2020 is your year of love. Or maybe it’s your friends? Being a wingman allows you to help your boys (or girls) chances with getting the partner of their dreams. However, this role is difficult to execute correctly and requires a very specific mindset paired with a winning game-plan.

Don’t Be A Hero Mentality

Alright homies, this mindset is going to be what your wingmanning will revolve around. Whenever you’re in trouble, this is where you revert to. Keep this in the center of your mind and everything will fall in place.

You’re first and foremost a side kick. Would Batman be quite as successful without Alfred? Nah, mans would get his butt whooped. Being a wingman means you are the supporting character. Your friend needs you to support him and make him look better. Are you funny in real life? Well, if you are wingmanning, you aren’t. You’re going to downgrade yourself because this isn’t your story. Your only goal is to help your friend get with that cutie. Notice how you aren’t getting the cutie. A wingman is only on the sidelines to support, a hypeman to be exact.

If you don’t fully encompass this mindset, you’re gonna steal the girl or make your friend look worse. That is a wingman failure. You have to be selfless.

Putting the Pieces Into Play

Now that you’re ready to wingman, execution is a whole other beast to tackle. Executing a perfect wingman play is going to be different for each situation, so I’ll put down different strategies and when to use them. Remember, you’re the one pulling the strings. You’re the maestro of the play. Better put on a diaper and grab that bow because you’re Cupid now.

The Distracter – Your friend likes this one girl but since she’s really amazing and charming, she has at least 3 other friends with her. Now, being a lone wolf to talk to a girl is nearly impossible and will result in almost inevitable failure. However, you’re here so everything’s a-okay. You have to distract the friends to allow your boy to talk to his crush one on one. Keep their attention on you but also keep an eye out if your friend is struggling. If he is, lay off the act and rejoin as a group.

The Alley-Oop – Let’s bring back the Alfred analogy. He gives Batman the tools and support to save the day. You have to help your friend in the same way. This can be done by setting up the punch line for jokes while your friend nails it. As long as your friend gets the last word and it’s funny, you’re doing your job correctly. Additionally, you can transition into a Siri-like role if the conversation is getting stale. “Conveniently” remind your friend of a great story that they can tell and that will be their reminder to start telling that story. This means doing your research and reminding your friend beforehand of the story. Let them have their memory primed up to tell the best details and the great moments. This way, they can seem dynamic and interesting while you sit back and relax.

The Foil – Being a foil means having a contrast to another person. For example, Patrick as a foil to Spongebob makes Spongebob look smarter, even though they are both objective goofy-goobers. However, just that relative comparison is enough to make Spongebob the more reasonable one. This can be applied to wingmanning. By being worse at every category than your friend, you make your friend look just amazing. However, be subtle about it and make it look convincing. Don’t be a dumbass, it just makes your friend look worse because of the company that he partakes in. There’s a quote that goes something like “Who someone hangs out around says more about him than his surroundings”.

There’s a very delicate balance with being a foil. The safe way to pull this technique off is just to let your friend help you with simple tasks. Oh no, you accidentally dropped your pen near him. Now he picks it up without hesitation. These small favors show to the potential lady that he’s considerate and aware of his surroundings. Unfortunately, you need a ride somewhere? Wait, your friend got you. Now she’s seeing that he’s a great friend and someone dependable. This allows your friend to look great and you might take a blow but its for the greater good. This is the role you signed up for, this is all to help your friend.

Why Would You Do This?

Being a wingman is a difficult role. You don’t get anything tangible from it. You might look worse in others eyes afterwards. You have to go through so much trouble and for what? Why would you ever be a wingman? You want your friends to be happy. Its simple. In this world, there is a lot to be scared about and interacting with someone cute is one of them. Be a bro and push your friend out of their comfort zone and it may end up in ways that can change their life. Help them to be confident and put themselves out there. Rejection may come but there has never been a better time to start pursuing greatness than now.

Just remember though, respect women and don’t cross any boundaries that you wouldn’t cross in the first place. Hold your friends accountable and start to make amazing memories!