After reading the Pygmalion story, you didn't say, "I met someone and then my mental attitude changed." You said, essentially that you realized that your mindset had been a big part of the problem, and changing that allowed you to meet someone. That doesn't mean you weren't still nervous, but you wrote quite excitedly about that story you read and how it helped you, so I don't buy it that now you're saying it didn't really.

In addition, why would you ever think you had to play mind games or that this would be desireable/helpful? This is the sort of thing I'm talking about - guys make up fairy tales about what women want, about how they are supposed to act, about the fact that women only want 6/6/6 guys, etc., and then they wonder why they aren't having more success when them and their disempowering stories are a large part of what is in the way.

I'm not saying you've had an easy time or that this is all your fault, but I am saying that lots of guys make it harder for themselves by not believing what women actually say they want and instead clinging to these disempowering stories that men tell each other. And, impirically, when you gave that up even just a little bit, it helped you. Of course you had to get out of the house and go to an event, of course you had to push past your comfort zone to talk to someone. That's dating advice 101. It's not just that finally someone magically affirmed you - you still had to change up your game in order to make room for that to happen - and you did. And I'm very glad for you.