Who here wants a girlfriend?

Sharpen up your wardrobe a little and bring things within the realm of the normal, but according to your personal preferences. Get a good haircut. Wash yourself. Shave. These are simple little things that go a long way. They prevent your otherwise great self from being hampered by correctable turn-offs.

Let me give a brief special mention to weight. If you are rail-thin or over-weight, the most important thing for now is to not be self-conscious about it. Even if you are, fake that you aren’t (more on that later), a don't be defensive about it. You should probably work out if only for the future, but don’t think you need to be juiced or anything.

Now let’s talk about augmenting your personality. You do not have to be a different person. Be yourself, but just be a more confident you. Carry your head higher (literally put your shoulders back more and stand up straight) and focus on having a self-sure facial expression. All I mean is don’t look slouchy or sad - no one wants to hang around with a downer. Women respond to confidence, and appearing confident is the first step to being confident. If you are not confident then just fake it until you make it. By making conscious attempts to appear a little more bold and sure of yourself than you normally would be, it will eventually come naturally to you and feel natural as well. It all comes down to practice. Don’t be cocky though.

Let me also talk about things like your interests and how you present them. It is ok to like something, but don’t make it seem like that thing rules you, and for the love of God don’t be ashamed of it either. Be confident about your interests and the reasons you like them, but don’t dwell on things that other people themselves are not interested in, and don’t guilt people for not liking them either. (i.e. My girlfriend will never understand the awesomeness that is Star Wars or StarCraft, but I’m not going to jam it down her throat.)

Socializing is a massive aspect to getting dates and dating. If you really want to meet people it’s simply a matter of socializing as much as humanly possible. Go out with friends, walk around the mall, do activities in groups (exercise classes, w/e). Take the opportunity to talk to many many people, especially women, and don’t hesitate to ask for a number or two.

Fear is a major inhibitor of attracting people, which is why confidence and frequency is key. You simply have to get over your fear of women by talking to them, and realize that rejection is just like losing on the Ladder; it happens, get over it. Think about it – when you first started laddering you were probably scared to death, but after 150+ games I’ll bet that you aren’t too scared of playing another one, are you? Imagine you talked to the same amount of women in that time; the fear would be gone too.

Some women, through no fault of their own other than how they were raised or what they've been told in life, tend to jerk you around a little (not responding to attempts at communication, jealousy plays, being unavailable, etc).Try to spot these games ahead of time and nip them in the bud. Call them out on it too – women like to be challenged, and it will also prevent them from doing similar things in the future.

Do your best to never appear needy, whether you’ve been dating 3 times or 3 years. Remember that if you’re looking for someone to spend your time with, she is under just as much scrutiny as you are, and should be working for your affection too. Don't be a 'puppy dog' and do all kinds of shit for her. Favors are nice, but only if they are acknowledged, appreciated, and reciprocated.

I’d say that most conversations with a girl should consist of her giving 70% or more of the information. This goes again with the her trying to get you aspect.That is not to say that you should be doing 30% of the talking, just that the conversation should be about her or something that she is interested in most of the time. You don't want to talk too much about yourself right away because it will take away the mystery and you'll be left bare and uninteresting. Generic topics about which you have mutual interest is always good.

Women like to be serious and sometimes melodramatic, which is why you should always be calm, cool, and collected. This may seem cliché but keep your emotions subdued as much as possible. You can reveal your feelings over time but don't think that a girl you still don't know that well is going to show you the level of sympathy that you might expect from a parent, sibling, or close friend. The last thing you want is a girl thinking to herself, 'Oh, this guy really can't keep it together. Is he going to lose it like this all the time?' Being the calm one can often create a nice dynamic between you two - the girl might lose her cool but you're the one to bring her back down. She may even grow to depend on that.

This is both true and false. Little compliments every once in a while are nice, but playful teasing is also good. Any guy can give a girl a compliment, but (a) is it true or is he spouting it trying to impress her?, and (b) what guy would have the balls to make a negative remark? This usually works best if it is funny, but never get defensive if the joke doesn't land. General compliments are lame too; finer compliments are much better. “I like your sweater” is wayyyyy better than “You’re the most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen.” Pardon the hyperbole, but you get what I mean.