ativity. The automatic consequence of pushing to his limit is
more power. He gains the power and creativity to do more,
be more, and achieve more.
By fully expressing his potential, he allows that potential to
expand and increase. Now to reach his new limits he must do
more. If he does not utilize this opportunity to develop and
express increased power and creativity, he loses the edge. Only
by continuing to express his potential as it grows can a man
keep his edge.
This same dynamic is particularly true in stage three of
dating. By continuing to take the time to research what a wo-
man might like and put forth the effort to plan and deliver a
romantic date, a man ensures the growth of affection and in-
terest in his relationship.
He discovers how much more a relationship has to offer. He
finds a confident, purposeful, and responsible part of himself
he did not know. He experiences a self-assured, receptive, and
responsive part of his partner he could not have known. By
sustaining his edge in his relationship, he creates the opportun-
ity for real love to spring forth.
A RELATIONSHIP IS LIKE AN INVESTMENT
A man automatically looks at a relationship like an investment.
He puts his energy in and hopes to get something out of it.
This is why he takes time to pick the right person for himself.
It would be foolish to invest everything in the wrong invest-
ment. Once a man picks a partner with whom to be exclusive,
he mistakenly assumes that he now has made the investment.
A man needs to have a more realistic perspective. In stage
three, he is still just earning the capital to invest. In stage four,
he picks the investment, and in stage five he invests it. When
he makes it through all five stages, then he has
STAGE THREE: EXCLUSIVITY / 69