I pretty much only do it when I'm going into very big, stressful social situations, where I'm going to have to talk to a lot of people I don't know. I'm a person who loves one on one conversations with people (including strangers), but I'm shy and reserved in the presence of groups.
One of the physical effects of this mental routine is to dilate my pupils pretty radically. That seems to create a positive feedback loop when I interact with new people. The positive social feedback sustains the reaction until I sort of crash out of it.
On casual dates and normal nights out, I never do it.
I do use it on the rare occasions when I shoot pool.
All it really consists of is re-living the physical sensation and mental state of a few peak experiences - the ones where I effortlessly bowled a nearly perfect game, or hit a 3-point shot all net, or my first kiss with a beautiful woman (usually, but not always, my girlfriend). Nothing too complicated... just that momentary sense of something arriving and the world aligning perfectly. The whole trick for me is just thinking of that moment until I feel the rush of endorphins through my body, and remembering to keep living in it.
In pool, I always miss when I think too much about a shot - but I can make it blindfolded if my brain is perfectly one with the world around me. And so it is in all aspects of life; most of my brain function is self sabotage and unnecessary overhead when it comes to just making a shot. I think it was from pool and bowling that I learned to do this thing which helps me in society.
