In the summer of 2011, while living in Pittsburgh and wandering through life amidst addle brained attempts at finding companionship (only to end up with frustrated results time after time), I happened to remember hearing a couple of players I was dealing to—in Detroit a few years earlier—reference a book called The Game.

They described it as an average guy's chronicle—who was in his mid-thirties, perpetually single, and also with a below average physique—that became an understudy to some of the most successful pick-up artists and, in a matter of months, transformed himself into the worlds premier Playboy.

One afternoon I was killing time at a Barnes and Noble looking for something new and remembered The Game. I did a quick Google search and was able to find it on a shelf with relative ease.

After thumbing through a few pages for a sample I was hooked. The material was unlike anything I had ever read before, and I was giddy to devour the information within and even more excited to put the wheels in motion myself.

Some people hold a reverential book, film, or song they happened upon through fate as their own personal holy grail. A sacred instrument which had entered their life and altered its trajectory forever. Undoubtedly, The Game didn't take long to earn a spot on my top shelf.

I was in awe as I read, that, through mere psychological tinkering, Neil Strauss, the author, was able to walk into any social environment and seduce the most attractive woman in the room with little more than cunning wit and (seemingly) spontaneous and perceptive observations, most of which were playful digs at a woman's insecurity, and go home a winner every night.

It only took a few days to finish and I subscribed to Neil's email list, bought every other book he recommended, and joined the message boards of other PUA's (Pick-Up Artists) who were out there navigating the road (sarging) to companionship with a secret shortcut that was only gifted to us who had the gumption to acquire directions.

Shortly thereafter, I made plans to go solo-sarging (socializing with the intention of picking up women) up and down East Carson Street.

Memorized routines were locked and loaded and I had taken the flashiest clothes out of my closet that were sure to make my feathers the brightest of all peacocks. I was a sure bet to stand out among all the other AFC's (Average Frustrated Chumps) who were hoping to "get lucky" that night.

It didn't take long for the evening to take a dive south of the border.

I started at Mario's and got so nervous when it came time to step up to the plate that I started doing shots as a means of suppressing the angst. I ended up getting so drunk that I flubbed every routine and even ended up trying to open the same girls just five minutes after I had been shot down.

I barely remember leaving there and stumbling into Jekyl and Hyde (a Halloween themed bar on South 18th Street) where I proceeded to party even harder.

The following morning I woke up with nothing to keep me company but an awful hangover and a phone full of embarrassing pictures taken by the bartender where I was hanging off a bunch of amused girls glassy eyed and resembling more of an alcoholic clown than any sort of Hugh Hefner offspring.

It was a harsh lesson, but one that I learned from.

Rather than succumb to defeat, I regained my composure the following weekend and made it a paramount rule to put a leash on my intake. The results were much better. That first number close was tantamount to raking in a salubrious pot at the poker table.

Superior, even.

From that point forward I felt like I could walk on water and proceeded to step to women with confidence and number close one after another.

It was baffling to me at what a simple readjustment to the brain could do to gain a whole new perspective on life.

In The Game, Neil Strauss places heavy emphasis on the method known as NLP (Nuero-Linguistic Programing) multiple times, having been made cognizant of it through one of his tutors, Ross Jeffries (the inspiration behind Tom Cruise's masochistic character in Magnolia), who utilized NLP as a means of manipulating younger women into sleeping with him.

At the beginning of this new found hobby, I purchased many different books that Neil recommended as a means of deepening my knowledge of The Game—Introducing NLP being one of them. And it now makes sense why he pimped it so hard.

I wasn't nearly as voracious and dedicated of a reader back then as I am now and many of the books that I had bought ended up collecting dust on the shelf. Sometimes, I would flip it open and found it almost impossible to focus on the complicated lingo and would end up putting it back on the shelf and lug it around to the various places I had moved to over the years.

At the beginning of this year though I decided to give Introducing NLP another crack, this time with better preparation to absorb the contents and digest the lessons.

And what an absolute blessing of a decision that turned out to be.

Talk about the right book at the right time and place.

The methods that were offered within the pages helped me to get through the aftermath of a car crash I was in at the end of July with greater-reaching results than any tranquilizing anti-depressant could offer.

Introducing NLP provides proper and thorough guidance in reframing and shaping your perception of reality into one which is most satisfying. Call it mind tricks, brainwashing, hypnosis, or whatever you'd like, but the methods do work, and the more I read from other self-help authors (Neil Strauss, James Clear) the more impact I can see that this book has made over time.

Neuro-Linguistic Programming acts as a life hack in the mental highway, where the simple practice of investing the time to change your perspective and allow other considerations into frame, provides you with the ability to carve and interpret day to day living with a much richer lens, one that guides and glides you through the day with relative ease and renewed zest.

Dispelling falsely implemented and self-restricting belief's is not an easy thing to do.

Indian shepherds use this method to keep elephants in check by tying their foot to a post during infancy to instill the belief that they will never be able to conquer the said wooden post. A non-sensical notion, as, obviously, when the elephant grows, the post becomes reduced to nothing more than a toothpick, but, nevertheless, one that lasts throughout the elephants adulthood because of the implemented belief in the irrefutable fact that it has never, nor will ever, conquer the post. So it may as well not waste the effort and succumb to the falsehood of the post being stronger than the will of the elephant.

So to, do we as humans, fall into this trap of self-deception so easily. It wasn't until I was made aware of these traps that I began to see them in others.

Limiting beliefs with self-castigating vitriol as the daily verification of a life authored in shortcomings.

If I have one relationship fail, then I am worthless to women the planet over. I didn't get the promotion, so, since I came up short by that barometric status of evaluation, I will never succeed. I went to the gym for a week straight but none of the pounds dropped on the scale, so I suppose I'm just destined to be fat forever. I failed abysmally in one tournament, so pursuing a professional career in sports in futile.

Etc. etc. etc.

You can see how the cycle develops, and recently I became a victim of this as well.

On July 30th I was in a motor vehicle accident where an uninsured driver hit me from behind going 78 mph. My vehicle was deemed a total loss and the realization of how my life had changed began to settle in.

I made the bulk of my living at that time through door dash and now I didn't have a car. I gave into the paranoia of how I was now unable to make ends meet and let my mind go off in a tail spin. Every hurtle henceforth became a verifying element of the undeniable fact that I was destined to go broke. It was inevitable. Despite the fact that my insurance covered the loss and (after many headaches) my gap claim went through and despite the fact that the legal counsel that I had retained had an impeccable record. It was all superfluous poppycock. Despite all these arguments to the contrary, I was convinced that you couldn't spell my destiny without destitution. The dwindling numbers of my bank account, me being forced to ride the bus, and many other factors verified the inevitable notion that I was financially doomed.

But as time wore on and I managed to get by, one by one, these notions began to erode, and in place of the anxiety emerged a renewed sense of resilience. Through NLP techniques, I no longer looked at the crash as a curse, but as a blessing. Few people were able to walk away from a 78 mph impact without a scratch, but I had. Now, after seven months of walking, I was able to create a decent living through multiple avenues that gave proof to the value of my self-efficacy. And I also found, that not carrying the burden of a $350 car payment, gas, and inflated insurance bills, makes things much easier on the legs in the paper chase. I had emerged from the ashes of defeat and loss with an amplified sense of self-efficacy which would have made many people crumble.

All of these things, these considerations, would never have come to fruition without the help of NLP.

Every one, a testament to the power of knowledge.

Grade: A+

Verdict: Read