Process Over Outcome

Well, I'm back in the field today.  The holidays are over, my company is gone, and I have no more excuses.  Time to try this stuff out--I even have three leads that came out of nowhere and are waiting for my call.

Amazingly, despite how excited I am to master this game, I am feeling an overwhelming amount of approach anxiety.  So I open up the book to read what Mystery says to do about it, and instead find this section:

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Process Over Outcome

    A Venusian artist goes into the field night after night primarily to improve his calibration and to internalize his skill set.  You're not trying to "get this one girl" or even "get laid tonight."  Rather, you practice with the long-term goal of having a powerful social skill set in the future, one you may confidently turn on in times of need.  When you don't need it, you don't use it.  When you do, you're ready.

    You cannot allow the outcome of any given approach to carry much significance...It's like playing a video game:  If your man dies, just hit the reload button and play again.  If the outcome of any specific approach becomes too important to you, it'll have subtle, insidious effects on your game and compromise you win.  You really do have to not care.

The one who releases himself from the emotional attachment to a desired outcome is, ironically, the one most likely to realize that outcome.

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Um, do I really have to translate?

BTW, here's a quote from the approach anxiety section:  "Confidence is not the objective.  Competence is."