Dating with intention means knowing what kind of life you are building and being honest about it early, rather than hoping the difficult conversations sort themselves out later.
Part 01
The lesson
Judge character over chemistry: how they treat people who can do nothing for them, whether they can apologise, how they handle money and stress, whether their words and actions match over months. Attraction tells you nothing about any of that.
Part 02
In practice
Ask yourself: if this person never changed at all, could I build a life with them as they are today? Hoping someone will become different is not a plan.
Reflection
Questions to sit with
- 01When you are hurt, do you say so, or do you go quiet and make the other person guess?
- 02What did you learn about love from the home you grew up in, and which parts do you want to keep?
- 03When did you last apologise without adding an explanation?
Put it into practice
Action points
- 01For one week, ask 'do you want help or do you want me to listen?' before responding to any problem someone brings you.
- 02Write down the last three arguments you had. Identify the real underlying issue in each, rather than the surface topic.