in the last year. In just a few sentences, what would you say the biggest difference/challenge to overcome with higher caliber girls is, and that most guys fuck up?

HA! This question made me see myself as some sort of octopus with tentacles wrapped around a bunch of svelte models. Anyway, yeah, we’re incredibly lucky to live in a city brimming jaw-dropping beauties. To wrap this up in a few sentences, its true what you hear, “Picking up a hot girl is actually easier than picking up a so-so girl.”

Although, I always want to punch in the face the people who say that since they never explain what that means. Incredibly attractive women get approached often, but they get approached by guys who are approaching the “idea of the hot girl,” rather than the hot girl herself. That means they’re approaching her because they believe it’ll get them status, cool stories to tell their friends, or just because they think they should (since she’s hot). Most guys don’t even realize they’re doing it—it’s purely unconscious.

To actually approach the “hot girl herself” goes back to the “approaching for truth” idea (as it relates to the “drive element”). If you approach a hot girl with drive, then curiosity about her is a natural byproduct. When I see a hot girl walking down the street, I don’t think, “Wow, that’s a hot chick so I should approach her.” I think, “Awesome! This girl is HOT! I gotta find out how this is gonna turn out…” I may get her. I may not. However, I’m NOT going to walk on eggshells because I’m trying to preserve this ridiculous “idea” of the girl; instead I’m going to cut right to the truth. THAT’s how you get the mega-hotties—unless of course you’re Eliot Spitzer.

Big thanks to Entropy for the opportunity to share what I’ve learned! I hope reading this has gotten you one step closer to the babes of your dreams!

If you’d like to learn more about Rob or check out his new book, you can go here.

Now, I generally have two skepticisms about Phone/Text Game or any “material” for it…

1. As with most things in game… I subscribe to the idea that, “What is simplest is best,” and with phone/text game, what is simplest shouldn’t take up more than maybe 10-20 pages at most. In fact, I only spent a measly 24 pages on it in my first book.

2. The fact that most follow up game should be a reflection of your ACTUAL game, or I guess, an extension of the game you ran on her when you met her. So, again, as with most things in pick up, I don’t know if there’s a “one-size-fits-all” model to it that any guy can apply.

Well, I have to be honest, I was pleasantly surprised by the book. It’s actually pretty damn comprehensive. It covers the basics that everyone needs to know, like time-bridging, preventing flakes, building basic attraction through texts, when to call/text, etc.

But it also does a great job of explaining the CONCEPTS behind everything. And as all you guys should know by now, I’m a huge fan of explaining the principles, rather than just tossing out hundreds of pages of routines.

In particular, they do a great job of explaining the idea of “investment,” and how to follow up game really comes down to managing how invested she is in the interaction. If she has a low level of investment, then you need to raise it through gaming her more. If she has a high level of investment, then you need to arrange to meet up with her ASAP.

Most people gloss over this concept and how to recognize it, when I actually think it’s probably the SINGLE KEY to all of follow up game. In fact, I spend a lot of time talking about it in my Conversation Demolitions as well, but I don’t think I ever explained as succinctly or as well as Braddock did here.

Braddock also did a solid job of providing some example texts conversations from his own life to illustrate the points.

So anyway, it’s a good book. I think if follow up game is your one major sticking point, then it’s probably a good investment as it’s extremely thorough. If it’s not your major sticking point or you’re already getting solid results, then it’s probably not necessary, but could probably point out a few blind spots or things your missing.

Overall: Solid B+

The Ultimate Guide to Phone and Text Game

I honestly believe that if one is well-educated and read in psychology, sociology and philosophy in general, one doesn’t need much (or any) community material to improve very quickly.

So if I had a “must read” list for guys, this would be it.

Good Books for Pick Up

No More Mr. Nice Guy! by Robert Glover – Possibly THE best inner game book I’ve ever read on modern masculinity. Glover is a clinical therapist who works primarily with men and writes about the emasculation of the last couple generations. Not only are men now afflicted with the curse of trying to always be a “nice guy” but he also goes into why this is actually manipulative and weak behavior. Well written. Awesome explanations. I read it in one sitting. This was a big “Aha!” book for me.

How to Win Friends & Influence People by Dale Carnegie – The best book ever written on how to get along with people and make them like you. This applies to guys, girls, friends, family, strangers — anyone. Dale Carnegie’s simple lessons are timeless and I really wish I had read this much earlier in life.

The Definitive Book of Body Language by Allan and Barbara Pease – The title isn’t an exaggeration. Exhaustive, well-written and provides pictures of people for examples. Everything’s backed up by research and studies. Body language constitutes the majority of communication and becoming as aware as possible of it is key. You’ll learn more about body language from this book than you’ll ever need to know.

The Way of the Superior Man by David Deida – A community classic and for a reason. A defining book on masculinity and what it means to be a man. It also has a great section on how best to deal with femininity and manage relationships well. A little flaky and new age’ish at times, but still valuable.

Polyamory: Roadmaps for the Clueless & Hopeful by Anthony Ravenscroft – the best book on relationship management I’ve ever read, hands down. It’s interesting that one has to find such a radical and counter-cultural lifestyle to find this kind of wisdom, but considering this guy has been juggling multiple girlfriends longer than any of us have been alive makes sense. Even if you plan on never deviating from monogamy, this book is powerful for its sections on communication, sacrifice, jealousy, love, expectations, etc. The author tends to go off on tangents (some enjoyable, some annoying), but definitely worth the effort.

Never Eat Alone: And Other Secrets to Success, One Relationship at a Time by Keith Ferrazzi – A definitive book on building a social circle and maintaining friendships with others. Enormously valuable not only for the networking skills, but the ability to connect with people very quickly. Kind of an addendum to Dale Carnegie’s work.

Emotional Intelligence: 10th Anniversary Edition; Why It Can Matter More Than IQ by Daniel Goleman – A classic social science book explaining why people’s ability to empathize, relate and understand other people determines success much more pure quantitative intelligence. A bit scientific, but explains such concepts as empathy, confidence, self-esteem, etc. with grueling detail and research to back up the arguments.

The Red Queen: Sex and the Evolution of Human Nature by Matt Ridley – An evolutionary and biological explanation for sex and all of our behaviors surrounding sex. A bit dense at times, but incredibly interesting if you’re willing to sift through and digest the scientific material.

Good Books for Life

Atlas Shrugged by Ayn Rand – This is probably the most influential book I’ve read in my life. It’s not necessarily THE best book, but the place I was when I read it, it was invaluable. Ayn Rand’s philosophy is one of empowerment, responsibility and ambition. She constructs a fascinating novel around these values and hammers her points home repeatedly through the actions of the main characters. Everyone should read this book at some point in their life, whether they really need the message or not.

The 4-Hour work Week: Escape 9-5, Live Anywhere, and Join the New Rich by Tim Ferris – Awesome book. Inspired me to quit my day job and pursue Practical Pickup full-time. A bible for disgruntled office workers and aspiring entrepreneurs. But even if you love your job and career, the book is inspiring in the author’s free spirit and ingenuity when it comes to getting what he wants out of life. If you don’t want to work for the system, Ferris shows you how to make the system work for you.

An Introduction to NLP by Joseph O’Connor – The NLP book makes it on the “life” list, because to say NLP is only useful for picking up women is selling it so, so, so short. I used to discount this stuff because I thought it was creepy. But the self-help potential of learning NLP and its concepts cannot be overstated. It’s basically learning about how the mind operates and how to consciously alter your learning habits.

The Limits of Power by Andrew Bacevich – The best book I’ve read on the current state of American government and affairs. It’s not a political book, but it’s about American politics. It’s not a policy book, although it’s about American policy. It’s the most coldly rational and objective view of the state of our nation right now. Brilliant and well-cited. Highly recommended.

The Power of Now: A Guide to Spiritual Enlightenment by Eckhart Tolle – the en vogue book to spirituality. Also, the community’s darling last year. Honestly, I think it’s a bit overrated. It’s a great guide to centering oneself and identifying beyond one’s ego. But as far as a legitimate spiritual practice, it really just scratches the surface.

Good Books for Fun

American Psycho by Bret Easton Ellis – The movie does it no justice. The book is a visceral and horrifying experience. Not for the feint of heart.

East of Eden by John Steinbeck – A modern classic. The American narrative and the great biblical mythology intertwined into a beautifully written story of family, life and death.

The Things They Carried by Tim O’Brien – Best war book I’ve ever read. Based on O’Brien’s Vietnam experiences.

Into Thin Air: A Personal Account of the Mt. Everest Disaster by Jon Krakauer – Amazing. Title says it all. Couldn’t put it down.

The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini – The hype’s there for a reason. Don’t watch the movie, read the book. Another one you can’t put down.