You asked her if she wanted to grab coffee. Then you asked if the time worked. Then you asked if the place was okay. Then you asked if she'd prefer tea.
Four questions. Four chances for her to say no. Four signals that you're terrified of making a decision.
Plan it. Pick the place. Pick the time. Tell her where to meet you. She'll either show up or she won't.
Either way, you look like a man instead of a scared little boy.
You made your case like a lawyer. Stable job. Good guy. Ready for something real. All true. All irrelevant.
She weighed your points, nodded along, felt nothing — then fell hard for some tattooed bartender with a motorcycle and a gambling problem.
Logic is where attraction goes to die. The "22 Rules" work a level deeper, on the subconscious switches that decide within minutes whether you register as a MAN or as part of the furniture.
Stop presenting evidence. Start flipping switches.
Well, for me, those tests I posted in my original post are "make or break" tests. There are other tests that a guy can fail and I'll still date him. Because everyone has flaws, no one is perfect and no two people can have 100% of the same interests. All I am looking for is some key areas where we are compatible.Originally posted by PEACEDJ
Well to all of your questions.. what do you consider a good answer from men? and just maybe the guy put you on a test and well you do sucky on his and he does good on yours? what happens next?
She calls you when her car breaks down. When she needs help moving. When some guy she's actually dating treats her badly.
You're the listener. The reliable one. The guy who would treat her so much better, if she'd just open her eyes.
She won't. You trained her to see you as the low-effort option — the friend who requires zero risk and zero investment. Every favor dug the hole deeper.
The "22 Rules" break the pattern. You'll stop auditioning for a role she already cast and become the man she chases instead. It starts with Rule 1.
Dating is not the contest of which I wrote. Argument is. We all benefit from this site by learning.Originally posted by GirlCrazy
Who said this is some sort of contest to be won or lost? When we understand life, of which dating is just one aspect, we all win.
I'm not here looking for any kind of validation. However it's still my opinion that most relationships, whether they be friendship, dating, or business have a high degree of commonality. It's been my experience that successful people are successful in all aspects of their lives and their relationships to other people - not just business or dating or whatever. The people I look up to could approach anybody for any reason and cultivate any relationship at any time. I've seen many people use love and sex to their business advantage. You obviously don't agree and that's fine. But just because you don't agree doesn't mean I haven't said anything meaningful.
In the previous post I offered a scenario in which success with the business interview did not immediately translate into success with dating. It's perfectly fine for you to continue holding the opinion that the two are congruous worlds that can be compared like analogies. We can compromise: you can probably agree that the two might have huge differences, and I can probably agree that the two have great similarities.
That I said you haven't said anything meaningful was a little over the top. What I really meant to say is that your offering of the business world as an analogy does not support your claim because the analogy itself has too many problems. Therefore, your claim--that everyone, including USSOCOM, is really testing (or must be, if he does not want to "get played")--has no valid argumentative backing and is therefore quite meaningless.
Gotta run; I'll reply to your second half later. It'll be a lot less dry because we'll be talking about passion...whee!
cynetix
Agreed. Senseless rehashing of our points wouldn't be productive. We will likely never agree on this issue. Part of what I find so refreshing about this board is the differing opinions here. There are no bandwagons here to jump on.No amount of redefinition on your part which would stay relevant to this post can alter that.
I could talk to any woman I wasn't attracted to. Charming, funny, relaxed. Then a gorgeous woman looked my way and I'd become a sweating, babbling mess.
The fix took me years to find and ten minutes to learn. Nervousness and excitement are the same physical state — pounding heart, adrenaline, flushed face. Your brain just picks the label. And you can pick a better one.
Rule 16 shows you how. You feel the nerves, relabel them as excitement, and let that energy pour out as enthusiasm. Women notice the guy radiating it. They always do.
It is totally possible that a girl is testing me without my knowing it...this has happened beforeOriginally posted by GirlCrazy
Just because you are unaware that an "interview" is taking place, does not mean that you aren't actually being interviewed. What's so wrong about "interviewing the interviewer"?
Nothing at all! Passion makes the world go 'round.
And what's wrong with having passion about all aspects or our lives, including work?
You take an emotional risk potentionally with all human interactions. You've never seen a friend angry or upset that he / she didn't land that dream job? I have plenty of times, and the sense of rejection from the person struck me as being very similiar to romantic rejection.
This was addressed in the previous postOn the contrary, the test was unspoken, but the filtering process was still there. I like friendly outgoing people and my date was pouty and kept complaining. I don't like pouty women. I didn't need to ask my friend why his date didn't pass the filtering process either, I could see it in his face. Just because the test isn't a standardized mutliple choice type doesn't mean we don't all have a filtering process in all our dealings with others. Again I stick to my opinion that we all have a filtering process.
Actually USSCOM, you are not getting it. The answers matter a lot. I want to date a guy who has X, Y and Z qualities. If he doesn't have those, he can be the most confident guy in the world and I still don't want anything serious with him.Originally posted by USSOCOM
VBG, besides personal prefferences what your saying is, you want a guy who knows how to be a guy without douting himself. So really his answers to your tests don't really matter as long he is confident in himself, personal prefferences aside of course.
Your point illustrates a key difference between us--which I suspect is based on both gender and our age difference. Age difference is important for two reasons: 1) potentials for you have had time for a lot more baggage, and 2) the girls I meet tend to be in school, increasing the chance for more intellectual-ness.Originally posted by VeryBadGirl
In understand that there are other ways of checking for compatibility other than tests. These just work for me because there are a lot of guys out there and I would rather just find some key things out early-on. As long as you are looking out for compatibilty in some form - unfortunetly, some people get so caught up in looks that they don't look for it.
Three seconds. That's how long it took. Your shoes. Your posture. The way you held your drink. Whether you looked at the floor or looked at her.
She already filed you away. Interesting. Boring. Safe. Bold. Before you even opened your mouth.
Everything you say after that is just her confirming what she already decided.
So stop rehearsing lines. Fix the first three seconds. Stand tall. Look up. Smile like you mean it. Walk like you belong wherever you're standing.
The words come later. The impression comes first.
Me: *pulls over to another person* Hey look there goes that girl trying to make me jealous again.1) The "blatently flirting with another guy in front of you test"
Me: Whoa, did a gerbil bite you in the ass or something? relax2) The "getting mad at you for no reason to see how you react test"
Me: So you want to have her all to yourself huh? You 2 should get together.3) The "yelling at you for checking out another girl to see how you react test"
Me: Alright. Your choice, but keep in mind you'll never see my hot ass again.4) The "canceling a date for no reason test"
Me: *stops kissing* I respect girls that don't ask a lot of questions. *starts smelling her neck slowly and softly*5) The "getting you really horny while making out but then saying no test to see if you really "respect" me"
Me: Yeah, gas and electric bills are outrageous these days.1) The "are you a crazy conservative test" (Because I don't date conservatives)
Me: No2) The "do you actually read books test" (Because I don't date guys that don't read)
Me: Nah, it's your job to ask me out, wine me and dine me before I put out anyway. *cheers to Fingers for that one*3) The "are you going to freak out if I ask you out test" (some guys really like to be in control and don't deal well with a woman asking them out)
For "Wow, I really want to kiss you"4) The " no inner monologue test" - This one might need explaining. At some point during the first few dates, I blurt something totally weird or innapropriate out - not always on purpose, I just often have no inner monolougue, so I say things like "Wow, I really want to kiss you" or "Have you ever noticed that the word "plate" has a lot of different meanings" or something else really weird. This often proves to be a key test - can they handle my weird indiosycracies and the fact that I most often just say whatever come into my head.
Her: How do you feel about having kids?5) The "kid test" where I gauge how he feels about children and having them - don't want to get serious with a guy that doesn't want any.
Her: You do mary J?6) The "MJ/other drugs test" to make sure he is on the same casual user track as I am.
*note* Oh man i love this test! When women do this to me, I'll talk to their friends to get some ammo on the girl to use in my next tease sessions.7) The "meet my friends test." This is important because my friends are very important to me and some of them are men, which some guys can't handle.
Her: so how long was your longest relationship?8) The "past relationship test" is also an important one for later - is he capable of committment? Has he cheated in the past? is he still pining over his high school girlfriend? (Sometimes this happens earlier on as well)
cynetix said:Your point illustrates a key difference between us--which I suspect is based on both gender and our age difference. Age difference is important for two reasons: 1) potentials for you have had time for a lot more baggage, and 2) the girls I meet tend to be in school, increasing the chance for more intellectual-ness.
Back to the key difference...
I don't care, for example, if a girl is a republican or a democrat.
It also doesn't matter if a girl reads a lot. Rather, it doesn't matter if a girl has to say "YES" if I ask her whether she reads. It is really obvious whether a girl is into intellectual endeavors just by mere conversation. It doesn't require my questioning.
Which brings up another problem with tests. What if she would like to read a lot, but doesn't read because she's really busy? If I asked her if she reads, and what she reads, and she says she hasn't read anything in a long time but means to get around to it, what should I think? Has she passed the test because she means to get around to it? Has she failed because she seems to be making up excuses?
Testing introduces an additional level of abstraction in the dating process. It can be confusing, misleading, and this is why I say not testing is much better and more natural.
It is very important that the girl I'm with be funny, smart, creative, fun, beautiful, etc....and these are strict requirements, mind you. It is not important HOW she goes about meeting my criteria to the point where I need to be questioning her about them.
The closest I can think of as an exception to this rule is smoking. Chicks who pull out cigarettes are an instant turn-off to me. I'm not sure why it's such a huge turn-off, but I think cigarettes are nasty and the girls who smell like them are even nastier. But on no occasion will you catch me asking a girl if she smokes. There's no need to.
This begs the question: So cynetix, what if she only smokes occasionally and it's not until you're laying in bed with her after you've had sex after a really fun date that she pulls out a cigarette? Will you be repulsed and tell her to leave and never see her again?
And that illustrates the key difference between us, because I might have to admit to myself that I might be okay with smoking in this instance.
Because you see, it's not that I have "I SHALL NOT DATE A SMOKER" embedded in my dating philosophy. I find it problematic that you, VBG, have "I SHALL NOT DATE A CONSERVATIVE" and that Wyldfire has "I SHALL NOT DATE AN UNCIRCUMSIZED MALE" embedded into your dating philosophies.
I can't argue against you guys saying it's not right to have such things in mind when looking for mates, because it seems to work for you. But it does seem awfully prejudiced, not to mention it very likely demonstrates a fundamental neglect of the intricacies of human nature, a lack in understanding how you yourselves work.
cynetix
Dinner ran three hours. She laughed at everything. You walked her to her car thinking this one's locked in.
Then: nothing. Two texts. No reply. What happened?
You did what most men do on a great date. You filled every silence, answered every question, and left her with nothing to wonder about. No mystery. Nothing to sit with when she got home.
Rule 3 of the "22 Rules" changes the ending: tell her a little, hold back the rest, and let her imagination do the chasing. The ghosting stops too.