I bet you know someone like this: He never exercises. He’s out of shape, sedentary and planning to finally start exercising.

And when he takes the plunge and gets in the gym and begins to watch his diet, things start to change, right? He begins to see improvement and for the first time in years, he believes in himself. It’s great.

But did he find the magic workout routine? Did he find the magic macro nutrient ration? No, on both accounts. In fact, all he really did was something. He did something instead of nothing and he began to see changes.

I think that’s what happens with PUA. Take guys who want to see results with women but are dumbfounded by the process (or by their own failures), and give them a set of specific strategies to try.

Here are some of my realizations about indirect PUA:
1. It wastes your time with women who have no interest in you or are logistically and/or emotionally unavailable. Better to know this early on than waste time on innocuous routines.
2. It’s not genuine. ‘Under the radar’ is ridiculous. Creating imaginary stories and sequences, using repeated material, pretending that you’re not attracted to a girl when you actually are…Okay, if you’re not a great conversationalist and you need a few true stories in the bank then fine, but that’s different than going in with stories that have never even happened in real life.
3. It fails to address a guy’s true shortcomings. Read my previous blog post about middle school and begin to understand that the root of the problem is a perspective issue regarding women, not in failing to be discreet.
4. Guys have been picking up women since the dawn of time. It’s not unexpected and it’s not any different now. Masculinity begets femininity. No games needed. Play games and you’ll only attract game playing women.
5. Preventing rejection is not the sign of success. Being direct opens you up to rejection. Deal with it. Sure, a girl is unlikely to blow off an opinion opener, but that doesn't mean you can weasel your way into her pants. You’ll only waste time and still be failing to express your actual interest in her. Maybe a guy with deep-rooted anxiety isn't ready to be this expressive yet, and that’s okay, but fix that instead of masking the problem.

But despite all these flaws I see in indirect PUA, guess what? Sometimes it will work. Being in a club or a bar is better than being at home. Saying something to a girl is better than never approaching her. And touching her for a made up reason is better than never touching her at all. PUA gives guys specific directions about what to say to women. They get out there and try things instead of staying home. It puts them in social situations. Sometimes guys manage to spark attraction and it increases their self-confidence, which is a positive feedback loop that bolsters self-confidence for future interactions. But they fail to realize that it was never the routines or lines that did it. They’re just like the sedentary person who started exercising, saw initial results, and then thought they had found the magic program. It’s a case of correlation, not causation. Just approaching is better than not making any move at all.

Check out these videos. I like SashaPUA. Yes, his name infers pickup, but at least he’s direct and honest. No routines. I’m not the high energy funny type like he is, but his videos are about being genuine and I respect that.

Hitler hates Indirect! - YouTube
"How Do I Become A Pick-Up-Artist?" Sasha Daygame answers your question - YouTube

Masculinity attracts femininity. I think that despite all the obvious flaws that ‘bad boys’ have, they win over ‘nice guys’ in the one key area that counts: they’re better at displaying masculinity. More on that later.