Credo: Neil Strauss

'The Game' author and pick-up artist, 39

I believe...

Being named the best pick-up artist in the world by my peers was the culmination of a journey towards finding self-esteem, in the shallowest way. I felt that if a beautiful woman could be with me, naked, despite me being 5ft 6in and having a big nose, maybe you can achieve these things with just your personality.

Russell Brand does extremely well as a pick-up artist. When I met him he was intuitively using the principles in the book. When you're with him, you're swept up into a world where you could die tomorrow, so you might as well enjoy life to its fullest right now.

The secret to life and happiness is having balance. If I do a bit of work, something physical, something social, and something contemplative each day, I'm happy.

The man never chooses the woman. Even when a woman is chasing a guy, it's usually the woman who decides the yes or no in the end, and all the guy can do is present himself in the best light.

Britney Spears needs good people around her who have her best interests at heart. After The Game came out, she saw she was in there and she called me over to her place to discuss ghost-writing her autobiography. Everyone around her is so controlling that she just has a lot to learn about life; she's like a fuzzy little yellow duckling that's lost its way.

Picking up women is the same everywhere. When I visited a village in Bangladesh, certain principles, such as peacocking (wearing outlandish attire to stand out), still worked: my head was shaven and I had these giant spikes in my ears, and all the girls were chasing after me.

The principles of seducing women for a one-night stand are not the same as they are for relationships. When you are in "the game", you don't want to give a woman too many compliments; in a relationship, it's the opposite.

'The Rules of the Game' (Canongate, £16.99) is out now in hardback