The Monster and the Magician

Version 1.004

Note to reader:
If you have read version 1.003, you can skip the Introduction and Chapters 1 - 3. They
contain only minor edits. The new material appears in Chapters 4 and 5, on pages 35 to
54.
The new material includes a step by step examination of the outer game, framed as a
“marketing” process. Encounters in Chapters 4 and 5 provide illustrations and opinions
regarding various theories and techniques taught by selected PUGs.

-- This will probably be the last installment for awhile. I am taking on a project with a
GB at TheVault, and I can only split my attention between so many projects at the same
time. Keep the thread alive in the forums, and I’ll check in on it. Make sure to PM me
with any great ideas for follow up material.

Introduction.

The Monster and the Magician are metaphors for two distinct types of Pick Up
Artists (PUAs). Both are masters. Their values are different. Their beliefs are different.
But they know everything about themselves and about the seduction of women.

Through story, metaphor, technique and analysis, you will learn everything about
the inner game and the outer game of both the Monster and the Magician.

Neither the Monster nor the Magician are anyone you have ever heard of. I
assure you that every PUA you know from Ross Jeffries to David D., David M., David
S., David X., David Y. and David Z. have only seen parts of the Monster and the
Magician, or have perhaps learned what they teach from someone else.

This book will be completed over time, beginning with Version 1.001. You will
have your chance to contribute, if you wish. Share your observations about the Monster
and the Magician at ThePlace. Share your opinions about any PUA you consider worthy
of comment. Are their techniques those of the Monster? Or those of the Magician?
What do they each have left to learn from their respective masters?

The storyteller is waiting to weave your observations into the next version of
“The Monster and the Magician.”

By the collective experience behind this project, you will come to really know the
power of these two masters. In time, you may find that you are either a Monster or a
Magician.

DOWNLOAD THE LATEST VERSION ONLY AT THE PLACE.

Chapter 1. The Storyteller.

Part 1.

The man spoke gently. The small crowd of people tightened around him to hear
more clearly. An important story was about to begin.

“I came upon the village many, many years ago,” began the storyteller. “It was a
very small village, comprised of people of very limited abilities. Many had lost arms and
legs to disease or war. Several were blind. I believe the fully healthy individuals from
the community had left some time ago.”

“How did they survive?” asked a young man.

“They cared very deeply about each other,” answered the storyteller with a smile.
“And they worked together whenever there was a need. When I came upon them, the
people of the village had been doing just that.”

“Somewhere outside the village was a strange creature, they told me,” said the
storyteller. “I asked them what they knew about the creature.”

“It is very large,” said one man. A number of his friends nodded in agreement.
“Very large indeed, and very hard and rough skinned. It was like a large boulder.”

“It is not large,” said another man timidly. “I felt it very carefully, it was very
skinny. I agree that it was rough. But at one end it also had something that felt like a
brush. It seemed like a rope which was fraying at one end.” There were no friends
nodding in agreement to the man’s statement, but his opinion was not attacked, either.

“It was more like a snake,” a third man spoke up. “I felt it bending its strong
body back and forth.”

“We have just discovered it,” said a woman missing her right leg. “We have not
yet determined what the creature is. But these three men have been to where it is, and
this is the information that they brought back to us. Those of us who could see have not
been yet, because of the difficulty of travel. We sent the three blind men, first. They
have less to do here in the village.”

The truth was simple, and so I told them, “What you are describing is an
elephant. The first man felt the body. The second man felt the tail. The third man felt
the trunk.”

“We have heard that story before,” a young man in the crowd shouted out. “You
are a poor storyteller to tell us something we have heard before!”

“Yes, I was sure that you had heard the story,” said the storyteller. “I told it to
you first, because I knew that you would be able to understand it. And because I have
something rather alarming to tell you. You will need the story of the blind men and the
elephant in order to know what to do with the alarming news you are about to receive.”

“What is this alarming news?” an older woman asked anxiously. “Is something
going to happen to us?”

“What happens to your city will depend upon what you do,” said the storyteller.
“Now that you are ready to hear this news, I am going to tell you.” He paused for
several seconds as the small crowd because still and quiet. “Within your very own city,
there are two strange creatures that you have not seen. They are far more powerful than
an elephant and far more dangerous.”

The crowd around the storyteller to a step back in alarm. “What are they?”
shouted out a man. “What are these two strange creatures? And why should we be
afraid of them?”

The storyteller looked the man in the eye. “Because one of them is a monster,
and one of them is a magician. The monster will destroy you. The magician will save
you. And those who do nothing will be enslaved.”

A commotion broke out within the crowd. Some people began calling for
someone to find the magician. Others called for men to gather arms to go and kill the
monster. Many covered their ears, thoughts of hiding swirling about in their minds.

… until a man who appeared to be a leader quieted them. “Silence!” he shouted.

“Storyteller, you obviously know something of this monster. How shall we defeat him?
Tell us his weaknesses, the danger he poses. Tell us what we must do to be safe. Must
we find this magician?”

The storyteller smiled. But he said nothing.

The people of the small crowd turned their attention from the arguments among
themselves. All eyes were now, once again, on the storyteller. “Tell us!” They cried.

The clamor increased until the storyteller raised his hand to silence them. “Are
you all agreed then? Will you find the monster and the magician?” he asked them.
“The monster to protect yourself from the danger he represents? And the magician to
develop your individual power and to secure the protection you require?”

There were many answers from the crowd, all of them in the affirmative.

The storyteller’s smile faded. “I heard many of you answer in the affirmative,”
he said with disappointment. “But not all.”

“Come on now,” coaxed the apparent leader. “Everyone answer in the

affirmative.” He peered into the faces closest to them. Each person he looked at
responded by shouting, “yes!” The leader looked back at the storyteller.
 “The first answer given was the answer that each person felt,” said the storyteller.
“You cannot change a person’s feelings merely by instructing him to answer ‘yes.’ But I
will help those of you who are willing to find these two strange creatures. Follow me to
where I live, and I will give you what you need most.”

Part 2.

At the home of the storyteller, further information was provided about the
Monster and the Magician ... and about the storyteller.

The people of the city demanded that the storyteller tell them everything. He was
obviously acquainted with these two creatures. Where were they? How were they to be
recognized? What were their powers? Information was demanded.

But the storyteller revealed that he did not know everything about these two
creatures. The storyteller was an observer, just like they were, with one difference. The
storyteller had a special gift.

“When I entered the town where the blind men and the elephant were, I did not
actually see the elephant. I saw only the evidence that the elephant was outside of the
village. I heard many people tell me that there was a strange creature outside of the
village. I heard some say that it was large and hard like a rock. I heard one say that he
had felt something like a frayed rope. I heard another say that he had felt something like
a powerful snake. When I combined the experiences of all of these people into a single
image, I saw the truth. There was an elephant outside their village.”

“When I came to this city, I observed something entirely different. In your city, I
observed the signs of a Monster and I observe the signs of a Magician. I did not see
either creature, but I know that they are here. Many, many people that I have met have
described their experiences with these creatures.”

“My gift, if you will allow me to call it a gift, lies in my ability to see and explain
the Truth. And if you are committed to bringing your collective experience to me, I will
combine your observations with my ability to see the Truth, and you will know where to
find the Monster, where to find the Magician, and you will know everything they know,
and you will know were they get their power.”

Some of the people became angry with the storyteller. Some began to argue or
ask for proof that he had a gift to know the Truth. Some cried out for proof that the
Monster existed. But all the cries were in vain, because the storyteller had no use for
such nonsense.

The storyteller had been following the Monster and the Magician longer than the
people of the city had been alive. The storyteller had battled the Monster and he knew its
limits, knew why the Monster was what it was. The storyteller had been taught by the
Magician. Without allowing himself to be seen, the Magician had been leaving clues for
the storyteller for many, many years, teaching him everything, as quickly as the
storyteller was able to learn it. The storyteller was a master of learning, intelligent and
flexible. The Magician had been the one who had told him of his gift. The Magician
had assured him of his path. The storyteller was acquainted with the ways of the
Magician, and he employed the same techniques that he had learned from his master.

The storyteller knew the Magician very well, but he wasn’t about to tell the
people of this city everything he knew, because the people of the city were not ready to
learn all that the storyteller had learned. The storyteller knew that those who committed
themselves would learn what he had learned. That was the price of learning, and there
was nothing the storyteller could do for those who were not prepared to pay the price of
learning for themselves.

The storyteller was a guide. The name of the storyteller, if you must know, is
Truth. Everything about Truth is not immediately apparent. But you will remember that
the difference between the masters and the slaves in the city, in the end, would be the
manner in which they handled Truth. Masters of the Magician would be heros, while
masters of the Monster would themselves be powerful beasts. They would both know
the truth of their power. Those without the truth, those fools who lacked the ability to
perceive or comprehend, they would be slaves … because false premises and false beliefs
are the chains of slavery.

And so the storyteller offered what he had to everyone who came to talk and to
listen. The storyteller offered the truth in response to some questions and in response to
some comments. And that which was not worthy of an answer or a comment, well why
should we spend out time talking about that?
Chapter 2. Pandemonium.

Part 1.

Out of fear, curiosity, and various other motivations, men from the city went out
in search of the Monster and the Magician. Over time, it became apparent that these men
could be classified into three groups.

The first group were purists. They returned to teach what they observed about
the mental processes and language techniques used by the masters. The purists always
taught using their real names, names like Milton Ericson and Richard Bandler.

The second group were profiteers. Their search for the masters was motivated by
the personal profit they saw. They were best recognized by the exaggeration they
employed to make their products appeal to others. They commonly used false names for
an identity. Paul took the name Ross Jeffries. Eban Pagan Wind (assuming that was at
one time his real name) renamed himself David DeAngelo. Others adopted monikers
instead of names, like Mystery, Style, Juggler and Swingcat. While their motivation may
be questionable, the profiteers played an important role in illustrating to the community
what was possible.

The third group were learners. They felt a personal need, at one level or another,
to do what the storyteller had described – to gain from the Magician the personal power
they needed to progress from survival to mastery in the city which would one day consist
of either free men or slaves to the Monster.

But the storyteller also observed problems begin to emerge. It was difficult for
the learners to apply the wisdom as it was described by the purists. For example, the
learners cold see that hypnosis was a powerful method used by the Monster and the
Magician, but the learners’ skills of hypnosis were generally weak. And so the learners
began increasingly to turn to the profiteers in an effort to purchase what they needed in
order to use this new magic.

The profiteers were only too eager to package sets of techniques for sale to the
learners. But if you read the truth about these profiteers – download DieBold’s book
named The Magic Bullet (available at ThePlace and for sale at some gas stations) – the
profiteers were not the masters that they attempted to portray.

Like the tower of Babel in the Bible, new languages began to develop and divide
the learners. The purists had a technical vocabulary which needed to be studied to be
understood. The profiteers developed a vocabulary of acronyms like PUA, PUG and
AFC, which required a dictionary like the one in DieBold’s book The Magic Bullet.
Groups of learners began to form lairs in an effort to either share experiences or
commiserate about their insecurities.

The storyteller could see that his work was not finished. While many lives
improved in small increments, far too many men would become impoverished by the
prices charged by the profiteers, and some would still fall slave to the Monster, unless the
storyteller brought the truth from the purists down to a level of understanding that all
learners could apply.

And so the Magician began to speak to the storyteller. And from the purists, the
profiteers and from the Magician, the storyteller began to provide new stories and
understanding to the learners. “This is going to take longer that I thought,” said the
Storyteller. “But by the end of my storytelling, learners will be free, and many will be
powerful Magicians.”

Part 2.

“’Women like men,’ said Eric Webber in 1970, in his book ‘How to Pick up
girls.’” The storyteller was giving a history lesson to the learners one particular day.
That is where the sale of “pick up” techniques began.

“In those days, the pickup line was the key. In the 1970s you could tell a woman,
‘If I said you had a beautiful body, would you hold it against me?’ and she might
actually smile and start a conversation with you. The years of “free love” that began in
the 1960s had come to an end, but pickup was still easy. The Monster and the Magician
had not yet arrived in your city of amateurs.”

“It sounds like ‘cocky comedy,’” blurted out one learner. From the grin on his
face, he was obviously very pleased with his own quick wit. The storyteller smiled, but
ignored him. Whether true or not, the comment failed to convey any useful teaching,
and the storyteller tended to avoid trite observations.

Just then, a young man came rushing into the room, out of breath. “I did it!” he
shouted. “I got my first phone number!” The storyteller rolled his eyes and asked the
boy to take a seat.

“State?” the storyteller asked the class in general.

“Primary!” shouted several voices.

“Why primary state?” asked the storyteller.

“Because he is excited in response to his interaction with a woman,” said

someone. “The woman is external, so he is responding to his environment.”

“Anyone want to offer another possibility?” inquired the storyteller.

“It doesn’t matter if it’s a primary state or a level 1 meta-state,” said someone
speaking with a bit more authority. “He may be feeling excited in response to the
woman, or he may be feeling excited in response to his thoughts about what getting a
phone number means to him. Either way, his excitement is a valuable state to him. It’s
time to use that state at a meta-level while he’s still hot!”
 “Excellent,” said the storyteller. “And so, Eban,” he continued, gesturing to the
excited lad, “Do you know what we do with valuable states?”

Eban stepped a bit closer to the storyteller and answered (with slightly less
enthusiasm, unfortunately) “Anchor it.”

“Yes,” said the storyteller. “Now don’t let that feeling go. Use your meta-
program training. Run through the submodalities of your excitement. Intensify it. Show
all of us just how excited you were when you started running back here with your new
about the telephone number!”

Eban started jumping up and down with nervous excitement. “There’s part of
your kinesthetic anchor,” said the storyteller.

“Oh, baby!” Eban began repeating softly. “There’s an audio digital anchor,” said
the storyteller.

As they saw Eban’s excitement peaking, the group applauded to reinforce his
happiness and success.

“Give it a name,” instructed the storyteller. “I’ll call it my ‘Oh, baby!’ state,”
said Eban.

“Good,” continued the storyteller. “Now write down all your anchors, a
description of the state and its main submodalities, and then tell us how you plan to use
it.” Eban took a card and a pen from the storyteller. He wrote “hopping in excitement
and squeezing both fists” as a kinesthetic anchor. He wrote “Oh, baby!” as the name and
as the audio digitial anchor. He wrote “Image of Christine” as a visual anchor, along
with “smiling, beautiful, bright, closer, closing her eyes, kissing.” He wrote a brief
description of how he felt. Then he looked up at the group.

“Okay,” he started, still feeling his excitement. “Here is how I am going to use
this. Right before I start an approach, I will fire off the anchors for ‘Oh, baby!’ Then, I
will stopping my hopping and get some control over myself. Then, I will walk up to the
woman and make an observation—not a compliment, just an observation—about
something she is wearing or holding. If I start feeling nervous, I will squeeze both hands
to help re-intensify my state of excitement. I’ll try to keep the conversation going, based
on whatever she gives me in response. No matter what happens at the end, I will fire off
the anchors for ‘Oh, baby!” at the end of the interaction—just to make sure it ends up
feeling like a positive experience for me, no matter what result I get. If I haven’t gotten
what I wanted from that woman, I’ll start looking for another woman, and I’ll do it
again.”

The group applauded again. The storyteller smiled. Eban was learning.

“Can you use the anchor anywhere else?” ask the storyteller.
 “Um … yeah …” said Eban, thinking. “Whenever I want to feel excited, at work,
with my buddies, when I’m learning something … I can bring excitement to it, using my
‘Oh, baby!’” state.”

“Let’s hear the name of the state again,” said the storyteller.

“Oh, baby!” shouted Eban, throwing his head back, thrusting both fists in the air,
and shouting at the ceiling. The boy had a new state!

Part 3.

The next day, conversation at the storyteller’s house resumed.

“Alright,” said the storyteller, “Let’s continue the discussion of states and
anchors. After Eban came in with his first phone number yesterday, how many of you
left with your own “Oh, baby!” state?”

No one responded.

“Is that because all of you already have a state of intense excitement?” asked the
storyteller. “Who has already anchored a state of intense excitement?” Only one hand
went up.

“Come up here Eban,” instructed the storyteller. “Show the group your ‘Oh,
baby!’ state.”

As Eban began hopping and mumbling, the storyteller continued. “Watch him!”
he instructed the group. “Feel it. You can see what he’s feeling. You know he is
thinking about Christine, and getting her number, and getting that kiss. You can feel
that. Imagine it. Intensify it! I want to see some people hopping up and down in here!”

The excitement level in the room went up exponentially. Boys were smiling,
closing their eyes, hopping and squeezing their fists or making up their own kinesthetic
anchors for excitement.

“Now give the state your own name!” instructed the storyteller. “Excitement!”
said someone. “You can do better than that!” said the storyteller. “Give it a name that
is going to trigger something for you! Not just a generic name like ‘excitement’ … it
sounds like ‘excrement’!”

New names for “Oh, baby!” state began to pop out. The storyteller began
handing cards and pens to people as they shouted out the name for their state of
excitement.

“Now remember what Eban did, yesterday! Write down all your anchors
(kinesthetic, audio digital, visual), a description of the state and its main submodalities,
and think about how you plan to use it.”
 [Dear reader: Do you have your “Oh, baby!” state, yet? The storyteller has taken
you through the process twice, now. I don’t want to have to point out the obvious, but
you are supposed to be participating with what is going on here. You want an “Oh,
baby!” state, because you’re going to need it for all the same things that Eban just
described. Get out something to write on, start hopping up and down and get yourself an
“Oh, baby!” anchor!]

As the group finished, the storyteller asked, “Now how many of you have an ‘Oh,
baby!’ anchor?” Every hand shot up, and this time, it was clear that most of the boys in
the group were still feeling the effects of the excitement.

“Was it necessary for you to get a woman’s phone number before you anchored a
state of excitement? Or could you do it just by imagining that you were feeling what
Eban was feeling?” asked the storyteller.

“We could create the state by imagining,” responded various members of the
group.

“So it doesn’t matter if the state begins from a primary state or a level 1 meta-
state,” said the storyteller. “That was an excellent observation.”

“How useful will this state be to you now?” asked the storyteller.

“Really useful!” shouted one boy with excitement.

“David C.,” said the storyteller reproachfully, “I’m not looking for the obvious
rhetorical response. Make an observation that we can use to learn. Teach yourself
something by giving your answer some thought.”

“Um ... “ said David C.

“Who wants to help David C.?” asked the storyteller.

David L. raised his hand. The storyteller nodded. David L. began, “How are you
going to use it?”

“Just like Eban said, yesterday,” said David C.

“Tell us,” said David L.

“Um …” began David C. He was clearly feeling very nervous. He hadn’t
thought it through. He had merely been swept up in the excitement, and had no idea
what he was doing.

“Fire off the anchor, again!” instructed David L. “Oh, baby! Get hopping! Let’s
go now!” David L. began hopping with David C. bringing back the excitement. “Yeah,
that’s it now! What do you want more than anything else, David C.?”
 “I want my first kiss!” David C. blurted out. There was some laughter from the
group, but this time David C. stayed in state. Step by step, he imagined and described
how he would approach and progress to a kiss good-bye.

“And what if you get shot down?” asked David L., making sure that he used his
voice to keep David C. in state. “Can you still keep hopping? Can you do it again and
again? Can you do it?!”

“I can do it!” David C. shouted, hopping even higher. “It doesn’t matter. I’m
feeling it! Girls love me, and I am going to get that kiss!”

The storyteller let the excitement die down before he spoke again.

Part 4.

The storyteller began to walk the group through an analysis.

“What did we call Eban’s state when he came running in flushed with
excitement?”
“Primary State,” was the answer.
“Why?”
“Because it was an emotional response to an external event!”

“Does excitement come only from experiences and Primary States?”

“No. We can build excitement from a level 1 meta-state!”
“How?”
“Eban could remember the state and imagine it again. That was a meta-state.”
“Good. How else?”
“We picked up on Eban’s excitement and made our own excitement. That was
another meta-state.”

A member of the group raised his hand with a question for the storyteller. “When
we made our own excitement, was that a primary state, since we were responding to
Eban? Or was it a level 1 or a level 2 meta-state?”
The storyteller said nothing.
Another member of the group provided the answer. “It doesn’t matter, David O.”
The storyteller smiled and went on. He enjoyed watching his students develop
the ability to distinguish between what was relevant to their success. It might be fine to
discuss those other ideas in a one-on-one conversation, but he never allowed those
tangents to interrupt a group discussion.

“What do you think about Eban’s and David C.’s resolves to fire their anchors at
the end of an interaction with women? Will it help them?”
The group was silent. It had sounded reasonable when Eban said it. It seemed
okay when David C. repeated the concept. But would it work?
Finally, someone raised their hand. “It depends,” they said.
“On what?” asked the storyteller.
“It depends on their higher level meta-programs,” came the answer.
“Very good,” said the storyteller. “Describe what you mean.”
 “Well, Eban has had some success. His experience tells him he can do it. So
even if he fails with his next approach, he has a higher-level meta-program that is going
to override the bad experience. When he fires off “Oh, baby!” he owns it. It’s going to
work for him. It will get him through to his next success.”
Someone else jumped in. “It might not work for David C., because he hasn’t
gotten his first phone number yet. Without the experience, he might have doubts about
whether or not he can do it.”
“Does David C. really need to have the experience of success with a woman
before his anchor will support him through a challenge?” asked the storyteller.
“Not necessarily,” said David L. “Experience with women is not the only higher-
level meta-program that he can draw on. David C. has a bigger problem. He has low
confidence in general. He obviously has some kind of less than positive belief operating
as a higher-level meta-program. Whether he has experience or not, that higher-level
meta-programming is always going to undermine his confidence until he resolves it.”
The storyteller smiled.

Everyone stood up and got ready to leave, thinking the lesson was over. But the
storyteller injected another question. “What can David C. do about his problem right
now, before he deals with his confidence problem? Anything?”
No one answered.
“David C.,” said the storyteller. “You have a powerful anchor for excitement on
the one hand. On the other hand, you have a powerful higher-level problem with
confidence. Do you want to let your limiting beliefs about your confidence win the
battle?”
David C. looked at the ground. “No.”
“Well, then,” said the storyteller. “I have a Sword for you, from the Magician.”
The class was silent. They had never seen anyone given a Sword, or anything
else from the Magician. In fact, they couldn’t be sure what the Sword was. A real
sword? Or a metaphor?

The storyteller opened a book. From it, he pulled a folded sheet of paper. He
handed it to David C.
“Highest level meta-program …” David C. began to read. The group was holding
its breath now. “I believe that the anchor I set today will operate whenever I fire it,
shielded by my highest-level meta-program. No other belief that I have can stop me
from feeling excitement when I fire the anchor I set today.”
The storyteller looked at David C. “David C., do you believe what I am about to
tell you?” David C. nodded. “It’s up to you David C. to overpower any other meta-
program with this Sword. Nothing can stop you from feeling excitement when you fire
the anchor you set today, because I am giving you this Sword from the Magician.”
The storyteller looked up at the group. There was question in their faces. Would
it really work? What was the power in the Sword? How? The storyteller explained.
“The Sword is a powerful tool. It allows you to operate above the highest meta-
program that you currently have. In the case of David C., he has experienced
excitement. It is real enough. But as you pointed out, his thoughts about his confidence
lie in a higher-level meta-program. The Sword is a thought about the confidence meta-
program. Therefore, it is at a level one stage higher than the confidence meta-program.
The Sword is a belief about the relationship between the meta-program of confidence and
another meta-program. What is the other meta-program?”
“The excitement anchor,” someone said.
“No,” said the storyteller. “The excitement itself is only a level 1 meta state of
feeling in response to his internal stimulus.”
The storyteller continued, “I gave David C. another meta-program when I told
him that the anchor would operate, protected by his highest-level meta-program when he
fires it. He knows that he will feel excitement when he fires it, because he experienced
that today. I reminded him of that, and that thought provided him with a new meta-
program one level above the anchor—the thought that the anchor would always work for
him when it was fired.”
The storyteller continued. “The Sword is one level above both the thought about
the anchor and the thought about his confidence which the rest of you brought up. The
Sword is a thought about the relationship between other thoughts.”

“It’s getting confusing,” said David C. Some of the other younger boys nodded.
“You don’t have to understand the explanation,” said the storyteller. “Some of
you will understand it, and some of you won’t. Those who understand it will be able to
create their own Swords.”
There was a pause, as members of the group who did understand began to think
about the possibility of creating their own Swords, their own thoughts about the
relationships between their own strengths and their own weaknesses. Even without
resolving their weaknesses, they could overpower the weaknesses with new thoughts!
They could make their strengths the beliefs that mattered! A sense of power began to
sweep through the room, for some of the boys.

“For those of you who are feeling confused, focus on David C. David C. has set
a powerful new emotional anchor. Every time he fires it, he will feel excitement. I have
told him that he will feel the excitement as his highest conscious state. He believes me,
he has experienced the state of excitement, and it will happen for him. Now he has a
Sword. He can cut down any negative state or negative belief by firing his anchor and
overpowering the negative state. He knows it won’t resolve the negative state, but that
won’t matter. For the moment that he fires his anchor, in that moment of time and for as
long as he can hold onto it, he will make that excitement more important than anything
else. And it that moment in time, he will be able to do what he needs to do.”
Chapter 3. The Magician’s Girl.

Part 1.

The scene was a mix of business and pleasure. The city and various businesses
were sponsoring an evening of entertainment, which included a silent auction to raise
money for the city’s shelters. The activities were being held in the convention center
downtown, with numerous venues and thousands of people in attendance.

There were women everywhere. At each venue, there was a beautiful hostess
who worked for one of the corporate sponsors. Where food was being served, there were
dozens of waitresses. Where there were performances, women helped people find their
seats or assisted the performers. Where there was dancing, women were hired to
maintain the atmosphere of the event. In the large hallway where the charitable causes of
the evening were on display, women stood in booths answering questions and promoting
the impending auction. And coming and going were the many, many women who were
simply there to enjoy the entertainment, to bid at the auction or perhaps to meet
someone.

“Who should I talk to?” Neil asked Tyler.

“Pick the most high-value woman you think you can get!” said Tyler.

“You mean just look for the most beautiful woman, and see if she’ll give me her
number?” asked Neil.

“Basically,” said Tyler. “Isn’t that what we always do?”

In fact, that was exactly what Neil and Tyler always did. Meeting women was a
game. They had moved beyond simply keeping score by counting the phone numbers
they could get from ANY woman. Now they were scoring based on how hot looking the
woman was. So off they went, confidence reasonably in control, doing their approaches
and asking for phone numbers—and feeling pretty good about themselves. After all,
these were really hot women, and they were getting a phone number about 20 percent of
the time!

_________

At another part of the venue, Ben and Marie were taking a different approach.
Marie knew that she was just the wingman, but Ben was a friend and Marie was having a
fun time at the event.

“So who do you want to meet?” Marie asked Ben as she scanned the ballroom
for girls that looked like fun.

“She has to look good, obviously,” said Ben, “but look for a girl that seems like
she would be fun.”
 Ben’s approach was to try and make girls laugh and smile. He didn’t ask for a
number unless he made a connection with a girl. He wasn’t satisfied with just another
phone number as a trophy. He wanted to have lots of girlfriends, so that he could always
be assured of having a good time. Consequently, the girls he was looking for had to have
something extra in the personality department.

___________

Out in the hallway, Eban and David C. were talking to the girls that were
answering questions at the displays. They figured they probably didn’t have a chance of
getting to first base with any of these women, but at least the women were a captive
audience. No matter how bad their approach turned out, the girls couldn’t leave the
displays! So Eban and David C. were planning to get some practice, both to work on
their confidence issues and to practice their pickup techniques.

___________

Many others were attending the event. For dozens of men, it was like a pickup
convention. The event was tailor made for almost any pickup technique imaginable.
The women ranged from the high-class rich women milling about the auction thinking
about spending money to the trailer trash hanging around any place where alcohol was
being served.

Part 2.

Now, dear reader, to set the stage for what happened on this particular evening,
let’s make a quick note of the meta-programs running in each of the venues we have
identified above.

Neil and Tyler have as their central meta-program the idea that pickup is a game.
Like any game, keeping score is what the game is all about. As Neil and Tyler make
approach after approach, they have to deal with their confidence issues and the strengths
and weaknesses of their techniques. Nonetheless, the focus of their minds and bodies is
the central meta-program that this is a game.

Another central meta-program to Neil and Tyler is the idea that a woman’s value
is based on her physical beauty. To Neil, a tall thin woman was the ultimate prize. To
sleep with her, he considers the highest level of attainment in his world. Tyler preferred
a woman with large breasts. To sleep with her, he considers the ultimate confidence
builder and the ultimate pleasure.

Neil and Tyler, with their focus on their game, were oblivious to whatever meta
programs might be playing in the minds of the women that they approached. If they
discovered that the women were not open to their particular approach, they simply
moved on to another target until they received the response they were seeking.

_________
 Ben’s central meta-program was the idea that he was a fun person who brought
fun to women. Ben’s meta-program kept him upbeat at all times. If a girl didn’t respond
to his approach, he knew that he was still a fun person. If she did respond, it just proved
what a fun person he was.

With his focus on the meta-program thought of what a fun person he was, Ben
never thought too much about his confidence or approach anxiety. He felt some
nervousness right before an approach, but it never lasted. His mind was so focused on
the thought of being fun and bringing fun to the woman, that he didn’t have to deal with
confidence issues. Once he had learned a few techniques for being fun, he used the same
patterns over and over in his pickups.

Having Marie with him was an extra protection to his ego. Even if he got shot
down, she would be there to bring him back up right away. She was proof that he was a
fun person and that he brought fun to women. Occasionally, she would help him with
the approach, and she was always there to back him up. Any girl that looked at him
would see that he was having fun with Marie. The fact that he didn’t have to hire his
wingman, that he had a girl willing to go out with him to have fun meeting other women,
was further proof of just how fun he was. His central meta-program was well-protected
and ran very powerfully for Ben.

Ben and Marie expected to find women who were also running meta-programs
about having fun. Fun women would be the first to notice Ben and Marie talking and
smiling. Fun women would be the most likely to respond with a smile to Ben’s
approaches. Fun women were usually easy to spot, because they were already talking
with someone, laughing or doing something else that displayed their energy level.
Targeting the women who were already looking for fun gave Ben a high ratio of success.

_________

Eban and David C. were operating with a focus on their immediate physical
states. They were doing the same things with outer game that Neil and Tyler were doing,
but their thoughts were constantly monitoring their own state of anxiety. Most of their
energy was spent trying to control their basic emotional states.

They were getting better and better at managing their states, and working together
was a big help. They had reached a point where they could at least laugh about it after a
pickup. So their shared effort had taken a position of importance. Whether or not they
got a phone number was no longer the end of their mental process. In between
approaches, they could relax, discuss how they did, and at least feel normal as they got
ready for the next one. That was a major shift for each of them, and it meant that they
were able to practice repeatedly each night, instead of giving up and avoiding the
paralysis that a failed pickup would have created for them just a few weeks ago.

For Eban and David C. any woman would do. Status made no difference to
them. Even an ugly girl was good practice, as was the hottest model that would be sure
to reject them. These two determined souls were willing to build up the courage to try an
approach with anything that had two legs.

_________

Naturally, there were hundreds of other men in attendance at the event. Most of
them had no intention of approaching women. Perhaps they were in a relationship, and
so they only fantasized about other women. Perhaps they were too nervous and unskilled
when it came to approaching women, so they would never consider even trying.

Of course, their were also the very confident men who approached women quite
naturally. Some had no outer game, but because they were handsome, rich, or successful
in some other area of life, they seemed to believe that approaching was a normal part of
life. Those confident men with good outer game, however, had no trouble selecting and
meeting women at this particular event.

The hundreds of women at the various venues were also running a variety of meta
programs. Some women were there to work, while others were there for fun or to meet
men. Women in relationships were not expecting to meet anyone, while most of the
single women were at least open to the possibility. After all, an event like this was a
natural environment for social introductions to new people.

At a deeper level, whether or not women were open to meeting someone, they
each operated on the basis of different expectations concerning how they should be
approached by a potential candidate. They each had preferences about the appearance
and other characteristics of men they might meet. They each had thoughts about things
that mattered to them, which would catch their attention and interest if such a topic were
to come up during the evening.

Part 3.

Neil and Tyler were having an average night, despite the large numbers of
women. They had one or two phone numbers from really hot women, but they had
gradually started hitting on the less attractive women as the night wore on. The less
attractive women were simply more interested in the attention from these two obvious
players, while the higher value women seemed to be waiting for something more from
the large numbers of men approaching them.

Suddenly, both Neil and Tyler noticed the most gorgeous brunette that they had
seen the entire evening. She had long chocolate-brown hair, the most beautiful face they
had ever seen, large breast, a slender waist, a beckoning curve at the hips and long
slender legs. She was wearing a tight low-cut dress which accentuated her large chest
and long legs. She was walking slowly in their direction.

“We have to give her a try!” Neil whispered with enthusiasm. “I’m going to do a
gold walk-up diamond.”
 Tyler nodded. He gauged the woman’s direction and took up a position that
would require the woman to walk around him. He turned his back to her, in order to
ensure that he was non-threatening. He just wanted to be in her way, so that she would
have to slow down for Neil’s approach.

Neil was feeling a little more nervous that usual. He mentally triggered his “Oh,
baby!” state. Looking at the approaching woman, he noticed that she was wearing very
expensive, very high heels. He decided to use a comment approach on the heels. He
took a step back and to the side as the woman approached, looked down at her feet, and
said loudly, “Those shoes!” As she stopped and looked at him, Neil continued. “Do you
mind if I try one on?”

The woman smiled. “Haven’t you given any thought to my meta-programs in

choosing your approach?” she asked.

The men looked at each other, dumbfounded.

“I’ve seen the two of you going to the storyteller’s house before,” she continued,
“so I know that you know what I’m talking about.”

“Okay, I guess I’m caught,” said Neil. “We were trying to pick you up.”

“Don’t worry about it, boys,” said the woman. “I want to help you. My
boyfriend owns a club in town, The Heat. I think he could use a couple of extra players
like the two of you. But I do think your approach could benefit with some instruction
from a woman! Don’t you agree?”

Neil and Tyler looked at each other and nodded with obvious enthusiasm. They
were interested in learning, but all they could focus on was how beautiful this woman
was. They would have been interested in anything that she had to say.

“My name is Venus,” said the woman. “Let’s go sit down and talk for a minute
about your approaches.”

The boys followed Venus to a café, where they all took a seat and ordered
something to drink.

“So what is the meta-program of the woman you’ve been having success with?”
asked Venus, getting right to the point. When the boys were slow to respond, she
snapped her fingers. “Wake up, boys. If I’m going to help you with your approach,
you’ve got to stop thinking about my breasts, and pay attention to your thoughts.”

Tyler didn’t want to stop thinking about making his next move on Venus. In his
mind, he was already leading her into his bedroom after getting her over to his place.
His thoughts were interrupted as Venus put her right hand on his cheek, looked into his
eyes, and said, “I’m not going over to your place, Tyler. Your fantasies are hurting your
game.”
 Tyler was sure that he had not told Venus his name. It also occurred to him that
she might have been reading his thoughts, if she really knew that he had been thinking
about getting her over to his place. He didn’t mind, but it was enough to get his
attention. What was he thinking about during pickup? It was usually thoughts about
what he wanted to do later with the woman he was working on. Were his fantasies really
hurting his game?

“That’s better,” said Venus. “Think about your thoughts. What are you thinking
about during a pickup? From start to finish.”

“The first step is identifying the woman,” said Tyler, his brain functioning
properly now. “I start by looking for a hot looking girl. Our approach is to get her
phone number, and then follow up with the best looking girls. So the second step is to
pick one of our routines, approach with confidence, and give it a go.”

“It’s a meta-program the storyteller talks about,” added Neil. “He says that once
you have a focus, you have to pick a behavior, act on it, get feedback on the result, adjust
the behavior, act, get feedback, and continue until you’ve achieved the result you are
after.”

“Sure,” said Venus. “but don’t you think you’re ready for a little more that just
adjusting your routines? After all, you’re only getting a number about 20% of the time
when the girl is really attractive. Why not learn something to push that up to 50%?”

“The woman’s meta-program?” asked Neil, picking up on what Venus had

mentioned earlier.

“That’s right,” said Venus. “You boys are selecting women and an approach
based on what is going on inside your own heads. That’s why you are getting a low
success ratio. Your program matches up with the woman’s program only one out of five
times, unless she is not really attractive and would be interested in any attention.”

“So what do you suggest?” asked Neil. He didn’t get it. How was he supposed to
know what meta-programs were operating inside of a beautiful woman?

“Every approach should begin with observation of the woman,” said Venus. “For
example, as I walked toward to two of just a few moments ago, you could have been
thinking about what I might want. Instead, both of you were simply reviewing in your
minds the steps for each of the techniques you might use to get my attention. The only
observation you made was that I was wearing shoes! If I hadn’t been headed your
direction to talk to you, your approach would have offered me nothing. Even worse,
even though you knew you had almost no chance with me, your minds were already
fantasizing about me. As I said, you can’t expect to succeed with women if you prefer
fantasy over improvement.”

“Are you a mind reader?” asked Tyler. “Do you really know what we were
thinking about?”
 Venus smiled. Without answering his question directly, she said, “Figuring out
what the two of you are thinking isn’t hard! As I said, every approach should begin with
observation. I noticed that the two of you have simply been running pickup systems on
different women all evening long. I also observed that you used the same 4 or 5 routines
at random, without any tailoring of the technique to the woman you were approaching.”

“So how do we know what meta-programs a girl is running?” asked Neil.

“There is a large list of potential meta-programs,” said Venus. “I’ll give you
some examples. If you start practicing observation of women’s meta-programs, you’ll
learn to figure them all out before long.”

Venus then ran down a list of female meta-programs that might be operating
during an evening out on the town, such as this. She discussed which approaches might
work best with each type of woman, based on her meta-programs. She suggested ways
to observe how the woman’s meta-programs were affecting her response and how to
adjust to either neutralize or get around meta-programming that might be limiting the
pickup process.

When Venus was through talking, she dropped a business card on the table.
“Here’s my boyfriend’s card,” she said. “If you want a little part-time work promoting
The Heat, just show the card to the doorman. He’ll let you know where to go to get
started.”

“How about your number?” asked Neil.

“Keep practicing,” said Venus. She flashed them a smile, turned and walked
briskly out the door.

_________

Venus was laughing and talking to a bartender when she was approached by Ben
and Marie. Ben couldn’t resist her obvious beauty and apparent charisma. He whispered
something to Maries and the two of them walked up to the bar as if Ben was going to
order drinks for them.

The bartender paid no attention to Ben, his focus being entirely on Venus. Ben
played it cool and looked off in another direction, while Marie nonchalantly joined in the
conversation with Venus and the bartender. Once the three of them were engaged, Ben
turned, whispered something to Marie, and she moved her position to non-verbally invite
him into the circle of their conversation.

“Send our drinks to the pool room, John,” said Venus to the bartender as Ben
moved close enough to hear. “Come on, you two, let’s move to the back room where we
can talk while we shoot some pool.”

The bartender took a drink order from Ben and Marie, and then the three guests
walked to a separate room in the back of the bar. A bouncer was just setting up the pool
table, while the four people who had been playing previously exited to room. A waitress
set three drinks on a table, and she and the bouncer left the room, leaving Venus alone
with Ben and Marie. Ben picked up a cue stick and made the opening break.

“Ben,” began Venus, “I understand that you’re all about having a good time.”

“I don’t think I’ve ever met someone who was more committed to fun than I am,”
said Ben. He handed the cue stick to Marie to take the next shot.

“So why not take it to the next level?” asked Venus.

“Sure,” said Ben. “What did you have in mind.”

“Sex,” said Venus, suddenly looking directly at Ben. Ben blushed. Venus picked
up the chalk, and turned to walk around the table as her words sunk in.

“The two of you, make a good pair,” said Venus, as she lined up a shot.

“We’re just friends,” injected Marie. She glanced at Ben, smiling, hiding any
nervous tension without any difficulty.

“Of course,” said Venus. “I’ve watched the two of you operate. You’re very
good at helping Ben meet beautiful, interesting women. I can see that you’re both
having a good time – at least until you go home. I’m just curious as to why the two of
you always go home alone.”

Ben was beginning to feel uncomfortable. The conversation was exceeding his
safe self-image of a fun guy that could make any girl smile.

Marie just shrugged it off. “I haven’t met the guy I want as a boyfriend,” she
said. “Ben’s a great friend, and I’m happy hanging out with him. When he hooks up
with someone, I’m happy to give him his space to do what he wants.”

It was Ben’s turn to take the next shot, and he could feel the girls looking at him.
It was his turn to speak, as well. Instead, he lined up a shot in silence. He hit the cue
ball and nearly missed the ball he was aiming for, a very bad shot.

Venus laughed good naturedly. “Oh, Ben,” she said. “I’ve put you on the spot
and made you uncomfortable. Please accept my apology, and do take another shot.”

Ben laughed with her. He acknowledged his nerves, took another shot, and this
time made it. The conversation resumed on another topic, and play continued. But as
Ben watched Venus shoot, he began looking at her legs, her body, and he began thinking
about the thought she had planted. He would love to take her home and make love to
her. Why didn’t his game include a plan for getting a girl alone? Was it because of
Marie? Did he fear offending her? Was he afraid to be alone with a woman? What
would his game be when the appropriate topic was something physical, instead of just
laughing and having fun as a group?
 Ben began to realize that he was somewhat of a loner, when he wasn’t out with
Marie meeting girls. Well, he could talk to Marie about anything. He had his guy
friends. He had numbers for plenty of women that he could count on for fun. But as he
thought about it, he didn’t feel real intimacy with any of them. He felt uncomfortable.
He had avoided ever really thinking about intimacy with anyone. He was so much more
at ease just having fun without taking on the burden of needing to score.

Ben wondered if Marie would sleep with him. He wondered if he slept with
Marie how that would affect her willingness to be his wingman. He resolved to talk with
her about it. He needed to expand his game to include taking women back to his place,
and he needed Marie to be a part of that, one way or another.

As Ben reached his resolve, Venus excused herself, leaving Ben and Marie alone
in the pool room.

_________

While Eban watched, David C. approached a woman who was providing

information about the charity auction that was to take place in just over an hour. She had
a dazzling smile. She was just the right height and very attractive.

She was all business, so when David C. popped out with a corny line, she smiled
and asked him if he had any questions about the auction that she could answer. David C.
asked a lame question, to which he had obviously given no thought. They woman
provided a brief response to turned to look for anyone else who might have a relevant
question. “We’ll look for you at the auction,” she said politely, looking back over her
shoulder at David C.

Eban slapped David C. on the back as he walked back to where Eban had been
watching. “Nice try, buddy,” said Eban laughing.

“She was only interested in the auction,” said David C. frowning. Let’s go find a
bar, where there might be girls interested in meeting guys. I’m getting tired of practicing
approaches on girls that are just here to work.

As they began to turn, Venus took Eban by the hand. “Would you come with me
for a moment?” she asked politely.

Eban nodded.

“Good,” said Venus. “Then let me take your arm. Lead me back to that woman
that David C. was just speaking with.”

As they approached, Venus struck up a conversation with the woman concerning

the auction. First, she asked about price ranges, quality of the items being sold,
verification of quality or authenticity, and other particulars of the auction. The woman
was knowledgeable and seemed quite happy to provide as much helpful information as
she was able. Venus remained holding onto Eban’s arm, and from time to time, she
created enough of a pause to allow Eban to interject a comment or a question on the
topic.

Second, Venus asked the woman about her background as it related to the
auction. As the woman explained, she worked as a spokes model. She had been hired
several weeks ago to work at the auction. She had memorized all of the information that
was needed to promote the auction before it began. She did other similar work for large
companies. She occasionally did photoshoots, but her primary work involved working
with salespeople at tradeshows or similar events.

Third, Venus asked if she had come from out of town and would she be staying
after the event was over. She was from out of town. She would be staying in the
Marriot hotel through the weekend—to get a better rate on her airplane fare.

“My boyfriend owns a club here in town,” said Venus. “We would be honored to
have you as a guest tomorrow evening.”

“Oh, is this your boyfriend?” asked to woman, smiling at Eban. It was apparent
that his value had just risen with the suggestion that he owned a club.

“Oh, no,” said Venus gaily. “This is Eban, his is a good friend of mine and my
boyfriend. Give him your room number at the Marriot, and he can arrange to pick you
up tomorrow evening.” Venus looked at Eban with a slight pause. “That’s alright with
you, isn’t it Eban? You don’t have plans with someone else do you?”

“That would be fine,” said Eban. Somehow he controlled his excitement. The
conversation, lead by Venus, had seemed like the most natural thing in the world.

The woman pulled a business card out of her purse. On the back she wrote the
number for the Marriot and her room number. “Give me a call at lunchtime, tomorrow,”
she said to Eban with a smile.

“Sounds great,” said Eban. Eban and Venus turned and walked off in the
direction opposite where David C. had been watching.

After turning the corner, they stopped to wait for David C. to catch up. Venus
handed her boyfriend’s card to Eban and explained to him what he would need to do the
following evening when he arrived at The Heat with the spokesmodel from out of town.

As David C. walked up to the two of them with a grin on his face, Venus gave
him a kiss on the mouth. David C. and Eban looked at her in amazement, the look on
their faces clearly questioning what on earth she was up to.

“I had to give you something, David,” said Venus. “After all, Eban got to meet
the girl, he’ll have lunch with her tomorrow, probably take her shopping, and then the
two of them will be going to The Heat tomorrow night. Unfortunately, you won’t be
able to join us, since you bombed with the same woman just a few minutes before she
met Eban.”

David C. grinned. “I’ve had a lot of other disappointments in my life, you

know,” he said with a smile. “Any chance you might help make up for some of the other
ones?”

Venus gave him a genuine laugh. “Some other time,” she said. “For now, just
remember the lesson of the evening.”

“What do we need to remember?” asked David C.

“Remember that when you operate inside a woman’s existing meta-frames, you
enter her world, David. That woman had no interest in a pickup. She was here this
evening to do a job, which she took quite seriously. Eban and I entered that world. We
became her customers. We talked about the appropriate subject at hand and how it
related to her. Only when we were firmly living in that reality with her did we make an
invitation that lead to her date with Eban. And I think if you ask Eban, he didn’t spend
even a second worrying about being nervous through the entire conversation. Much
better to be in her world than the nervous world that you approached her with, David!”

Eban shook his head. Venus had been leading the conversation, of course, but it
had seemed so natural, there had been nothing to worry about. ‘Thanks,” he said to
Venus.

Venus smiled at them both, winked at David C., and walked away.

Part 4.

As Neil and Tyler exited the café where they had been left by Venus, a stunning
blonde woman paused outside the doorway to let them pass.

Neil immediately took a step back to hold the door open for her. “Allow me,” he
said, and then added, “The latte is rather good here. Have you been here before?”

“No,” said the woman, innocently. “I usually don’t stop at places like this. It’s
just been a long night.”

Neil waived to Tyler to stay out of the way. “How about if I order you
something, then?” Neil suggested to the blonde woman.

“Okay,” she said. “You’re friend is welcome to join us, too,” she added.

Neil looked at Tyler. He rolled his eyes, not letting the girl see his
disappointment. At least he ought to be able to get her number, he thought. And if they
were lucky, she would end up having a friend. The three of them went back into the
café.
 Neil looked at the girl, trying to make an observation. He came up with nothing.
“Latte, then?” he asked. She smiled her approval. Neil ordered two lattes. Tyler
ordered his own.

“So what brings you to the evenings event?” Neil asked the blonde woman.

“Oh, a friend asked me to come,” she said. Both of the boys began thinking
boyfriend. After all, a woman this hot was not going to be on her own. And the fact that
she had been so willing to join the two of them for a latte suggested that she had little
concern about their intentions.

“Perhaps we should let your friend know where you are,” said Tyler. Neil
couldn’t decide whether Tyler was hoping it was a girlfriend or if Tyler was just trying to
spoil Neil’s chances for success. “We would love to meet them, too,” added Tyler.

“Thanks,” she said, “but he didn’t come tonight. Besides, I’m sure the two of
you can keep me company for awhile.”

Neil was started to wonder about his good luck. Maybe it was something that had
rubbed off from Venus. Now that he had talked with a stunning beauty like her, maybe
all the gorgeous girls would want to talk to him. He was about to begin a fantasy about
taking two girls home at the end of the night, but he stopped himself. He remembered
Venus’ advice about how fantasizing was hurting his game, and he returned his attention
to the blonde woman. “I didn’t catch your name,” he said politely.

“Amy,” she answered sweetly.

Neil still didn’t have a clue where to go with his game, so he started introducing
the cube.

“Oh, I love cube!” Amy said, her voice rising with excitement.

“Oh, sorry, you’ve heard it before,” said Neil.

“Oh, sure,” said Amy. “I’ve heard them all. But the cube is one of my favorites.
Let’s do it together, all three of us!”

“The three of us are alone together in a vast, barren desert,” began Tyler.

Amy interrupted, “You know the first guy who used the cube on me thought that
the desert was dessert. I imagined a bowl full of jello with a little tiny cube of jello for
the cube!” The three of them laughed.

Tyler continued. “In the desert is a cube, a ladder, a horse, a storm and flowers.
Describe.”
 “You’re supposed to describe the dessert, first,” said Neil. “Then you do the
cube, the ladder, etc. You don’t introduce them all at once.”

“Well,” said Tyler, “I figured since we’ve all heard it before, we might as well
not waste any time with the setup. Who is going to start?”

“Neil will,” said Amy, smiling at him.

For the second time that night, Neil found himself wondering about how girls he
had just met seemed to already know his name. “Tyler must have used my name,” he
thought.

Neil began. “Well, since there are no surprises, the dessert represents my life.
While there is barrenness in the distance, I am surrounded by a lush oasis. Everything
around me is well-watered and growing. I –“

“Good grief,” interrupted Tyler. “Instead of trying to make your life look like
such a heavenly place, try just imagining a desert and describing it.”
“You go first,” said Amy, motioning to Tyler.

Tyler closed his eyes and pictured a desert. He began listing words to describe
the dessert. “Warm, lots of Dunes, its early in the morning and the sun has not yet come
up, so there is dew glistening on the leaves of small bushes here and there. Small
animals are licking the dew off the leaves and looking for shade to shield them from the
sun as it begins to rise.”

When Tyler opened his eyes, he noticed that Amy had her eyes closed.
“Mmmm,” she said softly. “Very good. Continue with the cube, now. The Cube
describes you.”

“Tyler’s cube has a huge penis,” interrupted Neil. He chuckled at his humor.

Amy opened her eyes and smiled. “Is that true, Tyler? Are you picturing a cube
with a large penis?”

Tyler took Neil’s joke like a good sport. “I hadn’t noticed that at first. But now
that you mention it, it does appear to be true.”

“Okay, go on,” urged Amy. She closed her eyes again.

Tyler continued, discussing the cube he imagined, which represented himself. He

described the ladder in terms that applied to his friends. He described the horse, which
represented his imagined lover. He described the storm and how the cube, the ladder and
the horse reacted as it approached. The three of them began to discuss Tyler’s life and
the problems represented by the storm. Neil and Amy each shared a little of the same
ideas from their own lives. They never got to the flowers and his feelings toward
children that the flowers represented.
 As the discussion of the storm began to wrap up, Neil and Tyler could sense that
their conversation with Amy was coming to a close.

“Are we going to get your number,” asked Tyler.

“You’ve done better than that,” said Amy. “I’ll bet that was the first time you
really opened up and talked to a girl about yourself, isn’t it?”

Tyler nodded. Even Neil seemed impressed by Tyler’s self-revelations.

“I know you two are really budding players,” said Amy. “I just wanted to show
you another angle on your game. When you find a girl that you really like, if you get the
chance, do something to make a real connection. You can get every girl’s number in the
entire city, but if you fail to connect with any of them, why are you doing it?”

Amy’s question hung in the air for a moment, before anyone responded.

“You’ve got to love the cube,” said Neil.

“Thanks for the latte, boys,” said Amy standing up. “I’ll see you around.” She
walked out the front door of the café without glancing back.

As she walked away, Neil and Tyler’s thoughts turned to the cube and making
love to Amy in the middle of the cool, dew covered desert that Tyler had just described.
A new standard had been born in each of their minds, and they both wanted a girl that
was open to a connection like that.

_________

Back in the pool room, Ben turned to Marie. “Have you ever thought about
having sex?” Ben asked her.

“Please,” said Marie. “You’re not really going to go there, are you?”

“I don’t know,” confessed Ben. “I mean, maybe Venus is right. Maybe I need to
score now and then. She just got me wondering if I am just avoiding getting intimate
with women, because I have some kind of hidden fears about intimacy or something.”

“We talk about everything, Ben,” answered Marie. “You’re not afraid of
women.”

“Well then, why don’t I even take girls home?” asked Ben. “Sure, we can have a
great time, out on the town. But it would be nice to have something more than just
casual friendship, wouldn’t it?”

“So you want sex?” asked Marie with a sarcastic tone.

 “Well, you’re my friend,” said Ben.

Marie cut him off. “You want to have sex with me? Is that it?”

“Well, no, its just that, you know, you’re my wingman. You make everything
easy for me …”

“Oh, my hell!” Marie interjected again. “I can’t believe you want me to help you
get sex! I thought you were just about having fun, Ben. What’s with this sudden
insecurity about having sex?”

At that moment, a blond woman entering the room caught their attention. Ben
and Marie stopped arguing.

“Did someone say sex?” asked the woman, laughing. The tension disappeared
instantly, and the three of them began laughing together.

“I’m Amy,” she said. “Care for another round?”

Ben and Marie couldn’t decide is she was suggesting another round of drinks or
another round of billiards. “Sure,” they both said at once. Marie took a step forward to
rack up the balls. Ben took two steps toward the door to order drinks. He turned to ask
Amy what she wanted to drink. As he did, she raised a finger to point toward the door.
A waitress was already entering with three drinks.

“So how long have the two of you been talking about sex?” asked Amy, smiling
as she surveyed the pool table, not looking at either of them.

For some reason, Ben did not feel uncomfortable with the subject this time.

Marie answered first. “Oh, it was just something that someone else brought up.
We don’t usually talk about it.”

“Judging from how loud your voices were getting,” began Amy, “it sounded like
the two of you might actually be looking for a sex therapist!” This time Marie blushed.

“It’s okay,” continued Amy sweetly. “For as long as the two of you have been
together, don’t you think it’s about time that you did talk about sex?” Marie’s face grew
even hotter.

Amy continued talking. “Ben could really use your input, Marie,” she said.
“Men spend a lot of energy using sex as a pathway to self-validation. It’s easy for a
strange woman to come along and offer them sex and get them started down the wrong
way of thinking about it.”

Marie was beginning to see what Amy was suggesting. Whether she wanted to
sleep with Ben or not was immaterial. Ben was getting ready to expand his comfort zone
with women, and he could either enter his next intimate relationship maturely, or he
could do it self-destructively.

“She’s right, Ben,” began Marie. “You’ve been a really good friend. You are a
lot of fun. If you want to get closer to women physically, you have to be prepared to get
closer emotionally, as well. Otherwise, sex is just going to separate you from the good
relationships that someone like you can have with women.”

Ben wasn’t sure that he was ready to confess that he felt some insecurity about
taking the next step to having sex with the girls he met, but it was true that what Venus
had said did start his thinking about his ability to get sex as a measurement of his self-
worth, rather than as a part of increasing intimacy with a woman. Ben didn’t say
anything.

“I think he understands,” said Amy.

The subject changed to something about having fun, and the three of them
continued to play pool for another hour, before Amy left Ben and Marie alone together.

_________

The name on the spokesmodel’s business card was Brooke. When Eban called
Brooke the following day, he was a bundle of nervous energy. He had already spent 15
minutes discussing with David C. what the right time to call would be. Should he call at
11:30 to give her time to get ready, or would he come across as too eager? They both
agreed that waiting until 12:30 would probably make her mad, since she had told him to
call her for lunch. He decide to call at 11:50 from his cell phone, 10 minutes before he
would arrive at the hotel. So that meant he had 20 spare minutes from 11:30 to 11:50 to
think about his emotional state. Thank DieBold that the storyteller had showed them
how to set anchors!

When he called, Brooke picked up the phone. “Oh, hello, Eban! I’ve been
waiting for you to call,” she said. “Can I meet you downstairs in the hotel restaurant?”

“Sure,” said Eban.

“Okay,” said Brooke. “Right after you left last night, I met a girl named Amy.
I’ll be sitting with her in the restaurant. We’ll wait for you to arrive before we order.”
Brooke hung up the phone.

Eban grew twice as nervous. Two women. But then he realized that the two of
them would probably do most of the talking. He could just sit back and play along, and
he wouldn’t have to come up with anything to talk about! This could be as easy as last
night had been with Venus providing the conversation.

When Eban walked into the restaurant and saw Amy, the nervousness surged
back. She was better looking that Brooke and the equal of Venus. He hoped that he
would be able to keep up with the conversation without looking like a total hick.
 Brooke spotted Eban, and waved to him. He fired off is confidence anchor and
approached the table at a quick walk. “Enter their world. Enter their world,” he
repeated to himself.

When he sat down, the girls were talking about modeling, but they quickly turned
their attention to Eban. “So how did you meet the owner of The Heat?” asked Brooke.

Eban’s mind raced for an answer that would put him in the best light. He
couldn’t tell Brooke that he had never even been to The Heat. Brooke was probably
expecting him to be some kind of high-powered business manager, someone who would
be able to help advance her career as a spokesmodel. He certainly couldn’t tell Brooke
that he didn’t even know Venus. What would Brooke think if she knew that he was
nothing more than “David C.’s best friend” -- you know, the lame guy that tried to pick
you up last night right before me? He needed an explanation that made him out to be a
player in the business world on some level.

“Actually, I was just introduced to the man last night,” said Eban. “I’m expecting
to meet him tonight.”

Eban wasn’t sure that he would see Venus or the owner of The Heat when he
went there with Brooke, tonight. His best chance of another meeting with Venus was the
fact that Venus had made the invitation to Brooke on the basis of her relationship with
the owner. Venus must know that Brooke would be expecting to see her there.

“Well, that makes two of us,” said Brooke giggling. She was definitely interested
in meeting the high-powered business types, thought Eban.

“So what business are you in, Eban?” Amy inquired.

Now Eban was really in a corner. He had no real job. He was just getting a
website set up. It sure would be nice if he were a couple of months further ahead with
the project. It would be nice if he could at least report that the website was making
money. But Eban didn’t figure he could get away with claiming that he was a lawyer or
a doctor, either.

“I do work in the internet,” said Eban. He was still telling the truth so far, that
was good.

“What’s the name of your website?” asked Brooke with clear interest.

“Oh, I’m just setting it up, right now,” said Eban. “The concept is a business to
business information portal.”

“Need a spokesmodel for the site?” asked Brooke, playfully.

 “I’m sure I couldn’t afford you right now, Brooke!” said Eban. “Maybe next
month, when the first $100,000 comes in!” Eban was joking, but the girls seemed to take
his statement at face value.

“Amy and I were just talking about modeling,” said Brooke. “Sometimes it
doesn’t hurt to do a shoot just to get your name out to a more broad base.”

Eban grinned. She was offering to do a photoshoot for his website, just for the
publicity. But if he told her much more about his website concept, she was going to
figure out that he was not the kind of guy that a hot model hooks up with for free
publicity. Suddenly, an idea came to him.
“Do you have a website?” Eban asked Brooke. “Something I could look up to get
an idea about your work?” If the answer was yes, they could talk about her website. If
the answer was no, he could create a website for her, and she would never have to know
about his startup concept.

“I have some photos up on onemodelplace,” said Brooke. “But I don’t have my

own site. I know you can pay someone to set up a website for a model for not a lot of
money, but I don’t just want to promote myself as another girl in a swimsuit and lingerie.
Most of my work is with salespeople, so I need a more professional website that talks as
much about sales concepts as it does about my photos and charming personality!” She
giggled.

Eban was dying to suggest a partnership, but he knew he wouldn’t be able to keep
up with a girl like Brooke. He could design a great website. He could even help with the
content. Hell, with the business concepts he had been studying, he could really put
together some top notch promotional material for a girl like Brooke if she wanted to help
motivate and train sales people!

Still, he lived in an apartment with David C. They had no real job and no real
business experience. It was a pipedream.

“The nice thing about a dream,” said Amy, “is that you usually know just what
you need. It’s just a matter of making it happen.” Amy was looking at Eban as though
she expected him to respond.

“You’re right,” said Eban, considering what she had said. He was thinking about
turning his dream of a money-producing website into a reality. All he need to do was
follow through, and maybe his business to business ideas would make a profit for him.

But then a nod from Amy caught his attention. Amy’s nod turned his attention to
Brooke, and he realized that Brooke had been caught up in the same thought. She was
thinking about turning her dream of a spokesmodel website into a reality. She knew
what she wanted. All she needed was the web designer who could make it happen for
her.

“What do you think, Brooke?” ventured Eban. “I’ll bet between the two of us,
we can turn your ideas into a reality.”
 Brooke was really grinning now.

Eban’s mind really took a turn in a new direction. Beautiful model having lunch
with him. Beautiful model wanting him to help her with a website. He wasn’t bad
looking. He was in good physical shape. No money, but he didn’t have to support her.
They could work together, and maybe he would find out that looks and money and all
that weren’t the things that mattered the most to her. “Is this how average guys end up
with the hot women?” he wondered to himself.

Amy winked at Eban. “I thought we’d be going shopping this afternoon,” she
said. “But now I think we ought to grab laptop and start working on Brooke’s website!”

They all agreed. Brooke had a laptop in her room. She brought it down, and the
three of them found a Starbucks where they could access the internet and sit for as long
as they wanted for the price of three drinks every hour.

When Brooke got up to go to the bathroom, Amy whispered to Eban, “You were
right to enter her world. But it’s not just for meeting girls. That will get old, fast. When
you really start to care about what she cares about, you’ll find that you can develop a
real, lasting connection with some girls. The right girl for you is going to have a place
where your interests and her interest meet. Don’t forget to look for that, too.”

When Brooke returned, she looked at Amy. “Do you want to come with us
tonight to The Heat? Is that okay with you, Eban? The owner’s girlfriend invited me
last night, since I was going to be here in town for the weekend.”

Eban nodded his approval. Going to The Heat with two hot girls had to count for
something!

But Amy declined. “I know the owner,” she said. “I don’t think he would be
entirely happy to see me!”

… to be continued.
Chapter 4. The Monster’s Game.

Part 1.

The best part about having a job promoting The Heat was the “marketing” tips
that the management constantly provided. Marketing training began the day Neil and
Tyler first showed up at the Heat.

Following the instructions from Venus, Neil and Tyler reported to the doorman at
The Heat the following evening. The doorman was tall, well-built and well-dressed, a
male model type. When Neil and Tyler handed him the owner’s card, the doorman
looked the two of them over, mentally considering whether or not they qualified for
entry. After a moment, he told them to follow him, and he turned and lead them into the
club.

The three of them entered a doorway behind the end of the bar. A girl
immediately followed them into the room to take a drink order. The doorman whispered
something to her and left the room. After taking an order from Neil and Tyler, the girl
also left, and the two boys found themselves alone in the room.

The room was lavishly decorated, expensive carpet, leather couches, artwork on
the tables and the walls. The one category of item that seemed out of place were the
photographs of various men and women hanging on the walls. Several of them were
familiar to Neil and Tyler. There was a signed photo of Ross Jeffries, with prostitutes
hanging on each arm. There were photos of Carlos Xuma, Dr. Paul, Mystery, David X.
and others. All of the photos seemed equally ridiculous in one aspect or another.

The first person to come into the room was the girl with their drinks.

“Do you know who we are waiting for?” asked Neil.

“You’re waiting for Donny,” replied the girl. “We always start new recruits with
fashion advice.”

“How do you know that we are new recruits?” Neil asked.

The girl giggled – probably not a good comment on their current fashion status.
“Because you are in the Clown Room, and because you don’t have the necessary
accessories to be anything else!” She giggled again, and again left them alone in the
room.

The girl wore a tag with the name “Joy” on it. Tyler made a mental note to make
a pass at Joy, after he had the necessary accessories.

Donny arrived a minute later.

Donny described the basic fashion requirements of working as a promoter for The
Heat. Neil and Tyler were forbidden from wearing jeans, unless they were black.
Promoters were expected to wear slacks whenever they entered the club or any location
where being well-dressed would be appropriate.

Donny instructed Neil and Tyler to find two accessories to become a part of their
daily wardrobe. One accessory would need to be a status symbol, and one accessory
would need to be a conversation piece. Alvin would be in to see them next, and he
would describe the significance of the accessories.

The rest of the basic clothing set was designed around the pants and the two main
accessories. Dress could range from a jacket with a shirt and tie to something much
more radical—provided that it was in keeping with the standard set by the pants.
Sunglasses were always potentially appropriate.

[Dear reader: Please note that the fashion guide provided in the previous three paragraphs
applies to employees of The Heat. If you want to be a promoter, you may want to read
further to learn more about the reasons for the various fashion requirements. Otherwise,
please recognize that you are free to adopt whatever fashion you consider consistent with
the image you intend to portray.]

Part 2.

Alvin made no introductions when he entered. “I’m here to make sure you have
the necessary marketing materials for your work as a promoter for The Heat,” said Alvin.

“Are we going to get some kind of manual?” asked Neil.

“Of course not,” said Alvin. “We’re not going to turn you loose on the city until
we’re sure you have what you need upstairs.” He tapped the side of his head to show
where upstairs was located. “We’re not trying to turn out more clowns here.” As he said
the word “clowns,” he glanced at the photograph of Dr. Paul on the wall.

Alvin turned to Tyler. “Tell me a story about something you are wearing,” he
demanded.

Tyler looked down at his pants. “I bought these jeans at Wal-mart,” he said with
a laugh. Alvin wasn’t impressed by his humor. Tyler looked at what else he was
wearing. There really wasn’t anything worth commenting on.

“How about you, then?” Alvin said, turning to Neil.

“I was shopping for a new suit the other day. I was wearing these same shoes. I
had the distinct impression that the guy fitting me for the suit was gay. Well, anyway, he
glances at my shoes and says to me, ‘Is it true that a guy who wears saddle shoes doesn’t
care what the world thinks?’ I said, ‘Well, it is true that I don’t care what the world
thinks, but I had no idea that my shoes were saying that about me.’ The guy got this look
on his face like I was some kind of a stud, and he says in an almost husky voice, ‘Believe
me, they do.’ The guy gave me his number when I paid for the suit. He said it was in
case I had any questions about the suit, but I figured it was the first phone number I had
gotten from a gay man.”

Alvin smiled. “Not bad,” he said. “Keep that story.”

Alvin continued. “Your clothing needs to tell a story about you. The accessories,
which you obviously don’t have yet, are going to be the most important. I’ll help you
with those. But you’re going to be picking the rest of your own clothes, and I want you
to keep stories in mind every time you add a new main piece to what you intend to
wear.”

“Why stories?” asked Tyler.

“Because stories,” said Alvin, “will be your primary marketing tool for The Heat
and for yourself. No one is interested in people without anything interesting to say. We
want our promoters to influence people, and your image and the stories you tell are going
to be the methods you use to influence people. Very subtle. Very powerful.” Alvin
looked at Neil and Tyler to make sure they understood.

“So these stories need to have a point then, right?” asked Tyler.

“Of course,” said Alvin. “Your story about the gay man being attracted to you.
It won’t be one of your main stories, after I teach you the real art of designing powerful
stories, but it would let a woman know that your style is attractive to gay men. That
story could be used to enhance your authority as a someone with fashion sense. If
someone questions your style, you set the story up by informing them that gay men
approve of your fashion sense. Therefore, you must know what you’re doing. You tell
the story to prove the point.”

“Okay,” said Neil, “so what are the accessories? And what kind of stories do we
tell?”

Alvin pulled out a large manila envelop. It contained a ring and a watch. He
handed the ring to Neil and the watch to Tyler. The ring was platinum. It had an outline
of a skull and a single inlaid ruby in the center.

“That looks expensive,” said Neil, as he accepted the ring.

“Oh, it is,” said Alvin. “And it is not yours. I’m loaning it to you.”

Neil nodded. “And the story?”

“This ring is your status symbol accessory,” said Alvin. “It tells people that you
work for The Heat. When you tell the story, you will be doing two things. Foremost,
you will be installing the belief in your listeners that The Heat is a very high status club.
Second, you will be communicating that you are a high status individual.”
 “This is the story,” continued Alvin. “This ring was given to you by the owner of
The Heat. He said that he gave it to you for two reasons. First, he wanted to remind you
that working for The Heat is a very exclusive honor. When you look at this ring, you
will remember that there this is the only ring like it in the world. The value of the ring is
more than $10,000, and it has a very mysterious origin. Second, he wanted to remind
you that you are bound to The Heat as long as you own this ring. The only way that you
can leave his employ is to return this ring with your resignation.”

“Is that true?” asked Neil.

“It is,” said Alvin, looking into Neils eyes.

“Then what is the origin of the ring?” asked Neil.

“It’s good that you asked,” said Alvin. “I want you to remember that you should
only tell the mystery of the ring to people who ask you specifically about the origin of
the ring. If you want them to ask, you have to set them up for it just as I did. Do you
understand?”

Neil nodded. Alvin then told the story of the ring’s origin, and at the end again
swore Neil and Tyler to keep the story secret, except when someone specifically asked
the origin of the ring.

When he was done, Tyler asked. “So the ring is a symbol, isn’t it?”

“It is,” said Alvin. “A powerful symbol when the story is properly told. It is a
symbol that can open a door of influence to the mind of anyone who listens to the story,
as you have. You feel that you would believe anything I might say right now, don’t you?
You will not want to point that out to people to whom you tell the story, but you will
recognize the influence you gain when the story is property told by you.”

“Does the ring actually have magical properties?” asked Neil.

“Believe whatever you like,” said Alvin critically, “but I highly doubt it. Are you
understanding what I am teaching you here? You need to learn to use symbols and
stories to influence people. Do you get that part? The ring is an object, nothing more at
first. The conscious mind recognizes it and says “ring.” We give you and unique object,
so that there will be some curiosity concerning the object.” He paused. “Because, when
you assign meaning to the ring, by telling stories about it, then it takes on new meanings.
The new meanings are not recognizable to the conscious mind. They are abstract
concepts that have to be processed by people in their subconscious mind. They construct
an image of the meaning in their minds as they listen to the story. Now you have two
avenues into the subconscious mind. You have a physical object, which you can use as
an anchor or trigger whenever you want to remind someone of the meaning of the story.
You don’t have to tell the story again, you just use the ring in a way that catches the
attention of the subconscious, and they will subconsciously reinforce the meaning that
you have provided. You also have the names from the stories that you have begun to
tell. When you refer to those names, the same images that they created when they heard
the story will reappear in their mind, and they will be prepared to receive further
information and direction from you at the subconscious level of their mind. Do you get
it?”

Neil held up the ring to Tyler. “I’m bound to The Heat,” he said mysteriously,
“and I am bound to the secret of Jacob.”

Tyler smiled. He had to admit that he now had in his head images in his mind of
Neil being bound to the owner of The Heat and images from the secret story of Jacob
which Alvin had related. Tyler was beginning to feel that perhaps there were many great
mysteries behind the exotic club atmosphere of The Heat.

Alvin then handed the watch to Tyler. He repeated the same instructional
processes concerning the significance of the watch and the story relating to it. Now Neil
and Tyler each had a status accessory, and it was time for a break.

Part 3.

Neil and Tyler left the Clown Room. The took seats at the end of the bar outside
the door. Joy approached them to see if they wanted something to eat or drink.

Tyler scanned what Joy was wearing to see if she had a status accessory. There
was a single earring in her right ear, which he thought might qualify. “Nice earring,” he
said.

Joy looked Tyler over. “Nice watch,” she responded. Tyler smiled at her
recognition.

“Kind of mystical, isn’t it?” suggested Tyler. “The owner of The Heat binding
his employees with status objects.” Joy smiled, but said nothing.

Tyler continued. “He must be a Magician type.” He paused, but Joy still said
nothing. “You know, Magician. The Jungian archetype,” he prodded.

“You sound like one of the Clowns,” said Joy.

“What do you mean?” asked Tyler, taken aback. He was sure that Dr. Paul had
explained that the Jungian archetypes were taken from well-respected psychology,
founded in human behavior and mythology that had survived the centuries. How could
he sound like a clown?

“The Clowns are always referring to stuff they have borrowed from evolution and
psychology,” said Joy. “When you get more natural with the way The Heat does
marketing, you’ll understand how stupid it sounds.”

Tyler thought about it. It was kind of stupid. But he thought he would bait Joy
with a concept, anyway. “What about the concept of an Alpha male?” He asked. “You
can’t deny that dogs and other animals usually have a dominant alpha male in any pack
or herd.”

“The Alpha concept is probably to most stupid,” Joy retorted. “When was the last
time that you saw a macho guy leading a group anywhere?”

Tyler couldn’t think of a single example. He decided to take a shot with sports.
“What about on the football field? The quarterback is the Alpha male.”

“Ha!” laughed Joy. “And the coach tells him what to do. And the owner holds
his contract. And the rules prohibit late hits, and let him slide to avoid getting tackled,
all those rules to protect him from getting hurt. He’s the smallest player on the offense,
and you want me to believe you consider him the Alpha?” Tyler had no comeback.

“It’s the same in business,” said Joy. “It’s not the Alpha male that leads in the
human world. The leader is the man with the most power. That means he has the most
tools. He has the full range of personality skills. He knows how to dominate when
domination is the right tool. But he also knows how to reason, entertain, sympathize or
use other tools, when the time is right.”

“So maybe Alpha means something different for people than for animals,” said
Tyler. “Maybe Alpha means powerful. For human’s there are just a more broad range
of characteristics that add to a person’s power.”

“Maybe,” agreed Joy. “So why sound like a Clown and try to teach people that
being Alpha is part of our human evolution? Why use the word Alpha at all, if it means
something totally different in the human world than the way it is used in describing
animal behavior? The Clowns have created a lot of confused people out there.”

“So they do things differently here at The Heat?” asked Tyler.

“Obviously,” said Joy. Her attention went back to what she had been doing
behind the bar.

“I’ll come back when I have a little more training,” he suggested.

“Good idea,” she replied. She gave him a warm smile, “You seem to be picking
up on things pretty well,” she said. “I imagine you will be somebody around here before
long.” She gave him another encouraging smile.

Tyler was about to walk away. But a thought came to mind. He spun back
around to ask Joy another question. “What about the King, Warrior, Magician, Lover
archetypes?” he asked. “I had kind of bought into those.”

Joy looked up. “Lame,” she said flatly.

“Why?” he asked. “Do you know something that Jung didn’t know?”
 Joy gave him an impatient look. “Jung has nothing to do with it, moron. Dr.
Paul is the Clown who promotes the archetypes as a tool for diagnosing yourself and
other people. It’s no different than borrowing Alpha from evolution. The archetypes
make fine models for telling a story with a message, but they don’t provide what people
need to function as humans. It’s another stupid label that just confuses people.”

“Yeah, but don’t you think it makes sense that if a girl has strong Magician
characteristics, she will want to perform for you; or if she has characteristics of a Queen,
asking her to give advice is a good opener?”

“No,” retorted Joy. “Think of it like a horoscope,” she said. “People buy into it,
and they find ways to justify the labels. But it has no reliability and, hence, only random
usefulness. If Dr. Paul applied what he is actually good at, he would stop teaching that
crap to people.”

“What do you mean?” asked Tyler.

Joy explained. “Here is the way it works. The number one fear that everyone has
is fear of what other people will think of them. Dr. Paul lets everyone label themselves
as a King or something else that appeals to the way they see themselves, and suddenly
they can feel good about themselves. They have this wonderful high-status personality.
Suddenly, they don’t have to care what other people think, because they have this self-
definition to protect their feelings. They call it a part of their personal boundary. But
Dr. Paul should be teaching that it is a wall. It is just an artificial construct that has no
basis in reality. As a result, it robs people of the flexibility of thought and behavior that
would result from a more accurate self-assessment.”

“I don’t understand,” said Tyler.

“Look at Dr. Paul,” said Joy. “He confessed to David DeAngelo that he really
had emotional problems, even though he looked like he had everything together. Right?
And he told that story about how he used to be dominated by fear?”

“You mean the story about the lightning?” asked Tyler.

“Yeah,” Joy affirmed. “So the guy has some fear issues. So what does he do?
He labels himself a King. He proclaims that he has found the holy grail of psychology.
He talks about how wise the King is and how their role is to dispense intelligence and
advice and order things around him. Then he surrounds himself with dweebs that he can
dominate by imposing order on his social relationships, because he is the highest ranking
King, being the one who found the holy grail.”

“Okay,” said Tyler. “I get that his guest speakers are dweebs.”

“Well, what is the result?” asked Joy. “They go out on the town to meet girls,
and do they get any? No. If they do get a girl’s number, they brag about it because it is
so rare. They have an arsenal of excuses which they have installed into their thinking.
They are Kings! I loved the guest speaker that talked about selling yourself to women by
promoting a certain brand or image of yourself with her friends. How much effort and
planning that took, to make sure that her friends convinced her of your valuable image!”

“Yeah,” said Tyler, “I remember that guy. That was pretty unbelievable how
stuck in his own head he was.”

“Dr. Paul actually teaches some good stuff, and his approach definitely keeps him
employed as a psychologist. But if that whole group would just recognize that when they
label themselves as Kings, they are really just avoiding their fear, they would do a lot
better. Get rid of all that KWML crap, watching movies and analyzing yourself and
other people – you know, the passive response to fear – and start taking real action to
build courage, knowledge and experience. I’m not saying they could do it without some
help, because I am sure that being a psychologist has Dr. Paul a little bit boxed into
thinking instead of acting, but it would be a start.”

Tyler nodded. “It makes sense,” he said. “So if someone was listening to our
conversation right now, and they were stuck in one of these loops of self-analysis, how
would you tell them to get out of it?”

“I’d probably give them a two step process,” said Joy. “I’d say that for any
passive, time-wasting behavior, you can get rid of it with something Bandler might teach,
and then you replace it with an action meta-program.” Tyler looked at her is silence, so
she continued.

“First, you have to realize how much time you’ve wasted analyzing yourself and
others. In all that time, you haven’t been accomplishing any of the things that really
bring you happiness. You don’t have any more confidence and you haven’t been
meeting your needs. Just let yourself feel disgusted with all the time that you have
wasted. When you feel good and disgusted with that behavior, double the feeling by
making the image larger, spinning it faster, changing all those submodalities that will
increase the feeling of disgust, until you are thoroughly sick and tired of wasting any
more time. Then anchor the feeling. That way, any time you find yourself slipping back
into time-wasting behavior like KWML thinking, you can fire the anchor and have a
pretty good chance of doing something else.”

“Step two,” she continued, “is to learn how to take action. I’d listen to ‘Getting
Things Done’ by Robert Allen, or perhaps ‘Time of Your Life’ by Tony Robbins. Learn
how to set goals and manage your time in a way that involves taking action. Have a list
of the things that you want to accomplish, including a very specific list of each of the
‘next action’ items that you have to take for each project. That way, you will always
have productive options available for channeling your personal resources.”

“Isn’t there a danger of going back to just analyzing things with a time
management system like GTD or RPM?” asked Tyler. “Why not just tell people to act
without thinking, to get over the problem of being in their own heads too much.”

“Sure, there is a risk,” said Joy. “but you don’t throw the baby out with the bath
water. If a person has intelligence, there is no reason to waste it or to behave foolishly
without thinking. These people still want to develop their emotional, knowledge and
decision making resources. They just have to learn to give themselves 30 minutes every
morning to do the thinking, and then they need to discipline themselves to take action the
rest of the day. They can learn that from GTD and RPM. And if they have set a good
anchor for feeling disgusted about wasting time thinking, then they should be able to put
a stop to that behavior if they catch themselves falling back into during the day.”

“You’re pretty smart,” said Tyler, “for a girl, anyway!” He smiled at her.

Joy smiled. “I’ve been working here for awhile,” she said. “You don’t have to
forget everything you think you know. You just have to reorganize it as you get a better
model to put it in.”

“So what does your model look like?” asked Tyler.

Joy considered for a moment. “Do you really think I’m going to give that kind of
valuable information to someone I barely know, like you?”

Part 4.

After having something to eat, Neil and Tyler rejoined Alvin in the Clown Room.
As Tyler looked at the photographs on the wall, he wondered what each of the
individuals had taught to earn their title as one of the Clowns.

Alvin gave each of the two boys another accessory for their outfits, gave the
object a meaning as a conversation piece, and taught them another story that would give
the object symbolic meaning that would open up the mind in another way. The meaning
of the second object was much different from the mystery associated with the status
symbol, but the technique of installing a symbolic meaning and imagery was the same.
And it did give them one more interesting thing to talk about in any situation.

As Alvin was wrapping up, someone new came in. It was instantly apparent that
the new man was bubbling with energy and enthusiasm—a personality in stark contrast
to the mystery and seriousness that Alvin portrayed. Alvin introduced him as the
Candyman. “The Candyman will help you with your personalities,” said Alvin dryly.

“I’m going to give you that Alpha personality you’ve been longing for,” said the
Candyman. Both Alvin and the Candyman laughed out loud. Alvin seemed to lighten up
quite naturally with the Candyman in the room.

“Okay, boys,” began the Candyman. “My real name is Rob. Just call me Rob,
not the Candyman.” Neil and Tyler nodded their understanding.

“This is just your first lesson with me,” he continued, speaking very quickly, “so
don’t be too hard on yourselves. Today, I just want to give you each a cool nickname, a
magic trick and three funny stories you can tell.”
 “Is this part of the marketing?” asked Neil.

“It certainly is,” answered Rob.

“It just doesn’t seem consistent with the persona that Alvin was just teaching us,”
said Neil.

Rob looked at them for a moment. “Listen, you guys. You’re new here. I don’t
expect you to understand everything, so you go ahead and ask questions like that
whenever something doesn’t make sense. That’s the only way you’re going to learn,
right?” The boys agreed.

“Being mysterious and interesting isn’t going to work for you all the time,”
continued Rob. “You have to be able to switch gears, use the right tool. You know what
I mean?” The look on the faces of Neil and Tyler said, “I guess so.”

“Being funny and entertaining isn’t going to work all the time, either. You don’t
want to come across as a Clown, right?” Again, the boys agreed.

“So if you really want to be the guy in control … when you really want to be able
to mess with people … you have to be able to pull them back and forth a little. Get them
interest, then make them laugh. If something goes wrong, make it serious a little, then
make them laugh. You see what I mean? People are going to resist you. So you don’t
give them a choice. It’s like Milton Erickson’s reverse set. Have you seen that one?”
Neither of the boys understood.

“It’s been explained this way,” said Rob. “Suppose a kid says to his dad that he
will not drink his milk at dinner. The dad could threaten him and try to make him drink
his milk, but a smart dad would realize that there was a better way. He could do
something to influence the kid to drink his milk because it was his own idea. Do you
follow me?” Neil and Tyler nodded.

“So the dad says to the kid, ‘I’ll make you a bet.’ And the kid gets interested,
because he knows it is going to be a bet about drinking the milk. But the dad says, ‘I’ll
bet I can make you do something.’ And the kid, who knows that his dad wants to make
him drink the milk agrees to take the bet, because the kid believes that he can refuse all
night long to drink the milk and win the bet. Are you still following me?” Neil and
Tyler nodded again.

“So the dad has set the kid up. And the dad begins to use the Milton model
language style. You know what that is, right? It’s permissive and ambiguous language,
as opposed to commanding language.” Neil and Tyler agreed.

“So the dad is saying things like, ‘I know that if I tell you to drink the milk, you
might agree to drink the milk or you might say that you will not drink the milk,’ and he
goes on for awhile, giving the kid both choices. Then he tells the kid to drink the milk,
but before the kid can really do anything, he also tells the kid not to drink the milk. And
the kid, being smart realizes that he’s been caught. He has to either do what his dad said
first or do what he said second. But in his mind he isn’t doing either one, yet. You still
with me?” Neil and Tyler nodded again.

“So now the kid has been softened up, and the real suggestion begins. The dad
starts talking about how good that milk is going to taste, how smooth it feels going down
the throat, how cool and soothing it is. And the kids is starting to get really thirsty,
because of those suggestions. Right?” Neil and Tyler nod again.

“So the dad knows that his son is going to drink the milk now, which is what he
wanted in the first place. So he tells the kid, hey, I don’ t want you to go thirsty because
of this bet. So let’s call off the bet. I agree that I can’t make you do anything that you
don’t want to do. Of course, the kid is completely relieved, because here he has been
dead set at resisting whatever his dad tells him to do. Now, no one is telling him what to
do. So what does he do? He picks up that glass of milk and drains it!”

Neil and Tyler nodded. They understood the story, but they weren’t making the
connection to how humor was going to operate as a reverse set in their pursuits.

“Okay, let me explain it this way,” said Rob. “When you get the sense that
someone is going to resist you for any reason, you have to know how to run a reverse
set.” Neil and Tyler nodded.

“They could be resisting you for any reason. Maybe they are in a bad mood.
Maybe you said something that made them mad. Maybe they think you look like a jerk.
Maybe you are trying to sell them some product or persuade them to some idea. Pick a
reason. They mentally want to resist you. Okay?” Neil and Tyler nodded again.

“Alright, here is how you are going to get around it. You think like Milton
Ericson. You start by giving them two alternatives. They can do the thing that would be
resisting you, or they can do the thing that you want them to do. No one can disagree
with that. When you both agree about that, they you tell them to do what you want, and
you take it back at the same time and tell them to do the thing that would be resisting
you. They can’t resist both. So now it’s not about resisting you, anymore. They think it
is, but their unconscious mind is confused, because if they do either one now, it is
something that you told them to do. Now, you can’t be resisted. Now you start making
your real suggestions, indirectly. You use your stories and your body language or
whatever, and you do all the things that would really make them want what you want
them to do. And they start to want it, even though they are still planning to resist you.
So finally, you take yourself out of the equation. You tell them that you have no desire
to make them do what they do not want to do. They will be relieved that they don’t have
to resist you any more. If you have correctly done your job of making the thing you
want them to do feel so desirable, then at that moment, they will choose to do it because
it is what they want to do.”

“It makes sense,” said Tyler, “But I still don’t see how it applies in a real
situation.”
 Neil interjected a question. “Is it just like pushing and pulling technique of
turning up desire?”

“No,” answered Tyler. “The girl has to want the thing in the first place for the
push-pull technique to work.”

“Right,” said Rob. “I’m not talking about using stand-alone techniques. If a
technique is working for you, go with it. I’m talking about a technique you use to get
through when your basic approaches aren’t going to work. Let’s make it real now. You
approach a girl with your mystery ring. But for whatever reason, she isn’t going to ask
you about it. Maybe she thinks you look like a snob. Maybe she is nervous or doesn’t
believe in showing interest. She is ready to resist you. Of course, if she is not the
resisting type, she is going to ask you about the ring and you can go with it, right? You
can push and pull to ramp up her interest, all that.” Tyler agreed.

“But let’s say that you can see that she has some resistance to asking you about
the ring for whatever reason, so your initial persona and that approach isn’t going to be
enough for you to get into her head or her pants. You have to give her the alternative. In
this case, the alternative is that she can listen to you and try not to show any interest or
she can even ignore you. Are you going to start telling her stories and bore her to tears
and reinforce whatever reason she has for being stand-offish?”

“No,” said Tyler.

“Of course not,” said Rob. “But if you can entertain her or amuse her, that
resistance is going to melt away, just like in the reverse set.”

“Okay,” said Tyler.

“But don’t go straight to the jokes,” said Rob. “That would be a mistake.
Remember how Milton likes to soften people up, first. Let her know that there are some
choices, but don’t give her either one of the choices to make. Throw out some ambiguity
just to soften things up. Follow it with some entertainment, some magic or a funny story.
Then take it away by being serious suddenly, again. Now which one is she going to
resist? Is she going to be serious and resist the joke, or is she going to laugh and resist
being serious? She has to do one or the other. And this is where you have to really be
quick. Observe. Figure out whether she is holding in the laugh or holding in the
hostility. That is the one she is going to choose. Back off, give her the freedom to
choose it, and then go in and use it. At that point, you either come back with the ring
and the serious stuff, or you come back with two or three more funny stories. One of
those is going to be really powerful at that moment, and you are going to be in her head.

“That sounds like it’s going to take a lot of skill,” said Neil.

“It seems that way,” said Rob. “But all you need to get started is a few good
stories that you can go with. One has to be really short, almost like a joke. The magic
trick and the other stories can be a little longer. I guarantee that if you have material
prepared, once you have tried it on two girls, it will come naturally after that.”
 “Actually,” Rob continued, “after using it five or six times, you’ll probably
completely forget to use it, because no one will resist you anymore. It just works that
way. Look at me, for example. You probably think I’m just funny and full of energy all
the time, right?” The boys nodded. “Well, that’s just my introductory persona. That’s
how I start myself, because I like it that way. Give me a little resistance, and I’ll switch
back and forth quicker than you can follow me, and I’ll be right in. That’s just the way I
am, now.”

It sort of made sense. But Neil and Tyler were both feeling like their heads were
about to explode. Maybe after field testing it … they needed a chance to let their body
catch up with the information that was swirling around in their heads.

Rob could sense exactly what was going on. “Like I said when I came in, boys.
It’s your first day. Don’t beat yourself up if your heads feel really full. Let’s work on
your material. Tonight, you can go out with Rex and field test it.”

That’s where the theory ended. Over the next two hours, Rob worked on
teaching the boys a couple of easy magic tricks and practiced with them telling funny
stories and jokes. Then he sent them home with instructions to come back at 9:00 p.m.
Chapter 5: Training Day.

Part 1.

Rex was waiting in the Clown Room, talking with Joy, when Neil and Tyler
arrived. “Are you two ready for some action?!” Rex nearly shouted with enthusiasm.

“Sure,” answered Neil. “Are you going to get us pumped up before we go out?”

“If you guys need help with your inner game stuff,” said Rex, go talk to the
storyteller about that. “You wouldn’t have been invited here if we thought you had inner
game problems you had to deal with.”

Rex motioned for the boys to follow him, as he headed for the exit. “I’m taking
you two on my paper route!” he said with a smile.

Rex was driving a BMW. The three of them got into the car, as Rex explained
what his paper route was about. “If you are going to be a player, you have to get to
know people around town,” he said. “That can only happen if you see people on a
regular basis. So I have worked out a system to do that which I call my paper route. I
have 60 stops I make during the week, usually about 10 per night. I’m there for a couple
of minutes to make my deliveries, pick up referrals, and then get on my way. That gives
me 60 places where people can see me, see that I have connections, where I can establish
my name recognition. It gives me a higher status pretty much where ever I go.”

Rex pulled two folded sheets of paper from his glove box. Here is a list of the 10
places we’re going to stop by tonight. Put that information in your computer tomorrow
morning with whatever notes you take about each place. That’s how you are going to
start to develop your own paper route. Make sure you keep track of who you know at
each location, how you get your referrals there, and when you plan to stop by every
week. That’s how you’ll develop your ‘customer list.’”

Part 2.

The first stop was another club, called The Dunes. Rex slipped the doorman a $5
as he walked past. “I guess you can’t wait in line at 10 places, if it’s your paper route,”
Neil whispered to Tyler.

Once inside, Rex lead them to the bar, where he introduced them to the bartender,
Barry. “These guys are my new recruits,” he said. “You got anything for me tonight?”

Barry nodded. “Two girls in the corner,” he said. “This is the first time I’ve seen
either of them here. Lots of guys have tried them. So far, they’ve all been shot down.”

“I think these two boys will buy them drinks,” said Rex.
 “That’s what I thought,” said Barry. “I’ll send Tina around for the tray.” Rex
handed a $20 to Barry. Barry loaded two beers on a serving tray and handed it to Rex.

Neil and Tyler looked at Rex. “Are you sure that buying those two a drink is
going to be a good approach?” asked Neil. “It sounds like people have already tried that
tonight.”

Rex turned to Barry. “Explain it to them,” he said. Then he turned and walked
toward the two girls with the drinks on the serving tray.

“You’re buying the drinks for the girls,” said Barry to Neil and Tyler, “but Rex is
doing the pickup. About 1 out of 20 times, the girls will some over and talk to the two of
you or send you a note. Most of the other 19 times, they’ll drink the beers while they
talk to Rex.” The boys watched while Rex operated.

As he arrived at the table, he took the two beers off the serving tray and set them
on the table. He turned slightly and indicated toward the bar where Neil and Tyler were
sitting. “The two gentlemen at the bar would like to buy you ladies a drink,” he said.

“No thanks,” said one of the girls coldly. She glared at Neil and Tyler, who both
looked away in response.

Rex made a motion with one hand to a nearby waitress. Tina responded by
coming my the table. Rex handed Tina the serving tray. “Well the drinks are paid for,”
he said. “So I’ll have to drink them both if the two of you are no longer thirsty.” He
leaned in a little closer where he could speak in a low tone. “The bartender told me I
would probably be getting a free drink for bringing these over to your table!” He
grinned at them. “He’s been watching you all night!”

Rex began to extend his arm slowly toward the drink of the girl who had not yet
spoken. “I’ll drink mine,” she said, slapping his hand away. Rob turned and looked
inquisitively at the first girl. She glanced at the bar. Neil and Tyler were looking their
way again. “Go ahead and drink it,” she said giving Neil and Tyler another snotty
glance. Rex sat down and pulled the beer toward himself.

Over the course of the next two minutes, Rex told them that he didn’t recommend
The Dunes. There weren’t any real players here. If you wanted to see people who could
hold their own, in business or in social circles, then The Heat was the place to go. He
told them he would be there at 11:00 p.m., and if he saw them there tonight, he would
introduce them to someone who would be worth knowing. When he got up to leave, the
second girl slipped him a scrap of paper with her phone number, unsolicited.

Part 3.

The three of them met back at the BMW a couple of minutes later.

“What was up with that?” asked Neil.

 “Barry is one of my referral sources,” said Rex. “If those two girls come by The
Heat tonight, then I score and I pay Barry another $20 the next time I go in for a referral.
If they don’t show up, then he owes me another referral. So you can understand that he
is rooting for my success. If those girls ask him any questions after I leave, he gives me
a solid backup. He makes sure the waitresses in the place do the same.”

They pulled up to a second club and went inside. This proceeded similar to the
way they had at The Dunes. They walked up to the bar, and the bartender indicated a
group of four girls. “The one in the white top is the designated driver,” he said.

“Okay Tyler,” said Rex. “You take this one.” He handed a business card to
Tyler. In was a business card for The Heat, except that in the place where the name
should have been, the words “Designated Driver” were printed. Under the name, in
smaller print it indicated “Saturday (4).”

Tyler looked up from the card. “You give that card to the designated driver,”
Rex told him. “You tell her that it will get her past the doorman on Saturdays, as long as
she has four people with her. You tell her you’ll be that at 11:00 tonight, and you’ll
introduce her to one of the bartenders that likes to give free virgin mixed drinks to the
designated drivers, instead of just free soda.” Tyler understood.

Tyler found himself walking toward the designated driver, but he had no idea
what he was going to say. Just past her, he saw an empty table. Perhaps he would walk
past her to the empty table, where he could think about how to approach. Perhaps he
would hear something interesting as he walked past, something that would give him an
idea. He was fighting that self doubt as he stepped behind her chair to get past.

She glanced up over her shoulder at just that moment. Tyler caught the glance
out of the corner of his eye. He stopped. Without turning to look at her, he said, “The
bartender tells me that you are the designated driver.”

Out of the corner of his eye, he saw her turn her body to look at him. She was
about to turn back around, when he continued. “I was wondering …” he began
hesitantly, as he now turned his head. “… if I get too drunk, would you take me home
tonight?” Then he added, “The bartender said you were probably my best chance.”

The other girls at the table began to laugh at her.

“For me to take you home,” she retorted, “I’d have to be getting drunk, too!”

“Oh, ouch!” shouted someone at the table, and they all laughed.

But that gave Tyler an idea. “Well, then, I wonder if you could give me an
opinion on these shoes,” he said. Then he told them the story of the gay man and his
shoes. Of course, these weren’t the same shoes, so he didn’t know if they would appeal
to any gay men that might see him getting drunk tonight. The girls loved the story, and
they started teasing him about the shoes, and then began pointing out men in the bar that
he should approach to get there opinions. “That guy might be gay!” they would say.

Tyler followed up with a couple of the other funny stories that he had rehearsed
with Rob that afternoon. He couldn’t believe that the prepared material was really
working so naturally for him. He thought about the mysterious side, but he remembered
what Rob had said. If the fun approach was working, stay with it. He just needed to
deliver the designated driver card and make his get away while they were still having
fun.

Part 4.

The same patterns repeated at the remaining 8 stops that evening. Neil made a
couple of successful approaches. They watched Rex approach at a couple of locations,
and Tyler had another success. On the last stop, it was Neil’s turn again.

Neil walked up to two girls talking to each other. “I need an opinion,” he said as
an opener. He set his right hand on the table, so that the girls could see his ring. He was
just about to ask his opinion question, when the first girl interrupted.

“My opinion is that you should leave,” said the first girl. She turned back to her
friend and they continued talking.

Neil figured that he’d better turn to a funny approach. He directed it toward the
second girl. She wasn’t impressed.

“I thought she told you to leave,” said the second girl, as rudely as the first.

Neil had nowhere to go. He took a step back, when Rex came up behind him.

“Do you two want to be thrown out of here?” Rex asked the girls harshly. He
turned and motioned to the bartender to come over to the table. The girls looked to
where Rex had indicated and saw the bartender send a bouncer toward their table in
response to Rex’s motion.

“Look, this guy was bugging us,” said the first girl, still cold, but at least aware
that Rex was wearing the pants in this situation. “We just asked him to leave.”

“This guy happens to be a friend of mine,” said Rex, maintaining a harsh tone.
“If you don’t want to talk to him, I suggest that you ask him nicely to give you some
space. If you’re going to be rude to my friends in this place, then you’re not going to be
welcomed here.”

“Sorry,” said the first girl. “Can you please give us some space? My friend here
has had a bad breakup this week.”
 Rex relaxed his tone. “Alright,” he conceded. He motioned to the approaching
bouncer that he was no longer needed. “I was sure there was a reason that you didn’t
want to talk to him. He’s not a jerk, which is probably the kind of guys you’re used to,”
he added a little sarcasm to his tone as he stated that last clause. “So I can understand
why you might have felt like you needed to brush him off. But I just want to make sure
that you understand that when you hang around here, we expect people to show respect
and common courtesy. We don’t want this club to get known as a place where people act
like jerks to the regulars.”

The two girls were now giving Rex their full attention. “Why don’t you let me
buy you a drink, as a peace offering,” he said only to the second girl. “And if you just
want to get back to drowning your sorrows alone, you can go right ahead, and I’ll tell the
bartender to have the bouncers keep the guys around here away from you.”

“No,” said the second girl. “It’s alright.” She paused, “Why don’t you go ahead
and sit down.” Rex pulled up a chair from the neighboring table and sat down. His back
was to Neil, who now walked away. Neil and Tyler went outside to wait for Rex to
finish making the delivery. It was nearly 11:00 and time to head back to The Heat.

Fifteen minutes later, Rex came outside. He had the phone numbers for both
girls. He hadn’t invited either of them to The Heat.

“That was a tough one, Neil,” said Rex. “Don’t feel badly about it.”

“Yeah, whatever,” said Neil, obviously dejected. “So much for getting them
either with mystery or with humor.” He was referring to his attempt to apply the concept
of the reverse set as Rob had explained it.

“Listen,” said Rex. “Rob just gave you a simple version of a reverse set with
two choices. When you meet a girl in a bitchy mood, you’re going to need to be able to
offer more choices than that. You’ve had only one day of training. You have more
patterns to learn. You have learning to do with meta-programs and meta-frames. You
need training in hypnosis, nlp language patterns, and a lot of other things.”

“Amazing,” said Tyler. “So are you one of those guys that pretty much gets any
girl he wants?”

“Depends on what you mean by that,” said Rex. “I get any girl I want, because if
I don’t want a girl, there is a reason. Fat chicks, I could probably get but I have no
interest. Ugly girls, same thing. Hot women that are already with another guy, a bigger
challenge, so I have to decide if they are worth the extra effort or not. Depending on
whether the guy was willing to work as hard as me, I might be able to get her, but I
might not want to put in the effort when there are so many other choices.”

After a pause, Rex added a final bit of wisdom. “Why do you guys want to learn
all these skills? It’s not just about having money or women. You have enough skills to
get a good looking girl. It’s about having more choices. With these skills, you have the
ability to determine what you want, and the knowledge that if you put in the work
required, then you will get what you really want.” He turned to Neil. “So tomorrow,
you learn a little more, you work a little harder, and you can close one more set than you
could the night before. When you meet that perfect girl, she’ll be within your grasp.”

Part 5.

They arrived back at The Heat at about 11:10. The three of them greeted the
bouncer as they walked past the waiting line of people and entered the club. Tyler
scanned the line, but did not see anyone that they had approached that evening. There
were a couple of people doing magic tricks, either working for tips or working for The
Heat to keep the people in line from getting bored.

Once they entered, Tyler began scanning the inside for people he might
recognized. Suddenly, his gaze stopped at a table where Eban was sitting with two
women. He recognized one of the women as Venus. She was just standing up and
leaving the table, leaving Eban alone with the second woman.

Tyler gave Neil a shove. “Check it out,” he said, pointing to Eban and the lone
girl.

“What the hell?” said Neil, shocked. “How did he get in here with a girl like
that?”

The two of them began walking toward Eban’s table. He was so totally
engrossed on his conversation with Brooke, that he didn’t notice Neil or Tyler until Tyler
placed a hand on his shoulder.

“Yo, Eban!” greeted Tyler. “You’re looking good.” He looked at Brooke. “And
I see that you have found yet another admirer.” He held out his hand to Brooke, “I’m
Tyler, a friend of Eban’s.”

Brooke smiled and shook Tyler’s hand. “I’m Brooke,” she said. “We actually
met last night.”

Neil pulled up a chair and sat down right between Eban and Brooke. Neil was
obviously quite taken with Brooke’s beauty. Apparently, Neil was thinking that if Eban
could get somewhere with this woman, he would be able to get lucky, too.

Neil addressed Brooke with his back to Eban, physically shutting him out of the
conversation. He held up his right hand to his chin, so that the ring was apparent to
Brooke. He saw her eyes glance at the ring, and he dropped his hand to his lap below the
table. “There is something puzzling me about you,” he began.

Neil didn’t get to finish. Venus hadn’t gone far. As soon as she saw Neil sit
down between Brooke and Eban, she had motioned for a bouncer.
 The bouncer tapped Neil on the shoulder. “Phone call for you, brother,” he said
in a serious tone. It was clear that he expected Neil to stand up and follow him.

Once they were beyond earshot of the table, the bouncer turned so that Neil could
see that he had something to tell him. “Venus must like you, brother,” the bouncer said
to Neil.

Neil looked at him inquisitively.

He continued. “If she didn’t like you, she would have told me to throw you out,
and that would mean the end of your job here. The fact that she told me just to take you
to the back means you’re getting a rare second chance.”

The bouncer opened the door to the Clown Room for Neil. “She’ll be in to talk
to you later. Stay here until she comes to see you.” The door closed behind Neil. He
looked at the photos on the wall. He wondered if he got fired, would they add his photo
to wall and start calling him one of the clowns?
Chapter 6. Truth Divulges the Past and Present.

[Dear Reader,
Since it may be some time before I come back to work on this little project, I wanted to
bring up some of the notes that were left over from the original version 1.001, and show
where we might put them. By the time I get back to writing again, I’ll probably have
changed my mind and have something new to insert.]

As Chapter 6 opens, some turmoil has surfaced. Neil is turning into the bad boy at The
Heat, resulting in his conflict with Eban and Tyler, but increasing his intimacy with
Venus. Eban is spending time with Brooke, to the chagrin of his friend David C. The
weaker characters are turning to the Storyteller for more explanation about the Monster,
the Magician, the Clowns and the meaning of life.

So we will get some history on how each of the Clowns commenced their work in the
world of PUGs, and how much they learned from either the Monster or the Magician,
before they decided to try their hand at teaching (which usually meant they were through
learning).

Up comes the blurb and feedback about Ross Jeffries:

History. One of the first people to report back his observations was a man named
Paul. He disguised his identity and went by the name of Ross Jeffries. This is what he
reported about the Magician, in a nutshell: “The Magician is a master of language. He
uses techniques of NLP and hypnosis. He has developed powerful self-confidence. He
has great power to influence women through touch, body language, and suggestion.”

“You have met the Monster,” observed the storyteller. “What you say about the
Magician has some truth, because the Magician does have all the abilities that you
describe. However, be careful about learning the powers of the Magician from the
Monster. Remember that the Monster knows the Truth just as well as the Magician
knows it. But the Monster has a hidden agenda. You will find that if you attract all your
learning from what you receive the from the Monster, your power will also be limited in
the same way that the Monster has limits and those around you will only be your slaves.
Anyone under your influence will only be suited to be a slave, until a magician teaches
them how to be free.”

But Paul did not care about the source of his learning. Like the Monster, he
wanted slaves. He continued to learn and teach his version of the secrets of monsters and
magicians. We will continue to add to what we know about his secrets in subsequent
Versions of this book.

Btw, Jeffries had a tremendous change over the past year and now he's really open
minded. Changed his style and attitude and been changing ideas with many puas
including Mystery.
Truth also needs to tell people more about the distinctions between the Monster and the
Magician, particularly since many of the differences are quite subtle—as with the
differences between Venus and Amy.

We can probably take some learnings from the presuppositions of NLP at this point, and
begin to teach some hypnotic language patterns. The storyteller seems like the right
person to present these, so up they come:

Listed Presuppositions of NLP …

1. Respect the model of the patient
2. The meaning of the communication is the response you get
3. All meaning is based on context, including context supplied by internal
representations
4. There is no failure, only feedback
the meaning of the conversation = the response received
therefore, behavioral flexibility required
5. All procedures should increase wholeness, increase choices
6. The most important information about a person is their behavior
behavior is not the person, but it conveys more information about …
7. The law of requisite variety (thermodynamics): the person with the most behavioral
flexibility will control the system
8. People have all the resources they need to succeed within themselves
9. You are in control of your internal resources and therefore your results
10. There are no resistant clients (or learning disabilities), only inflexible
communicators; resistance = lack of rapport
we need to have enough flexibility in our communication to introduce teaching in a way
that allows them to understand or overcome resistance
11. Resistance in a client is a sign of lack of rapport
12. People are doing the best they can with the resources they have available
implies forgiveness, not justification
14. Our beliefs determine our focus
15. Our focus determines our reality
16. No such thing as learning disability only poor teaching and poor learning
strategies.

As we start to explore hypnotic language patterns, look for some Kenrick Cleveland,
Kein, and others. I will want to keep a meta-frame structure to use for presentation
purposes as we get to concept 7 applications. So until the storyteller finally capsulizes
these ideas into the story format, we still have the following notes:

Concept 1. Michael Hall’s concept of Primary States.

Our primary states are the feelings we have in reaction to our environment. When we
hear a loud noise, we are startled. When we smell vomit, we feel nauseous. When a
woman tells us we are too short, we feel embarrassed. Our feelings and emotions are our
states. The states that we create in response to our environment make up our primary
states.
Concept 2. Michael Hall’s Meta States-level 1.
Our meta-states are the feelings we have in reaction to our thoughts about our primary
states. When we think about approaching a woman, we feel nervous or embarrassed.
When we think about not having enough money or good looks, we feel inferior. When
we think about someone attacking us, we feel afraid. Nothing has actually happened.
There is nothing threatening us, yet we go into a physical state AS IF the imagined
circumstances were real. Our response to what we IMAGINE can actually be stronger
than our response would be in the actual circumstance. Your heart will beat faster in the
15 seconds before you approach a woman than it will be after you have been talking to
her for 60 seconds, even if things are not going well!

Concept 3. Michael Hall’s Meta States-higher levels.

Just as we can think about our primary states, we can also think about our meta-states. In
fact, this is what we do when we think about changing our self-confidence or our
motivation. We think about why women make us feel nervous, and we try to change our
thinking to develop confidence. That thinking about our thinking is a level 2 meta-state.
The higher our meta-state level, the more power it has over our response. This is
because higher meta-states represent our most deeply entrenched beliefs. These deeply
entrenched beliefs are the substance that needs to be changed to produce permanent
results.

Concept 4. Changing Primary States and Level 1 Meta-States is Simple but Transitory.
About half of all hypnosis and NLP techniques are designed to change our primary state.
The other half are designed to change our level 1 meta-states. At these superficial levels
it is easy to affect our physiology and response. Change your posture and smile, and you
will feel more happy. But you will not remain happy for ever after. Soon, you may be
slumping and frowning again. Repeat positive incantations to yourself, and you may feel
energized and motivated for awhile. But the next morning you may wake up feeling
depressed or stuck. The basic techniques we use to change our state are very important.
Yet, most people come to realize that the permanency of these changes is short-lived. If
you are disciplined, you can maintain a routine of constant reinstallation of powerful
states. When that discipline wanes, you may feel that you have not actually made a real
change.

Concept 5. Changing Higher Level Meta-States Produces More Powerful, Permanent

Change.
Which brings us to Santa Claus. No matter what you do to shift submodalities, integrate
your parts, hypnotize yourself, or anything else to make yourself believe Santa Claus is
real … you know that you cannot make him real. This knowledge exists as a very deep-
seated meta-framed level of belief. For most people, it would require a night delivering
presents with Santa Claus to change this belief.
The same is true of all of the most difficult changes that you want to make. If you really
examined your deepest beliefs, you would find that you have had an experience in your
past or you have a belief about reality which is preventing the change you are seeking.
These might include fears from your childhood experiences, which you are not
consciously aware of. They might also include beliefs about what is possible or real, for
which you hold strong justifications. (For example, can you really believe that women
are just as attracted to ugly men as they are to handsome men? We all know that beauty
is a factor in initial attraction. You’ll never change that one, so the change has to occur
at a meta-state level that supersedes the issue of beauty … realizing what is more
important that looks and developing power in that knowledge or skill!) Those deeply-
held beliefs are the ones that must be changed.

Concept 6. Women Also Have Deeply Held Beliefs.

Other people also have deeply-held beliefs which govern their reactions to you. The
typical PUA guru doesn’t take this into account. They give you patterns for only one
type of women. Beautiful, insecure women respond to being teased and value the bad
boy over the rich, handsome provider type. True … but what about beautiful, secure
women? They have different meta-programs running. How are you going to influence
the woman you want, if she isn’t running the same meta-program as the insecure beauty?

Concept 7. Real Self-Control and Influence Occurs in the Deepest Meta-Programs.

Advanced hypnosis and meta-programming are about getting past conscious and
unconscious filters, and influencing people’s deepest meta-programming. You can affect
people unconsciously, by running programs of which they are not aware. You can affect
people consciously, by helping them address and make choices about the meta-programs
they have been running. You can also affect people using experience, by giving them
new experiences or understandings about their experiences.

A lot of hypnosis has ignored meta-states and the truth, preferring to just go for whatever
the subject wants to believe without building real knowledge. For example, I could
believe that I am the best PUA in the world. I could convince myself of that fact, but
that would just be in my head. Women I meet may feel completely differently. The
business world is another good example. I could convince myself that I was the greatest
persuader in the world, but most business people still wouldn’t have any interest in what
I was offering. You have to be able to back up beliefs with real knowledge and an ability
to satisfy the real needs of other people.

We won’t really begin to apply meta-programs to hypnosis until we get to concept 7.

Concepts 5 is about really understanding and resolving your own meta-programs.
Concept 6 is about really understanding and using other people’s meta-programs.
Concept 7 is about going to the unconscious level with a full understanding of the meta-
programs that are lurking inside all of us. Someone working on concept 7 can resolve
the problems that exist at an unconscious level, bring the issues to conscious awareness
and apply real true knowledge to them. When you are free of the unconscious barriers
and you start to build a life based on real knowledge, then we can move to developing
real power. Then we are going to move into other more advanced concepts.

For those familiar with Dr. Paul, remember what he said about Happiness. It requires
both self-esteem and well-being. You get well-being by being able to meet your needs.
You meet your needs by getting work done. Power is the measurement of work done in
a measurable period of time. A person with more power can get more work done. We
increase our power when we leverage our knowledge and other resources to get more
work done. I am getting way ahead of the story, but that should give you some idea of
how much we have left to go before you will have a complete answer to your question.
FINAL WORD:

There is nothing in this book that cannot be edited, added or deleted. This version is still
just a draft with only a few of many possible ideas.

The statements about individuals who are the “public figures” of the PUA and NLP
communities reflect the opinions of the author. Other people are sure to have different
views, and the individuals themselves may be a better source than the information
provide above. By this reference, all of the disclaimers from The Magic Bullet by
DieBold are incorporated herein as if fully set forth. (My lawyer made me put that in.)

So have fun with it, and for DieBold’s sake, learn something.

P.S. “There’s a $5.00 fine for whining.” --Alan Jackson

The following contributors deserve recognition for their influence on my thinking and
the evolution of the book thus far: Siliwolf, DieBold, AlphaEagle, Vanilla …