Shooters keep shooting, right? But are you Steph Curry, or are you Jae Crowder from downtown? I recently did a statistical analysis of every girl I put in serious work for since high school to calculate my overall relationship percentage (RPG), and the results were very intriguing.
Follow me as I share the process and learn not only how to calculate your own RPG, but more importantly, how to shoot higher percentage shots.
The Point System
Calculating your RPG can be a daunting task if the scope is too large, so it's important to note that this isn't for every single girl that catches your eye or even every girl you may have gotten intimate with.
To determine my RPG, I had to think hard about all of the women I actually wanted to be my girlfriend and put forth considerable effort into making this a reality. I'm talking about pulling out all the stops. Those select few would be who I measured my shooting ability against.
For this calculation, I had a simple point system.
0 points - if my advances didn't get me past the friend zone, despite my best efforts
1 point - if some physical, romantic reciprocation was shared but didn't result in a relationship
2 points - if we actually became a couple
Although it was simple, it did force me to take a good hard look at the 13 women who ended up making my list. With a total of 26 points possible, my overall RPG came to be 34.6%, landing me somewhere between Marcus Smart and Jamal Murray from deep.
Admittedly this wasn't too impressive to me but to my defense, I've always and exclusively pursued highly desired women. Future and current NFL athletes, doctors, and musical artists were my competition for their affection, but I've always been a firm believer that every man is capable of getting any woman if he puts his mind to it.
With that being said, the numbers told a different story, so I decided to investigate where I was coming up short.
The Breakdown
Sure the overall score was cool, but like any American, I needed a better view of the data to understand where I was shooting airballs. Putting things in two chronological subsets did much to help this.
The first break down involved dividing up where I met my love interests irrespective of when I actually tried to date them.
Met in High School - 3 / 12 (25%)
Jaelyn - 0 /2
Ashley - 0 /2
Nicole - 2 /2
Kylie - 0 / 2
Erika - 1 /2
Danielle - 0 /2
Met in College - 5 / 12 (41.7%)
Nina - 0 / 2
Mya - 2 / 2
Rori - 2 / 2
Andrea - 0 / 2
Christina - 0 / 2
Jasmine - 1 / 2
Met after College - 1 / 2 : 50%
Arielle - 1 / 2
Analysis
Although I was very social in high school, playing varsity baseball sophomore and junior year before focusing on my studies senior year, I could see why my RPG was lowest with the women I met at that time.
My sense of identity, confidence, finances, and physical appearance (had braces for almost 3 years) was the lowest at that point than any other time, yet I was still shooting at the baddest in the school. Comparatively, the percentage for the one I met after college and seriously pursued was dramatically higher because she was introduced to the best version of me without the history.
This gave me great insight, but I wanted to see the difference timing made.
Pursued in High School - 2 / 10 : 20%
Danielle - 0 / 2
Jaelyn - 0 / 2
Kylie - 0 /2
Ashley - 0 /2
Nicole - 2 /2
Pursued in College - 4 / 6 : 66.7%
Nina - 0 / 2
Rori - 2 / 2
Mya - 2 / 2
Pursued after College - 3 / 10 : 30%
Erika - 1 / 2
Andrea - 0 / 2
Christina - 0 / 2
Jasmine - 1 / 2
Arielle - 1 / 2
Analysis
I noticed that who I was where they met me did influence how far things went with them, as women that I tried to date in earlier phases in my life seldomly converted regardless if I had grown personally later on.
In college, I saw the highest RPG because all the people I was pursuing were meeting me at the same time where my identity was more solidified, in comparison with after college where I had grown relationally but attempted to reconnect with women in an earlier season in life.
Beyond the Numbers
Knowledge is power, and with power comes confidence. For some of you, the analysis may paint a different picture, but I now had clear evidence of where my sweet spots were. Sure it's not impossible for me to date a girl I knew from high school or college, but attempting to do so will mean that I have to do some rebranding in their eyes on top of getting to know them.
For me, starting at the same place has a much higher success rate, so putting myself in those positions is my best bet. Make no mistake, serious dating isn't an accident. Meeting the woman of your dreams is very different than pursuing her, and if you get her depends on how secure you are in yourself and the time you decide to take action.
With the RPG, you will have the tools to re-examine not only when your successes and failures happened but also who you were during those times. As men, we can and should be getting more attractive with age as our more desirable traits are less about appearance and geared more toward security and provision. So the next time you square up, work the system to your advantage, so you get two points... and one.