Vulpine
Master Don Juan
Heh, me too. But, it's on her. She'll leave him sweat for like a week, watch.
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.
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.
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.
Anyone have any interpretations? Apparently my response got under her skin. I will not be replying, I'm sure I'll get a few more from her. Maybe I should reply and be like "Oh... I was just kidding about wanting to be friends... I really want nothing more from you."I think it's ironic how you say you want to be friends but....good luck in your future and it was nice meeting you? all in one message? a bit contradictory don't ya think...
MBS, I have to point out that you missed it again.Mind_Body_Soul said:In conclusion...
I just got a text from her
"I'm sorry, but I don't think NY is a good idea yet. Just wanted to let you know."
To which I replied!
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.
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.
Exactly. Latinoman calls this "hibernation mode." That's why the first 2 months AT LEAST shouldn't even be taken into consideration in an LTR. The true testing phase begins once the endorphins wear off and she starts coming out from hibernation a few months down the road - and revealing her true colors.Sir Drinksalot said:Laurence Shannon calls this "The Chameleon Syndrome" in his book The Predatory Female. She becomes exactly what you want her to be - for a little while. It's not real. Just like I did, you're tellng yourself you can get back to this place and make it your norm. You can't. It's not the real her. She can't maintain the charade. Shannon calls it "Chafing in her temporary exterior." This is also symtpomatic of a persoalilty disorder called "borderline," which she may have in addition to depression.
After 4 or 5 months, stuff started happening to me that is now happening to you. She swears she wants to be in a LTR, but suddenly an AFC loser she tortured before me (she swore it stopped at making out) resurfaces. Don't kid yourself, this is because she gave him an "in" and encouraged it - just like yours (If she didn't encourage it, take his calls, respond to his IMs, he wouldn't bother). I took more crap for the next few months than I care to admit. In the end I gave her an ultimatum, she gave the chump the Heisman, and we went on. But it was never the same. Not even close. Boom, ten years of my life down the drain.
But you can't have a stable relationship with an unstable person. Be strong, and leave.
You've replayed it a hundred times. She stood three feet away, scrolling her phone. You had an opening. You composed the perfect line — after she was gone.
For all you know, she's married now. To some guy who said something. Anything.
Openers are cheap. Almost any sentence works when it's delivered within three seconds. The expensive part is the standing there, drafting and deleting, while the window quietly closes.
The "22 Rules" stripped out my hesitation. What to open with, how to keep it alive, and the one habit that costs guys more women than anything else: waiting for perfect.