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this is the question we are all trying to answer in the relationships section of this forum. the bad news is that there is no real 100% effective answer yet. the good news is there is enough resources here to help dramatically increase your chances of making this thing last.
my advice:
remember the CONCEPTS behind the pickup theories, and adapt them to the relationship.
- don't be needy
- don't be insecure
- be (remain) attractive
- achieve (maintain) comfort
i've notice that being in a relationship is like pickup with a much larger margin for error. this means you can do afc things to make her more COMFORTABLE and you won't lose her, but doing it too much is obviously going to make her gradually lose whatever ATTRACTION she feels for you. at the same time, you are gonna notice that some of the things that made you ATTRACTIVE before the relationship, have distructive potential IN the relationshp (for example, pre selection triggers, being aloof, negging, etc.)
the solution i've come up with is: BALANCE
i hope this helps. try researching Onion Theory, Orbit Theory, and some of the other stuff Locke writes about.
You're right that there is no 100% effective answer yet, just like any pickup artist worth his salt will tell you that even the best will fail to close a pickup sometimes. I think that the approach you're describing, however, is too mechanical. The necessity of pickup is founded on two important observations: 1) Most women don't want what they say they want. They usually talk about the things that make the comfortable, but seldom about the things that they find attractive. Fortunately... 2) Most women actually want approximately the same things.
Once you're in a long-term relationship, you have an opportunity to correct the deviations in both of these observations for the specific woman that you're dating. Part of being a pickup artist is being a keen observer. Rather than rely on generalities, you can observe the specific kinds of behaviour that most attract and comfort your partner. The growing openness and honesty of a long-term relationship should make this easier. When you're picking up a girl, you can't exactly try something and ask "Do you like this?" Being in a LTR, but knowing pickup gives you the best of both worlds. You can ask "Do you like this?" and also observe her "real" response. If they're congruent, fabulous, you've learned something new about your partner. If they're not congruent, because you're her caring, trusted partner, you can actually point that out to her and then you've BOTH learned something new about your partner.