You've said it a hundred times. Maybe a thousand. And every time you say it, you train your brain to freeze the next time she walks into the room.
Leagues are a myth invented by guys who are scared of women.
She's a person. She has bad breath in the morning. She picks songs she can't sing in the shower. She overthinks her own texts.
Walk over. Say something. The league dissolves the second you open your mouth.
She asks it casually, mid-sip. And you feel the floor open up, because the honest answer is work, gym, and a couple shows you're half-watching.
Women rarely say this out loud, but a man with a life is attractive before he says a word. The guy who spent Saturday deep-sea fishing and came back with photos and a story — he walks in already interesting.
The "22 Rules" pushed me to build a life worth talking about. Turns out the fastest way to be interesting to women is to be interested in your own life first.
Some women, however, remove their "guy friends" from the equation entirely. For example, my sister has historically limited herself to cultivating only friendships with other women when she has a boyfriend. Other women actively cultivate friendships with both men and women regardless of the relationships in which they are involved.Francisco d'Anconia said:It's not whether or not she has guy friends; she's bound to have guy friends unless she lives and works in a convent and if that's the case she wouldn't be dating you.
This would be true in those circumstances where your view of the situation isn't corrupted by biases and assumptions. I'm not easily trusting. I'm naturally distrustful. In these situations, I wouldn't know whether to trust my distrust.BobFuest said:If you can't trust a girl who has "guy friends" then she was not worth the trust in the first place.
The same behaviors you would see as if she had a lowered interest level or someone who is cheating. She has time for her guy friends and not for you. She isnt as available as she should be. she leaves the room when on the phone. she receives gifts.Demon said:The original question is probably better reframed as, "What behaviors are common to women who are becoming intimate with their guy friends?" How would you reliably know whether she is becoming involved with another guy without resorting to mischievious tactics?
You've said it a hundred times. Maybe a thousand. And every time you say it, you train your brain to freeze the next time she walks into the room.
Leagues are a myth invented by guys who are scared of women.
She's a person. She has bad breath in the morning. She picks songs she can't sing in the shower. She overthinks her own texts.
Walk over. Say something. The league dissolves the second you open your mouth.
hahaha i love that bit and that whole stand up. I got to show my girl that :crackup:DJDamage said:
Next Monday you'll feel more confident. After the gym you'll feel more confident. After one more drink you'll feel more confident. After you get a better haircut, a better jacket, a better job.
You've been "getting ready" for two years.
She's standing ten feet away right now. She'll be gone in four minutes. No amount of preparation will manufacture the courage that only comes from moving your feet.
Walk over. Stumble through the first sentence. Let it be clumsy. Let it be imperfect. You will feel more alive in those ten seconds than you have all month.
Demon said:For those of you involved or previously involved with the long-term relationship, how do you contend with the issue of your girlfriend having "guy friends"?
That is all fine and good but the truth is that time spent together can lead to things "just happening". Guys know this ... and more guys seem to use this "friendship as a strategy" to get more instead of really trying to be her friend. Can you honestly say that if one of your "superficial" friends decided she did want to date that you would turn her down? Would you really care if she had a boyfriend when it happened?hadoken said:It's not an issue so long as it is not an ex-bf. It's silly to think coed friendships have to be footnoted with one party have an underlying attraction for the other. Do I have female friends? Yes. Are some of them attractive? Yeah but so what - that's just a characteristic about them. I have genuine female friends that I've known for years - I knew them when they were single and still stay in touch now that they are married. There are also some girls that I am superficially friends with but would rather date. The reality is, you as the bf can't tell which guys friends are genuine or not, so let her decide and trust her. She knows the guys that come around only when she is single and those that always stay in touch no matter what.
You paid for dinner. You drove. You said "whatever you want is fine" every single time. All the effort, no expectations.
And she left anyway — probably for a guy who makes her pick up the pizza.
Painful. Also predictable. Her mind quietly concludes that anything requiring zero effort from her is worth exactly zero. You became a free sample, and free samples get taken for granted.
The 22 Rules flip the dynamic. Small shifts that get her investing effort, money, and time in you — until SHE'S the one afraid of losing YOU.
Actually I think you missed the part about if her IL (although I call it respect) is high ... she won't let these things happen. But then I'm not a strong believer in "trust". So perhaps I phrased that statement improperly. In my experience ... most platonic friendships occur when the two involved have no common sexual grounds at all! Trust is not an issue there. And your partner will weed out the ones chasing tail if her IL is high. Not because she can be trusted but as you said because she doesn't want to lose the prize. That isn't trust ... it's self interest!Bible_Belt said:Letting her decide and trusting her is a recipe for disaster. Especially if that involves lots of time spent with the friend. It's the AFC way!
I disagree. Jealousy is the AFC way. Women cheat because their IL is low; if the interest is high, she can hang around other guys constantly but still want you. If you have played your cards right, the girl should believe that you will have just as easy of a time meeting someone else. Being faithful to you is how she works to keep her prize.
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.