Stephanie’s Adventures in Singledom: Forward

BY STEPHANIE DOLCE

How to get a man to move the relationship forward:

In a perfect world, all romantic relationships would sail smoothly from “the friend zone to madly-in-love.” More often than not, though, the road to Coupleville has tons of detour obstalces for commitment, ones that your man seems unable to navigate. So if you are ready to kick it up a notch on the serious scale here are 7 things you can do to get your man to move the relationship forward:

1- He can want to protect you enough to date you, of course, but not so much that he feels like you can’t protect yourself. Ask him for advice, but in the end let him see that you are mature, responsible, and know how to make good decisions.

2-. It’s only natural that once he likes you, he’ll try hard to impress you, show him some acknowledgement for this by making him feel comfortable and confident. Flirt with him, laugh at his jokes, smile a lot, and compliment him. Talk about his job, what he likes to do, talk about your life, etc. If you put him at ease and let him know you enjoy being with him, he’ll usually find the courage to either A) kiss you the next time you are together or B) ask you out on an official date.

3- Write him little notes or send him cute texts. In another words flirt like crazy BUT liimit the amount of texts and messages you send him. You want him to know you are thinking of him, just don’t overexpose the fact that you are and drive him nuts by constantly every day sending him a text! That’s not flirting, that’s annoying him.

4- Look sexy, but not too sexy. Dress up for your man. Sometimes guys only see you in one certain light, so let him see you out of those sweats and how sexy you will look in a pair of heels and dress up every so often.

5- You know what they say, the way to a guy’s heart is through his stomach. Making a surprise meal will remind your guy of how thoughtful you are and also that you’re cooking skills are one of the many things that makes you a keeper!

6- Traveling together forces you to navigate new territory and experience exciting and unfamiliar situations as a couple. It can be an essential step in really getting to know your partner.

7- Make your desires clear. If you are keeping things casual then he may not even think that you want to move things to the next level. A huge part of getting out of the friend zone is telling your him how you feel about him. However, there are good ways to do this, and definitely bad ones. Never tell him while you are drunk, over an email, over a text, or even over the phone. The best way to tell him is, face to face.

Some days it’s an inch. Some days a crawl. Some days a stumble. Some days a walk. But everyday, you’ll move forward. I’m not saying that I want to go at a snail’s pace, but do remember that slower is better. Some of the greatest love stories of all time took years to develop. Sure, love at first sight may be romantasized in the movies, but, like Rome, unconditional, real, true love is not built in a day… it’s built over time.