Mall Anxiety Phone Trick

Mark Manson shares a story about a woman with social anxiety who participated in his YouTube challenge series.

"We take her to a mall and tell her she has to find somebody from Canada. She was absolutely mortified. She starts faking being on a phone call because she's so nervous. I asked her 'Are you faking a phone call?' and she admits 'Yeah, I am. I just don't know, it makes me feel more comfortable.'

She was such a spaz running around the mall asking people who are from Canada. But it worked - it got her out there talking to people. The qualitative feedback has been incredible. We've gotten tons of comments from people saying they cried watching it, saying 'This was me' or 'I was not expecting this to be so powerful.'

What's interesting is that before we shot this, I did pre-shoot interviews with her. Within 10 minutes of talking to her, I knew I could help her. I was like 'Give me a week with her, I can get something out of it.'"