Get Him Running Back To You PDF
Get Him Running Back To You PDF
Get Him Running Back To You PDF
Back to You -
The 5 Simple Steps to
Win Your Ex Back Fast
By Matthew Hussey
Table of Contents
Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
Section 1 - Foundations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
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Hmm…tricky dilemma.
It’s easy to shout like a spectator from the stands and advise women
to move on. However, what if moving on isn’t necessarily moving
forward? What if, though mistakes were made and hurtful things
were said, the path to happiness and true love really did involve
reviving a relationship post-breakup?
So here’s what I decided: The only way I could release this material
with a good conscience then was to lay down a few safeguards
before even beginning.
Even when breakups suck, when they hurt and feel like agony and
you’re certain you’ll never rise another morning in bed without
feeling sick at the very thought of not having that guy in your life
anymore, going back to the relationship is not the obvious answer!
.
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Now if you’re still unsure if you’re doing the right thing by wanting
to get back with your ex, I urge you to refer to the FAQ section
towards the end of this document where I outline some questions
you should ask if you’re struggling with your decision.
So let me outline some of the most obvious reasons not to get back
with your ex:
Ok, those are my warnings out of the way. Like I said, you can read
more about deciding whether to get your ex back towards the end
of this document.
Now, let’s get underway with reeling him back in your life.
Section 1
Foundations
A bad break up is one of the worst traumas you can experience. You
feel the heavy, constant ache in your chest. Your stomach curls up
in knots when you wake up and realise you don’t have him in your
life anymore.
If this feels like where you are right now, you need to begin right
away by putting your life back in order again and walking the path to
true inner confidence . One of the special free bonuses I’ve
included in this program is an e-book written by my brother
Stephen, titled ‘Back to Life: How to Recover From a Breakup
Fast’ which focuses on how to build your life again and recover
from the trauma of a break up . In the program I will tell you
the appropriate
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time when you should turn to this guide to kick start your steps to
break-up recovery.
need to flip those switches in your ex’s mind that will win his heart
and make him never want to let you go.
Think about it: Have you ever gone out and felt that you were
getting so much attention one night, but the next you didn’t get
any?
There are things you can do to change and improve your appearance
of course, but there are other factors at play, and this is what the
formula outlines.
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1) Visual Chemistry
People think this is just about your natural looks, and it’s not true.
It’s about how you’re perceived.
It’s about how you walk, talk, move, what your body language
conveys – and there’s a lot we can do in each of these to influence
how attractive we are perceived to be. This is also affected by your
health, your nutrition, your fitness and how well you groom and
take care of your body.
2) Perceived Challenge
This is what people are really talking about when they talk about
the idea of ‘playing hard to get’.
Men want to feel that they are earning you every step of the way.
They want to feel that you’re attainable, but there are steps they
have to go through to earn your attraction. Men appreciate the
things they earn. This doesn’t mean you have to fake it and pretend
uninterested; it means that a guy has to prove he is worth it by
showing investment, and that you show you won’t simply yield just
because he gives you some initial attention.
You show him you have standards, and he’ll aspire to live up to
them.
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3) Perceived Value
4) Connection
Connection is when the two of you truly feel like you relate. This
comes mostly from shared understanding and compatibility.
This is what creates connection. And notice that you can have all
of the first three components without any connection. That’s why
connection is such a vital piece in the formula.
was presumably attracted to you while you were dating. At the very
least, to have been in a relationship you will have had a good dose
of visual chemistry and connection I would hope!
So, now that we’re done with the preliminaries, let’s move to the
main event. You need to meet up with your ex at some point if you
want to win him back into your life.
STEP 1 -
Re-establish Contact With Your Ex Again (The Right Way)
For you to even be reading this book, at some point your have
suffered along with the rest of humanity in having to endure the
pain of a relationship ending.
The ‘No Contact’ Rule You Must First Obey At All Costs
I’m going to say something that might sound extreme right now.
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But it’s crucial you follow it if you want a chance at getting your ex
back. The rule is as follows: NO CONTACT FOR AT LEAST 21
DAYS AFTER THE BREAK UP.
Just stop. Please. It’s vital you do this right now, not only for your
own mental health, but because, if you ever want a shot at getting
someone back into your life, you need to start by giving them (and
yourself ) some space.
See, the biggest mistake you can do right now is going into Victim
Mode.
It’s this mode that tempts you to do desperate things, such as call
him repeatedly, send him long emails blurting out your despair, and
beg him to talk so you can ‘work it out’. If you do this, the likelihood
is he will try to distance himself from you, either because (a) he feels
pressured and guilty, or (b) he feels overwhelmed with drama.
Right now, you need to be the exact opposite of drama and pressure.
That’s not to say you’re going to pretend to be happy-go-lucky and
totally cool with the break-up. I’ll explain how to strike the perfect
balance between the two later in this section. The principle here is
to NOT GIVE HIM ANYTHING TO REBEL AGAINST. This
is a crucial idea to keep in mind throughout this program. Guys
can be like big kids. And when you fight against a kid what does he
want to do? Rebel.
So right now, if you go try and make your guy jealous by flirting
with other people in front of him, or attempt to cry and beg him to
come back, or you send angry messages telling him what an asshole
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So for those initial first 21 days, you MUST give him no reason
whatsoever to rebel. Let him stew by himself. Leave the drama
behind and let him go through his own process. If you do this, once
you start attracting him again he will sell himself on the idea of
getting back together, because he won’t feel forced at all.
Ok, I lied.
You send him a short note, let’s say via email, in which you say
something like:
Mike,
Despite how it all ended between us, I just wanted to thank you so
much for the last year. It’s been one of the most incredible of my life.
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I’ll never forget our trip to Paris and I’ll miss our nights in bed
eating Sushi together (insert whatever memory is appropriate
here for you). Take care of yourself. I’ll always think the best of
you.
That’s it.
Do NOT make it any longer than this. Keep it short, and don’t
ask any questions. The point of this letter is to keep you in your
ex’s head and give him a tiny reminder of the good times you had
together.
See, when you break up your ex needs space. And that’s why during
this No Contact period, you send this letter, but you do not press
for any response. You are giving him his space, you aren’t saying
anything needy or begging, and you are nudging his emotions by
reminding him that you won’t be in his life anymore.
And here’s the best part: It looks like YOU are the one who is
ending things and moving on. Right now, he is bracing himself
expecting you to try and save things and ‘work it out’. But you’re
scrambling his emotions when you just accept the break up. And
acceptance right now is a truly important part of this process. You
are not going to save this relationship with your ex, you are going
to start a better one. The trick though is not to rush it! This is what
most people do and most people ruin their chances in these early
stages by giving him things to rebel against. Just be his teammate
for now and show you are respecting his decision.
He needs the time to decompress now and ONLY after those first
few weeks should you even consider being a visible presence in his
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world again (and equally, YOU need to grieve for the relationship
alone for the time being). Save your emotions for friends and family,
but resist any urge right now to spontaneously update him on how
you are feeling. Send the letter and forget all further contact for a
month.
You might think that by severing contact you risk losing him. You
might even be thinking: “I HAVE TO MOVE QUICKLY OR HE
MIGHT FIND SOMEONE ELSE!”
And what if he does meet someone in 21 days? Chances are high that
it’s a passing fling. It will likely be casual, and all he’ll be doing
is comparing this new woman to you, as he tries to recreate the
intimacy of your recently ended relationship.
He needs to make his own mistakes, and right now the worst thing
you could do is butt in and give your opinion on how he’s choosing
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to move on. Your only job is to be totally cool with what he does.
Remember, you’re broken up. Whatever your feelings about who
he chooses to be with now are none of your business. Everyone is
allowed to move on in their own way.
These 21 days away are necessary for you to start moving on. Right
now, your mind is probably in a mess. You both need time to (a)
begin moving on with your life, and (b) get some perspective on the
whole relationship.
Immediately after a breakup you will feel like you MUST HAVE
your ex back at all costs. But this month is for you to cool off and
decide rationally whether being back together is really the best
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thing . Take some time to think about the health of that relationship .
Did it fulfill your needs? Was there behaviour on his part that you
couldn’t deal with any longer? Or is there behaviour on your part
that you are simply NOT willing to compromise on?
Ok, that’s the initial step out of the way. But I implore you one
more time, do not be tempted to ignore this crucial step and simply
proceed to contact your ex. The usefulness of the advice I give next
is only predicated on the fact that you have appropriately acted on
the previous steps (including and especially the NO CONTACT
rule), so don’t be a fool and skip it. I’m asking a lot right now, but
trust me on this one. Most people blow it at this stage by trying to
overwhelm a guy with tears, emotional guilt, begging, and excessive
contact. So I’m making it crystal clear. For the first 21 days, don’t
be responsible for opening any lines of communication with him.
Quick Reader FAQ: What if I’m reading this and have already broken
the “No Contact” Rule before buying this program? Is it too late now to
ever win my ex back?
No!
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No No No.
Let me explain.
But with that said, even if you have broken up with your ex but have
been talking every day, fear not. From this moment on, take a break
for a few weeks (ideally 21 days) and refrain from getting in touch.
If you’re both speaking every day right now, this might initially seem
like confusing move on your part for him. That’s a good thing. It’s
going to show him that you are beginning the process of accepting
and seeing him not as a boyfriend, and he’ll start to wonder whether
you have moved on from his life. Distance is your friend at this
point. It will only do you good. So basically, it does not matter how
long after the breakup you begin this program, if you are STILL
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talking to your ex, take the time now to start No-Contact from
this point on.
First, if you broke up a month or two ago, and have not spoken at all
since the breakup, then you have already completed the No-Contact
step and can move on to the following steps I outline from this
point on.
But IF you have been broken up for a few months but are currently
in a weird limbo of constantly texting and talking on a regular basis,
I advise you to now begin to cut off contact for a few weeks and
phase yourself out of your ex’s life for a while. He needs to see you
beginning to live independently so that you can go away and make
some positive changes separate from him.
This step is all about creating distance and separating from your ex.
Don’t fret or worry about whether or not you did this as soon as you
initially broke up, the important point is only that you do it now
BEFORE anything else.
So don’t fret and worry over exactly when you initiate the
No-Contact period. If you haven’t done it already, you can start the
process right now.
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It’s not as if you can just blank your ex and treat him like a ghost
if you share a building with him, or else you’ll just appear to be
outright hostile.
But this scenario can work to your favour, because now your ex can
actively see you living more independently, moving on and making
positive changes, and he’ll have a chance to miss your usual level of
intimacy when you treat him like a friendly acquaintance and put
more physical distance between you. He’ll have the chance to see
you fully functioning, becoming strong, being happy, dressing well,
making a special effort to look good, getting fitter and healthier – in
fact from this position, you have more opportunity to influence how
he perceives you. Plus it makes you harder to forget and put out of
his mind.
If possible, seek out a peer group that is separate from his and
spend some time with them away from him. Be polite and kind
if you walk past him in the corridor or end up in casual chit-chat
amongst friends, but do not have any intimate long talks and
definitely do not linger around him or find excuses to go out with
him after work.
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Keep that sense of mystery. Let his imagination run wild with where
you’re going after you leave the building. Don’t discuss private affairs
with him and say nothing at all regarding your romantic life.
Again, it’s perfectly fine to be your usual nice, happy, fun self at
work (though don’t overdo this by trying to “fake” being in a super
good mood, or else he’ll see through it and think you’re trying too
hard). Just be pleasant to him but keep things brief and only talk
if you have to for work or if you absolutely can’t avoid it without
looking rude.
If he asks you why you’re talking to him less, just say in a very
neutral way, “I need some time apart to move on from this right
now. I want us to still be friends but I hope you understand that we
both need some time to ourselves.”
After 21 days you can then move on and follow the next steps in
this program.
But make sure you are firm with your boundaries and give yourself
this time now to appear more elusive and mysterious to him. Hang
out with new friends and go out with a varied social circle. Let him
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see that you’re not moping around; you are carrying on with your
life and taking the time to enjoy your friendships.
So once again: do not panic that just because you work with your ex,
you are unable to have a No-Contact period. It simply means you
have to change your relationship (for now) from an intimate one
to a more formal one. No more texting, no more sharing jokes and
teasing, no more physical contact, and definitely no more spilling
emotions to one another.
In this next section I’m going to cover how to handle your online
presence if you both happen to still be intimately connected through
the world of social media.
Let’s face it, in today’s world vanishing from someone’s life entirely,
even for 21 days, is about as hard as actually vanishing. Of course,
it’s possible not to make direct contact with him, but chances are,
you’re both going to have social media profiles on Facebook where
you can see exactly what the other is doing, how many photos you’ve
uploaded, and are able to read posts from your friends that may or
may not refer to fun activities your ex is getting up to.
If you’re not into social media a great deal anyway, and can live
without it, I recommend just not checking your Facebook for 21
days during your ‘No Contact Period’. But chances are you’re going
to get tempted, especially if you think there’s a chance your ex will
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Right now you treat your social media profile the way a company
would. When times are bad for a business, would they publicize
how much they are struggling to keep up sales and complain about
all their in-house problems? No, they remain focused on carrying
on as normal so that they don’t damage their credibility.
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So the Ultimate Social Media Rule right now is to only let him see
your best side, no matter what happens to be going on with you
emotionally.
You might be thinking that this means you should post super-
happy photos of you in a nightclub having the time of your life.
Hey, maybe you even think you could put up a picture of you and
your cute friend so that your ex sees it and wants to get in touch.
This Jealousy Tactic is a common move undertaken by scorned
men and women after relationships, but let me assure you this is a
terrible idea, and will only come across as either fake, or at worst,
will make him feel bitter and angry towards you. You want to be
his team-mate now, someone he can empathise with, not someone
whom he feels animosity towards. Continue being the woman he
would want to marry even in the tough times, even when you are
not pointing your efforts towards him.
Don’t suddenly put up pictures of you going out to bars and clubs
three nights a week even though you never did before, in an attempt
to show your boyfriend what an amazing time you’re now having.
You suddenly transforming yourself into a party girl he was never
into in the first place is not going to suddenly have him swooning
over you and wanting you back.
Now, that doesn’t mean you can’t post any pictures that might stir
up interest in your guy. But what you want to post are pictures
that RAISE HIS INTEREST WITHOUT RAISING HIS
ANIMOSITY.
hill after a hike. Let’s say you took a picture at the Farmer’s market
of you with a giant pumpkin. You’re looking gorgeous in a new
summer dress, and even though it’s daytime, he sees how incredible
you’ve made yourself up.
You look like you’re having fun, but it’s not in a nightclub it’s in
somewhere more interesting and less cliche. Unexpected even. He
thinks: “She never went anywhere like that when we were together.
How come she’s doing that now? Where is she?”
This is all perfect because it raises questions for him. It keeps him
off-balance (in a good way). And that’s exactly what you want
right now. This is why it’s good to do new things he can’t relate to.
You don’t want your ex to see what you’re doing and think: Same
old Sarah. Otherwise he’ll feel like you’re not going anywhere. So
willingly embrace the new and different, and your ex will begin to
see you as new and different!
But what if your ex tries to call, text, or Facebook you during this
time? Should you just avoid responding altogether?
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Some would be inclined to say yes, you should stick to your guns
during “No Contact” and simply forgo responding to any of his
messages until the 21 days elapse.
However.
That doesn’t mean you have to respond. In fact, for most of the time
during this initial period, I would hold off responding to texts. Even
if he just says “thinking of you” don’t feel the need to send anything
back.
Nor should you leave the dinner table with your friends or family to
suddenly answer his phone call.
You can always get back in touch later to his missed call and say
“Sorry, was at a dinner party with friends, what’s up?”. This is a
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high value way to respond if you miss his call, because now he’ll be
imagining the fun you were having and he’ll see you’re moving on
with your life in a positive way.
Unless he’s definitively telling you that he wants you back, don’t
entertain much in the way of text messages. This still applies even if
he sends messages saying things such as “I miss you” – don’t mistake
this for an invitation to get back together. It’s normal he would miss
you. Don’t read too much into it.
Given all of these possibilities, you must not take the fact that your
ex is sending you messages as being a reason to skip No-Contact
altogether and jump to talking to him every day. It’s more attractive
at this point to actively disengage with him for a period of a few
weeks.
So while you can have the odd (very short) conversation by text if
necessary, if he texts and calls you a lot you should stand your ground
and assert your need for some distance for a while. For example, you
might say in an e-mail or a text:
“I know we’ve still been talking since the breakup but I personally need
some distance to be able move on with my life and being still so close
right now only makes it emotionally harder. If something has suddenly
changed in your mind about the break up we can talk about working
things out, but apart from that I hope you’ll appreciate I really need some
space right now.”
If you send your ex this message and you start moving on with your
life, he will respect you so much more than if you start getting back
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to all his messages during the No-Contact period. You can always
re-initiate later (and when you do, you are going to have a much
bigger impact if you stick to your guns at this point).
At this point, the only messages you should take seriously from him
are those in which he says something like: “I screwed up, I made
a mistake”, or “Can we please talk?”, and even these messages you
should take with a pinch of salt initially and not simply sprint back
to your ex immediately. Invite him back in gradually, and take any
decision to get back together slowly.
You need to show your feelings are not there to be toyed with
at his whim. Part of that involves communicating that there are
risks to him emotionally messing you around. He may just want to
talk because it makes him feel better. Find out first what it is that
needs to be discussed. You need to be respected and show him the
consequences of him oscillating and changing his mind and being
uncertain.
You have to be the strong one here. If this conversation isn’t intended
for you both to work things out and be back together, it doesn’t
matter what he has to say right now. It doesn’t change anything for
you.
If you speak to him over the phone and he just settles into normal
casual conversation, don’t indulge it for too long. He may just be
wanting to hear your voice and feel soothed, and it’s your job to
show him now that, in spite of you having no bitterness towards
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This will feel hard to do when all you want is to hear his voice, but
entertaining this whim right now will not do you any favours in the
long-run.
Instead, decide you need to move on and let him see that you are
gradually breaking away and living your own life away from him.
It will make him immediately see you as high-value. He’ll also not
be able to soothe himself by just picking up his phone to hear your
voice, which means he will feel the pain of distance as well (which
is a good thing for you).
Remember, you want distance right now. Only by having space and
making positive changes in your life will you be able to get back
your ex, so think about the longer game in this scenario and make
sure you don’t jump to your phone every time your ex sends you a
message. Have some time off for your own sake.
The longer game in all of this is making sure you feel better than
you’ve ever felt and can move on from the break up with strength
(whether or not you end up back with your ex). Hanging on to your
ex and staying in close contact before you’ve emotionally moved on
is going to leave you in purgatory and only make your recovery time
longer. Start the healing now.
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Now let’s look at some examples of how you can apply these three
emotions in a conversation.
You respond: “Just got out of a dance class. It’s been a tough week,
but it’s going ok. x”
This text is deceptively simple but let me explain why it’s exactly
the sort of text you want to be sending right now.
You don't have to show all of them every single time, but rather,
every time you're messaging your ex, just ask yourself: Am I
showing either Humility, Resilience, or Strength? This is going to
keep you on track so that you avoid the common pitfalls of the
woman who attempts to make him feel guilty, or beg, or try too
hard to make him feel jealous and angry.
See, you need to show him that, as much you may not enjoy the
situation right now, you are still making the best of it. This isn’t
about pretending to be happy – it’s about you showing him that
you’re doing everything in your power to make the best of the
situation you’re in.
Again, this is positive, it tells him you’re out there doing things, but
it doesn’t send an over-the-top message of “LOOK HOW MUCH
I’M HAVING AN AMAZING TIME WITHOUT YOU”. It’s
level-headed and just friendly, which is where you want to be right
now.
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Chances are when you and your ex were dating, you became a part
of his social world. You probably hung out with his friends and
have a few as Facebook friends. So what if after the break-up one of
these friends gets in touch?
This will make him WANT to be back in your head and provoke
him to make contact again.
Bottom line: What you say to his friends will get back to him. And
you’re best strategy is not to even mention your ex at all. It will drive
him crazy when he calls up the guys to get the gossip on what you’re
doing and they tell him that you’re doing great without him! But
once again, you don’t want to come across as insincere or arrogant to
his friends, you just want to maintain that aura of positivity around
you, and choose not to share your painful feelings with them. Still
be humble and choose kindness instead of being overly cheery,
unaffected or a false way.
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So, what if your ex hasn’t got in touch during that 21-day ‘No
Contact Period’?
Now you have to start taking matters into your own hands. But it’s
still crucial at this stage that you approach this in EXACTLY the
right way and don’t do anything rash. Re-opening dialogue with
your ex doesn’t mean that you jump straight back into the dynamic
you had when the relationship ended, nor does it mean that you
suddenly blindside him with an intense conversation about how
you want to get back together.
For now, even if you know for certain that you want to be back with
him, you are not going to even mention a whisper that the thought
has crossed your mind. You accept the decision that has been made
and are now starting over.
Your first step to bringing him back into your life starts with making
first contact. And you have a few options for getting in touch:
Option A: Facebook
other women are posting on his wall, maybe there are pictures of
him at a party with strangers and it’s going to send your mind into
a frenzy of worry and obsession.
{Note: I always avoid questions where possible when you are trying
to appear casual and laid back. Questions often have a way of
communicating too much of a need for a response from your side.}
For example, don’t refer to the moment last Saturday when you
walked past the park bench where you first said “I love you” to one
another. That takes you to a waayyy too emotional place very quickly.
If he feels too much pressure or deep emotion and sees that the
risk of engaging with you may be too high, it’s likely he’ll back off
before it’s started.
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It could be that you are watching the movie Dumb and Dumber
which you used to quote to each other all the time. You could send
a message saying “Oh my god Dumb and Dumber is on TV, it just
made me think of you!”
It’s better to be in the moment with this rather than telling him
about the movie being on TV two days ago, because the latter
shows he is on your mind a lot right now, which you don’t want to
communicate.
Most people act so tense after breakups. They make a big deal out
of contacting each other, seeing each other, and tread on eggshells
the whole time. The image of the two of you just watching a funny
movie together instead of having some ‘big talk’ immediately relieves
the pressure of the situation. You are also doing the opposite of
what he would expect, so this acts as a way to defy his expectations
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Before you ask, no, this isn’t a date you are setting up (yet), this is
just a fun way to get back in contact. All you want to do to begin
with is re-open communication in a light-hearted way.
You could do the same thing by talking about where you are and
what it reminded you of. Let’s say he was a complete snob about
having good coffee and refused to buy coffee in Starbucks, which was
also something you would playfully argue about. You find yourself
in Starbucks one day ordering a latte…when you sit down to your
computer to get some work done, coffee in hand you could message
him saying “I just sat down to work in Starbucks and thought about
how angry you’d be about this latte I’m drinking right now. I just
want to say right now that I’m sorry…”
1st - Look for the next thing that happens to you that reminds you
of him.
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Remember: The best first move for getting your ex back is always
a low risk, low investment strategy (The LR-LI Strategy).
Your trick with messaging him at this stage (i.e. after the NO
CONTACT period) should follow what I call the Goldilocks
Method of contact: Never too much, never too little. Do not start
texting every single day or you’ll fail to make him curious about
where you are, what you’re up to.
M at t h e w H u s s e y 49
So you could mention that you went on your first hiking trip recently,
or that you tried a kickboxing class, or that you’ve been going with a
50 M at t h e w H u s s e y
friend to paint and learn about art. All these are perfect because they
make him see new and unexpected dimensions of your personality.
(See the bonus “Back To Life” guide to look at how you’re going to
build a whole new awesome lifestyle during the No-Contact Period
that you can come and talk to him about).
– Talk about a book you’re reading - e.g. “I just finished the new
Jonathan Franzen book. I thought it was incredible. You’ve got
to get it!”
– Talk about how excited you are in your career (and mention
your plans for the future)
Another great topic is discuss the future, namely, how many exciting
plans you have coming up and ideas for what you want to do next.
Maybe tell him you’d love to move somewhere just to try a new
city. Or say that you just found this incredible new opportunity
online and you’ve started an application. Or maybe you met with
someone for advice on starting a website or your own business and
you mention how excited you are to be working on it.
This lets him see that you are progressing in your life, which is
incredibly attractive.
Maybe you went to the beach and had a blast. Maybe you finally
went to that museum you kept talking about. Or you took a weekend
trip with your family. Tell him about how much fun it was and what
you got up to. It’s great at this point for him to hear you are active
and doing exciting things for your own pleasure.
Now, with all these conversations, resist the urge to get too deep, or
to ask him about his current emotional situation. Even just breaking
the fun vibe by asking him “So how are you feeling?” brings it to
a more serious place which can lead to uncomfortable discussions,
which you certainly don’t want to be having by text or Facebook.
Eventually in one of your conversations, you want to look for a
moment where the fun you are having together peaks and while
you’re both in that happy state, say:
You don’t say this in your first interaction though! Make sure you’ve
had a few small chats here and there before you even think of
suggesting a meet up.
Don’t jump the gun and sound too eager or it may turn him away.
He needs to feel like things are casual between the two of you and
that the dust has settled after the breakup. If you invite him out on
the first conversation it seems like you haven’t even tried to move
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on at all, and he’ll wonder if you even realised the two of you are
broken up.
Remember, any sign you are trying to rush things and get him back
is going to make him feel that he’s still being chased and that you
are only pretending to have let go of the relationship in order to get
him back.
So, perhaps let’s say the first time you got back in touch you just
recommended him a movie. Maybe you messaged him on Facebook
saying “I just saw Mad Max at the cinema. If you haven’t watched it,
go see it! You’d love it.”
It’s always possible that your ex was 100% certain in his decision,
that unless he sees you as a totally different person, he simply won’t
want to get back together. In that case, moving on is still your best
bet so that you don’t waste anymore time with this guy.
What’s more likely though is that your ex still misses you and will
get back in touch to an initial text (or he’ll text you at some point,
which also happens a lot).
With this first response notice that you don’t need to ask any
questions back. Keep it short right now and gauge where he’s going
in the conversation. Let him do more of the questions so you can
find out if this is general chit-chat or something more.
Him: “That sounds awesome, I’ve just been working a lot. What’s
been going on at work lately?”
Her: “Well, i’m planning this new project which I’m really excited
about because…(etc. etc.)
Perhaps your first conversation will feel a little bit like this. Chances
are he’s just checking in and is curious to know everything about
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your world right now. Don’t feel the need to talk too much and give
away a lot at this point, just be friendly and polite.
Or you can send him a Missed Opportunity Text, in which you tell
him something funny you saw or somewhere amazing you went
that he would have loved. For example, if he loves Jazz you could
say: “I just saw a live jazz band playing Miles Davis and Chet Baker
songs. Such a cool place!”. Or perhaps you went to a reading by his
favourite author, or saw a great concert, or visited a place you both
talked about. Any of these can be used at this point in a message
(only one short message though!).
mean he wants to get back with you, and if you jump at it too
quickly you won’t show him that you have boundaries.
“Look, I’d like to meet too, it’s been difficult not seeing you, but I
also know that I need to move on from this relationship and this
may just hurt both of us more. If you want to talk about something
serious like our relationship then we can discuss that together, but if
you don’t know what you want and you just want to hang out then
I think it’s best we don’t spend too much time together”.
But if he just replies to your message by saying “I’m not sure what
I want…” then be careful: it probably means he misses you but isn’t
sold on getting back together right now, in which case you should
just say: “Well, let me know when you’re more clear about what you
want and we can always talk then.”
However, there’s also the chance that you and your ex will talk very
light-heartedly, and maybe will just joke around via text a couple
of times. If the mood is very light, and he suggests meeting up in a
casual way ONLY see him if it’s something that’s very convenient
for you. When he suggests meeting up, you can always say: “I’m in
your part of town Friday, if our timings match we can grab a coffee”.
56 M at t h e w H u s s e y
Or: “We should grab a coffee and geek out on the movies we’ve
been watching”, a nice one to use if you are both movie buffs.
These work well only as long as you have left enough distance and
time for your ex to not feel that this is a ploy on your part to win
him back. That’s why you also need to make it sound as casual and
non-committal as possible (and DO NOT do it at either of your
houses – make sure it’s somewhere neutral and innocuous like a
coffee place near your work).
If you do call him out of the blue, the same rules apply that have
just been mentioned. The best way to be casual is to call him when
you’re walking down the street, as if you called him while you were
on your way to somewhere else. The easiest thing to do is to call him
and tell him about something you are doing right now that playfully
reminded you of him. This can lead into a longer conversation of
course. But don’t worry if it doesn’t lead to a meeting on the call.
You can always text him to catch-up in person after the call as if it
were an afterthought.
part is that you are not arranging a three-hour meet, but an informal
setting for a short amount of time.
Drinks before you go out with friends - This is great because you
have an excuse to look amazing, smell great, and then he imagines
you going out and all these people hitting on you. It will actually
make him want to text you that night. It also makes you look non-
desperate because you are squeezing him in before something else.
In a lunch break of your new job - If you have a new job, or even
a new activity or hobby that you are enjoying, meet him during a
break in a break. It will give you the chance to show a different side
of yourself - perhaps you’ll even be in work clothes - and create a
new image of yourself for him.
entire time. You’re likely to find that conversation will flow more
freely and it’ll help eliminate the nerves you feel in the beginning
to be distracted by your surroundings.
Not to mention that having him back to your house at this stage
would be too personal. It reveals too much about where you are at
in your life, and the whole point of this new first encounter is to
maintain a sense of mystery and distance. This also means no grand
gestures. Nothing that says this is an orchestrated event where you
have tried to be romantic. It needs to be ambiguous as to whether
you are still interested or not at this stage.
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Summary of Step 1
STEP 2 -
Make Your Life Irresistible To Him
Now that you know how to start making contact with your ex again,
it’s important that you also know how you’re going to build your
own confidence.
What you don’t want to do is just get your ex back for one night,
or for a short-term fling that falls apart again when the same issues
crop up. So now is your time to take care of yourself and work on
aspects of your own life so that you have an Aura of Incredible
Positivity and satisfaction when you meet up with your ex again.
Even if you are a strong person, a break-up can shatter your ego
and leave you feeling bereft and mentally isolated from your old
self. That’s why we’re now going to re-build and bring you back
even stronger than before! When your ex sees that you are making
positive changes in your life, like taking care of your body, not
sleeping in, getting out in the world, making friends and keeping
up with your career and passions, he’s going to notice that you are
thriving, and he’s going to feel that the first time you actually see
him after the break-up.
I get it.
Break-ups put you through the emotional wringer. You feel like
you need a good slice of indulgence right now to get you back to
equanimity. If Domino’s pizza and chugging full- fat coke in front
of a Game Of Thrones marathon is your way to do that, who am I to
judge?
I’m not judging, but I will say you need to keep this moping period
as short as possible. Like, 24 hours short. I don’t want to sound
like a drill sergeant, but now is the time for you to be moving and
improving, not just physically but in all sorts of ways.
You have a golden opportunity right now to get back on the treadmill
and really spend time on yourself in a proactive way which many
people rarely give themselves. Break-ups provide you with an
incredible new block of time which didn’t exist previously. Now, if
you’re not careful, this time can become a void, a black hole that sucks
you in and has you meandering through the dark, allowing weeks
and even months to fall off the calendar before you finally scream
“Enough!” and despairingly try to claw your way back out again.
The Athlete Model of recovery refers to the way sports stars gain
full health after suffering from an injury. They don’t simply sit back,
64 M at t h e w H u s s e y
lie in a bed for three months and wait to heal. They ease back into
training - they resume their healthy regime and stick to a nutrition
and recovery plan to build up their strength again. This is where
you’re going to be coming from during the time you’re not seeing
your ex.
And isn’t just about exercise. It’s about choosing to spend your time
in ways that inspire you, ways that are productive, ways that make
you fulfilled. It’s about spending time with people who give you
energy rather than drain it. It’s about grabbing control back and
taking your entire life into your hands again.
I really need to stress that you have no time to sit around and decide
when to do this.
During this Lag Period, you have the golden opportunity to start
afresh, and move your life away from all the negative feelings he
might have had towards you and the relationship.
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If you now seem more positive, fun and energetic than ever, he’s going
to start wondering who he let go, and why he’s not in a relationship
with you anymore. Alternatively, if you seem to be moping around
the house and feeling sorry for yourself at this point, calling him
and telling him how lonely you are and how much you need him,
he’s going to think to himself: “Well, at least I’m not back in that
situation anymore!”.
When you build back up and rise like a phoenix from the ashes,
your ex is going to go from thinking: “Thank god I’m out of a
relationship” to suddenly worrying “Have I done something stupid
by letting her go?” You growing now gives him something to keep
up with, and raises your Perceived Challenge and therefore spikes
his attraction (See our earlier Attraction Formula on this).
If your guy loved you, chances are in this LAG period, or at SOME
point, he is going to have a weak moment, a moment in which
he questions whether it was right to end the relationship and he’ll
start to yearn to hear your voice again and know how you’re doing.
Sometimes he’ll call just because he’s curious and wants to know if
you’re moving on. The best thing you can do when he calls is to be
getting on with your life and thriving. This stokes his NUMBER
ONE fear in the lag period, which is the idea that you might get
over him!
He looks up from his newspaper, and sees that his train has just pulled
up to the platform. He is about to walk to one of the carriages, when he
66 M at t h e w H u s s e y
He realises that this train is going to wait right where it is, pulled up just
next to him with the doors open. It could be there for hours, it could be all
day. Suddenly it dawns on him that it hardly matters at all whether he
gets on this train or not - he could leave now and wander about town,
only to return later on and find the train patiently waiting, just as he
left it.
So he wanders off. He stretches his legs. He looks around to see what his
other options might be. And now this train that he was once eager to be
on board doesn’t seem so attractive. It seems like it will hover here forever
waiting in place.
If you’ll forgive the extended metaphor, the train in the story is you,
and the man wondering whether he should leave the platform and
get on board is your ex.
The ideal scenario for you right now is to start pulling your train
out of the station. You don’t want your ex to feel like that train is
going to stand still and then predictably cruise through the same
old tracks he’s always seen it pass through. You want him to feel like
that train is starting to pull away, and slowly but surely, each carriage
is no longer becoming accessible as it pulls out of the station and
M at t h e w H u s s e y 67
moves past the platform. If he’s not careful, he’ll have to run and
sprint and leap to get back on the train again.
The train may wait for him. It may not. But one thing is for certain:
The Train Is Moving.
This is how it should feel when you are building your new life.
A great example of how you can display this Moving Train Mentality
is when your ex calls you. Maybe he has called your phone a few
times or has sent a few messages and you couldn’t get back to him
because you were out with your friend trying that new ice cream
place in town. You get back to him with a casual: “Hey, what’s up?
Saw you called.”
This is the confident but casual attitude that makes your ex see
you are moving on with things. Then when he asks you where
you’ve been, it’s going to sound unfamiliar, new, intriguing. Hey,
maybe you’ve also started an application for a job today, or sent
your polished article out to a couple of editors for feedback. Maybe
you’re out running circuits in the park with your friend, taking a
hike or trying kickboxing classes. My point isn’t for you to start
doing things at random - it’s to start doing things that make your
ex see you in a new light.
When you follow this step (in conjunction with the stuff you learnt
in Bonus No.1), you’re going to start living in a way that your ex will
notice when you next see him and completely turn his expectations.
Before we delve into the next step, let’s briefly recap:
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Summary of Step 2
STEP 3 -
Blow Him Away With Your NEW First Impression
The idea that you only get one chance at a first impression may be
true.
But it is not true to say that you can’t change someone’s initial
impression of you in the second attempt.
Clearly the guy you had a relationship with doesn’t just have a first
or a second impression of you, he has formed an entire picture of
who you are, what you look like, what drives you, what you love,
and what you believe. You might think that this makes it difficult to
change his impression of you.
This may be true, but it’s also what makes the subtlest of changes
so powerful now. His long held ideas about you can be challenged
with the subtlest shift, which becomes all the more profound
because it doesn’t fit with what he thinks he knows about you on a
deep level.
about the relationship, or (c) discussing how you are both dealing
with moving on past the break up.
the tone that things are not quite as he remembers. It will be much
easier to convince him of deeper level changes if he sees a new you
on the surface.
It may seem like a minor thing, but make sure you smell good before
you leave.
You can go one of two ways here. Either (a) wear a brand new scent
that you know guys love, or (b) wear something you know he used
to love when you wore it.
There are pros and cons to both. For the former, your new scent
will hit him and create new feelings. That smell will be linked to
the experience he is having with you in the present. But with the
latter, you appeal to all of the emotions he used to feel when he
was with you. If you have the advantage of already knowing what
fragrance he loves, go ahead and use it. There is such a thing as
olfactory memory, also known as ‘smell memory’, which makes
smells such a powerful gateway to memories and emotions. The
olfactory bulb, which is responsible for the perception of odors, is
part of the brain’s limbic system. The limbic system is often referred
to as the “emotional brain” because it’s so closely associated with
memory and feeling. Your smell can call up memories and powerful
emotional responses from him almost instantaneously.
to him, with parts of your new look that are unfamiliar to him.
In this we create the desired effect of simultaneous comfort and
distance, which is important for attraction with your ex.
Now that you’ve gotten ready the right way, let’s talk about the
energy you have when you see him.
See, when men break up with a girl, either because they fight too
much, or they feel frustrated, or because she’s needy and jealous, or
because she was too controlling, for that month or two after the
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break up his head is going to be telling him “Go! Be Free! Live your
life without restraint. Without drama or difficulty! Dance through
the golden meadow of careless, single freedom!”
Right now then, it is crucial that you don’t overload him with
emotion and ‘working things through’. The smart woman will
instead, at this point, blindside him with just how relaxed and
casual she can be. This throws him off-balance, and as we already
know, throwing him off balance is half the battle when it comes to
attraction.
After you say this don’t elaborate further. That’s a trap you don’t
want to fall down. The less you say about how you’ve been, the more
you’re going to have him wondering, which is what you want right
now. Now is not the time to dwell on feelings. Instead, it’s much
better to chat casually about new things you’ve been doing, ideally
something that sounds intriguing or different in your life.
Now there’s one big question you may be asking: “How affectionate
should I be when I see him?”
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In fact, part of your power is in letting him feel your presence without
all the affection he used to get when he was in a relationship with
you. There is something of the forbidden fruit about having an ex in
front of you whom you can’t touch or kiss like you once could. Use
this to your advantage.
Remember too what I mentioned about scent. Your hug with him
is a vital chance for him to smell that familiar scent and get all
of those memories, emotions and feelings of attachment back. It’s
important to note that these reactions happen in his brain without
his choosing.
M at t h e w H u s s e y 75
In the case of getting your ex back, the advice differs slightly. In the
beginning the unfamiliarity that can be achieved by sitting across
each other at a table can actually be helpful. It breaks rapport a little,
and makes it more difficult to touch. Your ex is someone you have
had deep rapport with in your relationship, so to immediately go
back there would prevent you from creating any sense of ‘Perceived
Challenge’ (See Attraction Formula earlier). You already have a
connection with this person, so creating a little bit of a barrier to
begin with won’t hurt. And the fact that he can’t easily get close to
you or touch you is something that will increase his desire and your
value at the same time.
You can of course find yourself getting closer as the date goes on,
perhaps when you change locations for example you might end up
sitting side by side. But this shouldn’t be immediate, and even when
it does should not be followed by increasing your intimacy with
him. More on this later.
Let’s step outside of the realm of getting your ex back for a moment.
We can all picture past relationships where we know there were
things we didn’t do very well. That’s not to say the other person
didn’t have their own share of flaws, but we all know the aspects of
our own personality we aren’t too proud of.
M at t h e w H u s s e y 77
salt into the wound. “Ok…what made me boring?”. “Well, you never
wanted to go out, you were so busy with work, you sat all day and
night on your laptop or your phone, and the whole relationship just
lost its spontaneity. You were so focused on what you were trying
to achieve that it was like your ambition took over the relationship.
When I first met you your ambition was one of the sexiest things
about you, but it ended up being the only thing there was”.
When she told me this I was of course taken aback, bruised and if
I’m honest a little pissed. Did she not realize how many criticisms I
had of her?
Of course, the truth she uttered didn’t make her right for me. It just
became a gift she gave me to take with me to the next person. She
had given me an interesting pathway for my own growth.
.
M at t h e w H u s s e y 79
One of the greatest ways to throw your ex off guard and have them
wondering about you again is to show that certain negative qualities
that you had before are not present now, or are even replaced by new
strengths which he previously was completely unaware of.
So it’s important that you agree with the change and have personal
motivation for it. So allow me to say it again ONE MORE TIME:
Do not make any change that you would not otherwise benefit
from making were he not in your life.
But note that this rule does not necessarily always hold when you
are in a relationship. We all know that when we are with someone
there are certain changes and compromises we make because it’s
good for our partner, though it wouldn’t necessarily be something
we would be doing if it weren’t for them. Certain sacrifices are part
of committed relationships. But you are not in a relationship with
your ex, you are separated, and therefore you are looking to show
him how you have evolved as an individual since being with him.
The rule of ‘show’ don’t ‘tell’ is a useful one here. You ideally want
to display your new habits indirectly through the things you talk
about or the kind of energy you have (for example, if he used to get
annoyed at you complaining and being overly negative, you suddenly
being calmly optimistic and relaxed will subtly communicate how
that has changed).
my own life, and you were right. That’s something I’ve been really
excited about doing over the last few months”.
4. When he shows a desire to go out alone with his friends and have
a good time - You respond by encouraging it instead of trying
to be a part of everything he does.
But let’s jump back to the previous example. Instead of telling him
about your now rich and passionate life that is separate from him,
what if you simply showed him?
How might you do that? Well the very fact that you are in yoga
clothes because you just came from a class tells him you have a new
activity in your life. The fact that the three new friends you’ve made
since you broke up are calling you while you are with him also sub-
communicates that you have new connections which he is not a part
of. When you respond to his idle chit-chat questions like “What you
are up to this weekend?” by telling him how you are going hiking in
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the mountains with these new friends, you show him you are now
trying new activities and interests you didn’t pursue when you were
with him. Perhaps you even show him a picture of the mountain
you are climbing. These are all examples of SHOW, not tell.
Some may argue that because this is your ex we’re talking about,
you have a right to feel jealous, or at the very least, that it’s a normal
feeling to have.
The first thing he’ll probably expect from you is jealousy, coldness,
or feigned indifference. You have to be the opposite of those things.
Nice, fun, but totally unfazed. It will intrigue him more as he
wonders why him being with other people doesn’t throw you, rather
than him seeing you get agitated at the thought of it. When you
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get emotional, you just show him how much power he still has
over you.
No!
his ‘hunter’ switch is going to flip and he’ll immediately think he’s
made a mistake about letting you go.
Men are possessive about women they love, and the hint that you
are starting to move on will spring him into action. So while you
never want to brag about some romantic encounter you recently had
with another man, don’t be afraid to vaguely refer to the fact that
you are thinking about dating, and that though people have asked
you out you are taking it slowly right now (Men respond better to
the threat of competition than to competition itself ). So don’t say:
“Yes, I have been dating other men”. Just be VERY unspecific and
don’t tell him ANY detail, but say that guys have asked you out and
that you’re taking it slowly. It will drive him nuts and make him
think about you even more.
{Note: This is NOT about you trying to make him jealous, it’s
about letting him know that you are moving on and can easily fall
for another guy if he stalls for too long}.
back with tears in their eyes telling us they’ve changed and they
now know what they need to do. There is a big difference between
knowing what one needs to do and being able to do it.
You’ll see this in movies. The guy doesn’t suddenly get back with the
woman the first time she asks. He walks away, unsure of whether
he can revisit that relationship. She cries at home, begins to feel a
feeling of frustration and futility, and begins to accept the idea that
it may never happen. With the acceptance comes a sense of calm,
and she has a real shot at building her new life now that she’s not
desperately clinging onto the result. She begins to make changes over
the next couple of months, and when he sees her again, he sees all
the changes she’s made, along with a sense of calm that he didn’t see
before. Her value rises, as does her Perceived Challenge, and he has
the sense that the changes are real because they aren’t motivated
by the agenda of getting back together, but by real progress.
I hope you are beginning to see a theme here. The only way to
improve your love life, either by getting your ex back or by getting
someone new is by sustainable and measurable improvements in
the quality of your life. You may not yet know how to truly rid
yourself of previous insecurities. It’s all very well to say ‘I don’t want
to have my jealous insecure streak any more’, or ‘I don’t want to fear
him leaving me every time we are not perfect’, but the reality of
eradicating these long held fears and insecurities seems impossible.
I’ll say this now, if you really want deep level change to deal with your
deepest insecurities so that you have unstoppable self confidence
and a deeper feeling of self worth than you’ve ever experienced,
come and join me in person for 5 days on my Retreat Program .
We’ll spend all day every day together working on making you the
best version of you, and upgrading your life in every area. It’s a five
day process where I coach you live in my ultimate formula for core
M at t h e w H u s s e y 87
Let’s assume for a moment that you’ve already made these changes,
and you’re with your ex. There’s something you need to be aware of
in the way your ex could react to these changes. If you’re lucky, he’s
the ultra confident and supportive type who will just love seeing
these changes in you. But there’s a strong chance that seeing a more
evolved version of you will bring up some insecurities for him.
People generally aren’t good at handling change, so his first reaction
may be to test that change in you to see if it’s real or superficial, or
even in a more sinister way to see if he can make you revert to your
old type. Don’t take the bait.
When you mention that you are going hiking and he says “I’m
surprised to hear you say that. I always knew you to be such a
princess who didn’t want to get dirty!”, your response shouldn’t be
reactive by saying “well I’ve changed, you clearly don’t know me any
more…”. You are not attempting to score points here, nor would
you score any by reacting as such. Simply wear a knowing smile
when he’s says it, give a cute playful shrug of the shoulders, and feel
confident in the changes you’ve made. The more he feels you have
nothing to prove, the more he’ll be drawn to you.
It may seem like a cynical point, but there will also be a sense on his
side of not wanting to lose his investment just as it begins to come
to full blossom. When he sees these changes in you, along with all
of the time and energy that’s gone into your relationship in the
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past, he’ll want to be the one to reap the benefits of the changes,
not somebody else. It’s an unspoken message you are sending him
that “If only we were together you would benefit from all of the
ways I’ve grown”. Don’t be surprised to find that having made these
changes you may in fact have grown out of him, something many
of us only realize when we are faced with our old partners again in
person, and not in our minds. If that happens, you’ll find yourself
walking away with a big smile on your face regardless.
When talking about your life, and the positive things that have
happened, it’s important not to frame these things just in respect to a
relationship. Show how any changes you have applied have enhanced
your life in general. Talk about new projects in your life that you are
excited about; it’s very beautiful to see someone who is grounded in
a sense of purpose that doesn’t come from their relationship.
You may be wondering when you are going to talk about any new
aspects of your life. Well, in any conversation it’s important to
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When he asks you what you’ve been up to for example, start talking
about the new gym you’ve been going to, or the new book you’ve
been reading lately.
In fact, you can even do this in response to him asking how you
are. When you both sit down and he says “so how are you?” you can
say “I’m really great…I’ve been reading this new book on concept
of happiness and it’s changing my life…it talks about why people’s
idea of what it takes to be happy is completely wrong…” It wouldn’t
matter what you talked about here by the way. It could just as easily
be:
You: “I’ve been reading George Orwell’s 1984, have you read it? Oh
wow, it’s one of the most important books of the last century so I
thought I should, and it’s incredible, but it just might be the most
depressing thing I’ve ever read”.
You: “Well…”
And so on.
swirling around in your mind – a sure sign that you are expanding
and moving on with your life. The second effect is that of holding
court and showing you can direct the conversation. You are showing
you are in control and have the confidence that comes from your
life being on an exciting adventure right now, with plenty to talk
about. In the process you also give him lots of hooks to feed off of
during conversation, so that you can keep talking for hours with
ease. Other examples of responses to the “how are you?” question
can be:
“I’m great! I saw this amazing play last night…” He’ll naturally ask
what and you’ll get to talk all about it, along with the reasons you
thought it was amazing.
“I’m great thank you! Though I’m a little nervous about the training
session I have at the gym after this…this trainer kicks my ass every time”
“I’m really well. I’ve been having so much fun lately…last weekend my
friends and I all went to Dublin for the weekend, you should go, you’d
love it”
“I’m great! I was just talking with a friend about how happy everyone
looks now that the sun is shining today. People keep talking to me and
being so friendly”
These are all answers that take the conversation in directions you
want it to go, rather than him asking “How are you?” and you saying
“Good thanks. You?” which does nothing for you.
Remember again to make sure that you don’t use this opportunity
to express feelings about the ending of your relationship, and what
it’s been like since you broke up. This is not the time to dwell on
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your relationship with him, what went wrong, and what’s changed.
Remember what we’ve talked about, show don’t tell.
It’s actually useful to think of this situation like a normal first date.
What is the aim of a first date? To create a spark. The rules of the
game are the same here.
Let him hear about your life and rediscover you as if he were
discovering you for the first time on a first date. Remember all
the methods from Step 2 that you’ve now shifted your life into
overdrive? Not only will this be massively attractive to your ex when
he sees you, but if you followed the previous step correctly, you’ll be
having more fun and feeling a greater sense of fulfillment in your
life, which is ultimately the point of all of this in the first place,
right?
Summary of Step 3
STEP 4 -
Create Uncontrollable Desire In Him
Far from being a time to get serious, it’s a time to be fun and flirty.
So what level of flirting is appropriate? Think of it like you are
flirting from a distance. Make yourself somewhat unattainable,
keep your cards close to your chest, and create ambiguity about
your desires and your situation. But do all this whilst doing little
things here and there that spark some fireworks between the two of
you. You don’t want to simply sit there as friends after all.
You should not be afraid to engage with other men around you.
This doesn’t mean going out of your way to talk to guys, but let him
see you being friendly and sociable with the guy behind the counter
at the café when ordering for example; it will let him know how
confident you are with men and allow him to feel a little jealous.
Do not start openly flirting with HIM until you see signs from him
that he’s flirting with you. You are at an advantage here because
you know what it looks like when he’s flirting – you know the
signs to look for. Maybe he gives you a particular look and raises
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“Are you flirting with me young man that’s no way to talk to your ex.”
“Excuse me it’s not very appropriate to say things like that to me.”
These are not to be said with a serious look on your face. They are
designed to be said with a mental wink. Almost as though you are
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At the peak of a moment of sexual tension you might say: “Well I’m
glad we did this date in public or this would have been a nightmare”.
Many women’s instinct when they lose the man they love is naturally,
to try and get him back with love. This is why they say things like:
“Baby, we just work so perfectly together. We’re soulmates, why are
you tearing us apart?” Ok, maybe you’re not that dramatic, but this
is the kind of route many women choose to go down in the path to
tugging at a guy’s heart strings and making him want to run back
to the relationship.
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And the truth is, in that moment you will tug at him. It will probably
make him feel guilty and like he’s just been punched in the stomach.
He’ll feel bad for hurting you and may be tempted to come over and
cuddle you until you feel better. He’ll want to feed you soothing
platitudes about how you’ll be ok and he’ll leave feeling sick with
himself for causing so much pain.
In some cases, I’ll admit, there are a few stray guys who will return
to a relationship if they are pummeled with enough feelings of guilt.
But this return never lasts long. If you get a guy back because of
guilt here’s what happens. Things seem ok for a short period, it
feels like you’ve gotten back together. He feels relieved that you’re
no longer crying and begging for him to come back. But very
quickly, he gets a despairing feeling in his stomach. He gets what
we call a Buyers Remorse feeling, in which he feels enormous regret
and self-hatred for not following through on his initial decision.
Suddenly, all of his doubts and anxieties about the relationship that
caused the relationship to end in the first place will return, and once
that happens he’ll be contemplating leaving again. So even if you
succeed in a tiny way with guilt, it’s a hollow victory that will only
make you and him more miserable in the long-term (and probably
just result in you both breaking up again). This is why you must
follow every step in this program, and not simply try to get him to
return by appealing to how much you need him and sending him
long essays telling him how much you still love him. If you take
that path, you are not allowing him to return by choice. And if you
want him back for good, a guy always needs to feel like he made the
decision to return without any undue pressure.
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See, when you guilt him you are appealing purely to his old feelings
of love and his pain at having hurt someone he loves.
But surprisingly, it’s not LOVE that is going to win him over right
now. It is DESIRE that will truly trigger him to make that conscious
decision to run back into your arms. With attraction, desire is the
stronger of the two emotions in the beginning. It comes from the
want of something. Feeling magnetically pulled towards someone.
After the initial attraction phase, as we begin to know each other
and develop deeper connections, come feelings of love. Love, unlike
desire, is associated with security, predictability and comfort. Within
this idea:
love = safety
desire = excitement
“What nurtures love is not necessarily what fuels desire, and what
turns us on sexually isn’t always what is emotionally safe.”
See, although love might be something that makes it hard for him
to peel himself away from the relationship, it is desire that is going
to make him want to come running back.
Suppose you stood up when having coffee and say “It’s a nice day
let’s go for a walk”. Perhaps on that walk you happen to pass by
an exhibition and say “Let’s go inside!”. Maybe you stroll through
a market and sample some local and exotic foods. Compare this
type of spontaneity with sitting there and doing the very serious,
very tedious work of pulling apart the various threads of your
relationship, deciding who is to blame and listing your grievances.
Instead, the more off-the-cuff approach sends a clear message that
you as a couple can have fun, and he’s left not quite knowing what
to expect from you, which feeds his desire.
Note, this isn’t saying that you can’t at a later date discuss serious
issues as a couple, it is simply that now is not the time to have
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This doesn’t mean you’re going to change his entire mind about the
relationship in one date. But this is where you sow the first seed.
And that first seed has to come from something positive.
We all secretly yearn for somebody who can bring out the dormant
parts of ourselves that we desperately want to express. We want
someone who gives us permission to be those things. Well imagine
right now that in your relationship with this man before, both you
and him suppressed parts of each other’s personalities. For that
reason neither of you were quite sure you could be exactly who you
wanted to be. This is your chance to be carefree, to show him the
parts of you that you felt too insecure or awkward to bring out
the first time around, and to give him permission to do the same.
I guarantee you nothing could leave him feeling more excitement
and you feeling more liberated.
One of the sure signs that someone has begun to move on in their
life is the appearance of new characters in their life. If since being
with him you have a new group of friends that you hang out with,
you have new acquaintances or just stories of people you’ve met
along the way, it adds to your unpredictability and the intrigue he
feels around you. Being around new people means you are growing,
being exposed to new ideas, and people who satisfy you in different
ways: emotionally, intellectually, or just serve to bring fun and
laughter to your life. It’s also true that when a man hears of other
men you hang around with he can’t help but assume that they are
hanging around you because they are attracted to you, and thus they
create a sense of competition.
This effect isn’t limited to the people that are constants in your life.
It also applies to isolated interactions you’ve had with people along
the way. Here are some examples of both:
For example, “I was getting a round of drinks for people the other
night and in a truly embarrassing moment fell over a chair carrying
them back to everyone. My whole group was laughing at me! One
of the guys had to help me up!”
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The implication is that you were out with a group of friends. The
self-deprecating nature of the story masks the undertone, which is
that there was another guy present who helped you up and played
the protector role in the scenario. Whether the guy is a friend, or
attracted to you, is totally ambiguous. Ambiguous is good.
Moreover, it’s the perfect line to say “You should go!” because it
makes him feel like you are encouraging his independence which
will only make him feel more desire for you. Because he feels “off
the leash” and free to move where he wants, he’ll be more inclined
to come to you (and feel like it’s his own choice to do so).
If you show up to your date with him wearing a hat, and he says that
he likes it, tell him:
“aww thank you! I swear I’ve gotten about five comments on this hat today”.
It’s like you’re telling him that he’s just one of a large group of
people who thinks the same thing.
It may not be a pretty subject, but let’s face it: it’s hard for both of
you not to give any thought to whether the other has been on any
dates or hookups since the breakup.
The subject of whether you’ve been with anybody else (or are still
seeing anybody else) is sometimes brought up indirectly and at other
times explicitly. If it does have to get brought up explicitly, let it
never be you who brings it up. No good can come of it at this stage.
It only makes you look over eager to hear what’s happening with
him on that front, it shows far too much intent on your behalf, and
has the undesirable result of making you look jealous and possessive
at the precise moment where you want to look carefree and fun.
If he does ask you if you are seeing anybody else, your answer should
be vague. Whether you are or not, you should be using ambiguity to
your advantage here. You might say for example:
“I’ve had offers but it’s not what I’m looking for right now”
“There are guys who want to take me out but that’s not really what
I’m focused on right now”
“I’ve been on a couple of dates but I’m not trying to rush into
anything”.
There are two key ideas you communicate with these phrases which
INCREASE his desire for you:
I’ll tell you why this works so well. And it requires some brutal
honesty about guys on my part: Even though this guy may have
broke up with you, until he has COMPLETELY moved on, he
is sickened by the idea of YOU moving on first. The last thing
he wants to hear is that you are even close to forgetting about him
and god forbid moving onto other people. When we break up with
someone we all have that selfish feeling that we still want to feel
wanted. And this feeling is especially pronounced for guys, because
he KNOWS that for women, going out and sleeping with someone
else is way easier for a woman than it is for a man. And let me assure
you, he’s terrified of you going out after this date and getting a cute
guy’s phone number, or going home with some charming fellow
who sidled up to you at the bar tonight and got talking to you. So
that being said, if you allude that there is a good chance guys will be
offering themselves to you (or already have flirted and hit on you)
this is going to drive him crazy and will stop him sitting around and
mulling over whether to take any action.
So here, you are stoking his desire just by reminding him of your
desirability (coupled with your newfound independence from
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him). This dramatically spikes your value in his eyes and makes
him desperate to ACTIVELY pursue you again.
If he asks you whether you’ve slept with anybody, this is what we call
his ‘Hidden Landmine Question’. He wants to see if you’re going to
trip up and spill about how he’s the only guy for you, or he wants to
see if you have moved on, or slept with other guys.
At this point, one tactic is to just tell him directly that you don’t
think it’s any of his business, and in a lighthearted but firm way
assert that it’s not really an appropriate question to ask.
Remember, you do not have to answer anything that you don’t feel
comfortable asking at this stage. If you haven’t slept with anybody,
telling him you haven’t only buys into his belief that he has a right
to know when he doesn’t. If you have slept with someone, it could
rock the boat at a delicate moment. You haven’t laid the groundwork
yet for a new connection with him, so you don’t want your answer to
interfere with the new bond you are forming with him at this time.
Should he ask you any of this question, it does not become a license
for you to ask the same. It will be that much more attractive if he’s
the one who’s asking, but he sees you not even bothering to find out
the same information. It will leave him wondering why you aren’t
interested to know, once again contributing to your value, and the
uncertainty he feels around you. Desire follows.
If one of these new characters in your life should happen to call you
while you are with him, excuse yourself from the table to take it.
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It doesn’t mean you have to be rude and spend the next ten minutes
talking with them, but you can tell them you are going to call them
back away from him. It doesn’t matter whether it was a man or a
woman that called you. This simple act gets his imagination working,
and shows him that he’s a little more of a stranger than he used to
be – not close enough to you to listen in on your conversations.
5. No Emotional Time-Traveling
It’s possible that the past between the two of you will come
up. Perhaps the two of you will stumble over a story from your
relationship, an old joke will repeat itself…the past is something
that is present in the room with you, but needn’t be given to much
airtime right now. You both know the past, you were there. It’s
done, and it’s unlikely to be productive to spend too much time
(if any) talking about it right now. You’ll do far better to talk
about what’s happening in your life now and in the near future. If
anything should come up from the past, find a way to be playful
about it and laugh at the elephant in the room. Solemn emotions
are off limits here.
You can, of course, use your knowledge of him from the past to
your advantage. You know him. This not only means that you know
what types of things he’s attracted to, and therefore which buttons
to push, it also allows for cute moments where you are able to make
fun of qualities you know he has. If, for example, you know that
when you would go out to eat he would often eat too much, and
you’d end up rubbing his belly trying to soothe him, you could make
a joke that references this time when you see him eating a lot in
front of you: “Be careful how much you eat, I’m not rubbing your
belly later!” It allows for a little moment of sweetness between you
because it reminds you that you have a past together in a positive
way.
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Just don’t overdo it. If you always used to make him breakfast, don’t
say “how do you get by these days making your own breakfast each
morning?” It makes it look like you are trying to overtly question
how he would be living without you. Remember the Goldilocks
Principle here.
Feel free to talk about shows you’ve been watching while you’ve been
apart that you think he might like as well. Talk about movies you’ve
seen. An ex of mine asked me if I’d seen the Wolf of Wall Street
because she felt I would really enjoy it, which was a sweet moment.
Just don’t fall into the trap of assuming they are exactly the same
person. Don’t attempt to order him something he used to eat, for
example. It stunts the process of trying to get to know each other
afresh. Remember, this is like you getting to know each other on
a first date again.
There’s a line that’s easy to cross when you’ve been a couple. Since
this is to be treated as a first date, show the best side of you, not
the over-familiar side. Don’t dump him with about the bad mood
you were in yesterday, or the big arguments you’re having with your
mum. He may understand it better than anyone since he knows you
and your mum, so the temptation to tell him will be high. But this
is the time to shine. It may be more natural for you to say “I have to
pee”, but instead say “excuse me I need the restroom”. The little bit
of distance breeds unfamiliarity and this makes him want to start
working for you again to create the intimacy.
This goes back to the difference between love and desire. When
things seem unfamiliar to him it creates desire, the desire leads
to intimacy which creates feelings of familiarity and what follows
are feelings of love. You may be tempted to go back to the feelings
of comfort and love that you had when the two of you were (and
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indeed may still be) close, but this is not what the situation calls
for right now. You want him to feel this is exciting and new again.
The fact that you are not just settling back into a comfortable place
with him is also a little scary and strange for him. It’s the sort of
behaviour that makes him want to get you back in your pyjamas and
take your makeup off again to make you less intimidating. It throws
him off balance and breaks the pattern, which is what attraction is
all about. Remember, attraction is about keeping him slightly off
balance.
Just because you are creating a sense of challenge for him, doesn’t
mean you can’t show admiration for the things he is doing in his
own life. If he tells you about something he has achieved, or a
challenge he has overcome, you should genuinely compliment him
on it: “that’s really amazing, well done”. And don’t be afraid to ask
him more about it.
You’ve got to flatter his ego to a certain extent: it is a ‘date’ after all,
even if he’s not looking at it that way. Take an interest specifically
in the things that you didn’t perhaps show enough of an interest in
before. E.g. his job, the hobby he loves, an interest he has. Show an
interest and ask follow-up questions about what he’s doing in that
area. It’s important to show that you are supportive of his growth.
If he’s passionate about something right now, indulge him and
show that you are excited for him. Only good can come from being
excited about his endeavors and the things he is trying to achieve. If
you shit over his new plans, he’ll just see you as trying to hold him
down and as someone he wants to prove wrong. That’s a bad place
to be. You need to look like an incredibly supportive teammate right
now. So never be afraid to let him have free reign to speak about his
interests.
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The premise here, as we have talked about, is not that you are openly
on a date with him. It’s a chance for you to catch up and connect.
As such, you wouldn’t necessarily allow him to perform the same role
as someone you were having a first date with. On a first date, you
may ordinarily allow the guy to pick where you go to meet, perhaps
even order for you, and pick up the check. When you see your ex
however, it’s important to demonstrate a degree of independence
and separation. In fact it’s a subtle way of breaking rapport and
showing that he doesn’t get to flatter you with the same chivalrous
treatment that he had the right to treat you with before.
If he tries to order a drink he knows you love, feel free to say “Actually
I’ll take a [insert drink of choice] instead” if you want something
different. Split the check with him. At the end of the date do not
have him walk you to your car. Or if you came by transport go and
find a taxi yourself, or walk to the bus stop yourself (as long as
that it is at an hour and a neighborhood where it is safe to do so).
This may sound small, but playing the protector role on this level is
something that represents a kind of connection and intimacy that
he doesn’t have right now. Don’t let him jump back into the role
of the protector again so quickly. Small rejections in this way are
a good thing. They serve as a reminder that he doesn’t have you
anymore.
It takes away one of his tools for impressing you, and shows you
haven’t just slipped back into the cozy position of being taken care
of by him. Though this would likely create the wrong impression
on a first date with a new man that you want to be open to, with
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It’s a tough thing for a man to deal with, and will make him yearn
to play the protector role for her once again. It thereby becomes a
way of him feeling accepted by you as a man, and motivates him
to earn this acceptance again. It makes you new and unfamiliar.
This is all part of the balance we’ve talked about in having both
familiar aspects of yourself – things he recognizes as the best parts
of you from before – and unpredictable parts of yourself that create
uncertainty – the combination of new things he has to discover
about you, along with having lost certain privileges he felt entitled
to but now doesn’t feel so sure of. You need to be the mixture of
familiar and unfamiliar. You’re not entirely new, but certainly
enough to keep him off balance and make him work for you.
Summary of Step 4
• Politely rebuff his flirting - make him feel like it’s off-limits
to be suggestive with you now.
• Create ambiguity about your desires.
• Don’t use guilt to get him back.
• Increase feelings of DESIRE, not LOVE.
• Techniques for creating desire: 1. Create spontaneous
moments, 2. Tell stories about new people, 3. Use Scarcity
and Independence, 4. Let your phone brag for you, 5. No
Emotional Time Travelling, 6. Let him impress you again.
• Demonstrate your separation and independence from
his world.
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STEP 5 -
Let Him Win You Again (And Stay Forever)
After this date your ex is very likely going to start making regular
contact with you again.
You met up, you had some laughs, exchanged funny stories, flirted a
little, and then….home?
There is a chance that this date will go a little too well, especially if you
have truly followed all the principles above. If this is the case, it’s likely
you’ll be tempted to get more and more affectionate as it goes on.
Be careful now!
The whole point of this date is to (a) create desire, (b) have him
begin the process of rediscovering you, and (c) leave him wanting to
take the next steps towards rekindling your relationship.
After all, he still must prove that he wants this, not simply with
his words or his behaviour on one occasion but his actions and
investment over more time (the coming days, weeks and months).
You won’t be able to get real perspective on what his investment
level is if you are blinded by his flirtation and affection when you
initially see him. It may be flattering, but do not jump right back
into old patterns of affection.
For one thing, he is a man, and it’s likely that he’ll feel attraction for
you when he sees you for two reasons: 1. He’s been attracted before
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You may think that you have won a victory if by the end of the
date you are walking along holding hands and kissing each other
lovingly, but that’s only a short-term win. And if you want to get
him back for good, that’s not enough. All of this can come later,
when his affections are actually backed up by intentions, not just
his male organs. By yielding so quickly you will have only shown
him not just how badly you want it, but how easy it is for him to get
it without him actually having to earn it. And then your Perceived
Value will go down in his eyes.
Instead, keep your distance (for now). Even if you are walking
together, keep the same amount of distance as a first date that
you hadn’t become physical with yet. Don’t be touchy- feely with
him. Allow him to feel the resentment of having had sex with you
many times before, but not even being able to hold your hand. His
territorial side will kick in. If he tries to put his arm around you
tell him even if with a wink that he can’t do that. The same goes
for hand-holding or if he tries to kiss you. You can say “No!” in a
smiley playful way, like you are batting him away. Avoid doing this
in an overly serious way by saying something like “No don’t that’s
not fair, we’re not together anymore”. It will very quickly turn the
situation serious and possibly sour, and shows you as the damaged
and victimized one by letting know that he’s doing something TO
you. I’d rather have you give the impression that you are the one in
control, not him. This too should not be used as a chance to verbally
rub it in that he shouldn’t have broken up with you. It should be
more of a “nuh uh! Tut tut.”
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It’s important that you don’t just start dropping your guard at the
end of the date because you feel like the two of you are comfortable
with each other again. You need to leave him wondering what
you’re feeling or if you have any intention of making something
happen. It’s not just about peaking his interest, it’s about holding
his interest.
When you say goodbye, give him a slightly longer hug than you
did on arrival, and a kiss on the cheek, and walk away. That’s it. Of
course your hug should once again convey warmth, and openness.
Just because you are limiting your affection it shouldn’t mean that
the affection you do give is cold or awkward. It should simply give
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him one last moment to take you in before he goes home and thinks
about all the other ways he wishes he could have gotten close you.
This is the Tightrope Walk, between being kind and warm without
being too affectionate or sexual that will have his body screaming to
be with you again even though he can’t because you’re not together
right now.
If you really love your ex and want to be with him, it’s going to be
very hard for you to restrain yourself from grabbing him tight and
wanting to kiss and cuddle immediately, but stop. Right now, the
cardinal rule is that you Follow Your Plan, Not Your Emotions.
If things are going to progress, they will progress in time. You
have already piqued your ex’s interest again so as long as you don’t
disappear off his radar entirely, there’s no harm in allowing things
to build gradually, as you show him slightly more affection each
time you see him or text him, rather than bombard him with an
overload of feelings all at once, which makes you lose your cool.
“When a butterfly lands in your hand, some people make the mistake
of pretending that they don’t care. That they don’t see the beauty that’s
there. They play hard-to-get and fake indifference. So, they open their
hand and the butterfly flies away because it sees that there’s no reason to
be there. Another type of person, when the butterfly lands, is so terrified
of that beautiful thing leaving their lives that they cover it up and the
butterfly either gets squashed or it tries to find an escape route and leaves.
The third type of person, the one who really understands a partnership, is
the one who puts their hand up to shield the butterfly from the wind. The
butterfly then sees the value of staying, and that’s what it is to attract a
wonderful relationship.”
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You initiated the meeting the first time around, now trust that you
have shown him the best possible side of you and let him take the
bait.
Think of it more like a “see you around” than an “are you free
tomorrow?”
There is a technique I can reveal to you for the way you phrase your
goodbye: Create a time-context that is immediate.
For example, say “It was so much fun to see you, good luck with
that project today, I hope it doesn’t kill you!” if he’s been referring
to a piece of work he has to be completed by the end of the day but
is dreading. Or you could say “It was fun seeing you, don’t destroy
your muscles this evening” if he told you he is working out with a
trainer in the next few hours.
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Wait for him to make contact with you after you’ve seen him.
It’s important that he sees it as his decision to continue the
interaction.
Be aware of texts that are sent from him too late at night. If it comes
after 11pm, wait until the following day to text him back. It will
do you no harm, and will show that there are hours that are more
appropriate for him to text you. Once again, it shows a standard.
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Do not devolve into explicitly sexual texts with him at this stage.
It’s the long distance equivalent of sleeping with him without him
having earned it. Innuendo and suggestion are fine, but keep them
sparing (e.g. if he tries to heat things up by asking you if you’re still
wearing the underwear he bought for your birthday, you can say
“wouldn’t you like to know! ;)”)
He’ll want to text you and meet up again, he’ll want to pursue you.
But only allow this to play out like you were dating for the first time
again. Don’t sleep with him right away, at least not without a few
dates first. If you allow things to escalate gradually in the bedroom,
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And this has nothing to do with playing games over sex, since you
guys are WAY past that. It’s about showing that you have a standard,
and that he can’t just charm his way through that standard, or play
on your desire for him to get you back into bed. It’s something that
comes with a meaningful relationship with you should he choose to
embark on it again.
Now, sooner or later chances are there will be a talk about getting
back together. You don’t ever have to have an ‘official talk’ but when
you start talking about the relationship, state the things you need
from him before you move on. DON’T go on a rant about all the
things he used to do wrong, e.g. “Tom, it annoys me the way you
always shut me out of your social life and never made an effort with
my friends”. Instead talk about it in terms of your requirements
and standards for the relationship going forward, e.g. “Tom, I need
someone who wants to be involved in my life and cares about the
things that matter to me and doesn’t take me for granted”. This way
you are giving him clear rules for him to follow before he’s worthy
of having you back completely.
Now, the beautiful part of this is that you are totally changing
the frame. Instead of you needing him, it’s going to be him who
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WANTS YOU, but you’re going to be setting the terms for getting
back together.
Once you have him starting to do the work in chasing you again,
remember to keep that high value mindset you learnt in Step 2
when you built up your life. Keep your passions, your wide social
circle, your career, and those other important parts of your life that
you now draw strength from. Remember, just because he’s started
to get on board again, doesn’t mean the train is going to stand still!
If you stagnate and drop all your good habits once he’s back you’re
going to feel just as vulnerable and terrified of losing him as before.
Instead, keep proving to yourself that you have a life that is happy
and thriving WITH OR WITHOUT HIM.
And what if your Ex still isn’t trying to even chase you after all this?
What is more likely though is that after your date your ex will start
to contact you very gradually and ‘test the water’ now and then
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through texting and possibly light flirting . If that’s the case you just
need to communicate three traits we’ve talked a lot about in
this program . You want to show:
And if your ex just isn’t biting after your date, just move on. You may
drop him one text next week (but never text him unprompted more
than once a week) to see if he replies, but after that, radio silence.
You’re most important mission in all of this is to stay the course and
remain positive and committed to moving forward. The more your
ex sees this in you, the more he’s going to be intrigued and want
to chase the moving train that is your life as you bring all these
changes and growth into your world.
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You have the tools to win him back now. But much more than that,
you have the tools for fulfilling yourself on a level that no-one else
can.
Summary of Step 5
• Final Step: Slowly allow him back into your life, but only
allow intimacy (physical and emotional) to escalate gradually.
Don’t rush back to exactly where you were before. Congrats!
You’ve won your guy back. The ball is in your court now -
play nice! ;)
Eventually, things will get more intimate between you and your ex
and you’ll probably start being physical with each other. Just take it
slow at this point, and once you’re physically intimate again your ex
will start acting like you’re together again. At this point say to him
something to the effect of: “if we’re going to do this again I need to
know that you’re in this and that you can be the man I need. I love
spending time together but I’ve got plenty of guys who don’t want
to mess me around, so you’ve got to tell me what you want.”
This will make him want to ‘win’ you again, because you’ll be using
those elements of DESIRABILITY and CHALLENGE to make
him step up to the plate and fight for you again.
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Now that you have your ex begging to be back with you, you may
think it’s all over. Game, set and match, right?
Not exactly.
If you fall into this trap of thinking, get complacent and lazy
you’ll end up losing him all over again. Once you have him excited
about the relationship again, this is the precise time to be more
affectionate, more fun, and invest in yourself more than ever before.
Remember all that stuff we said about building up your life again?
Now you have to maintain it!
Also make sure to show desire to learn about each other again. Get
excited by each other’s world and invest in getting to know a part of
him that you previously never embraced or took for granted.
can be a healthy sign that you’ve both grown and changed from the
people you were before, and shows potential for you having a better
relationship than before.
Remember, YOU call the shots in this. The relationship has to work
for both of you. And if it starts to feel like a game of each of you
trying to get more of their needs met by the other with nothing
in return, this isn’t the relationship for you. He should want to
be the man who can listen to your needs for affection, love, and
commitment and meet them by investing in the relationship. If
he doesn’t want to, you have the tools to now be satisfied with or
without him, and you can move on with complete confidence in
your ability to attract someone else into your life who can meet your
needs.
and which they both can’t wait to move towards. Talk about fun
trips you’re going to take and aspirations for what you both want to
achieve together as a team. The more exciting this future feels the
more you’re going to both want to build it for each other. So while
it’s important to salvage the relationship and work on problems that
need fixing, make sure you also have a vision for it moving forward.
I’ve never been shy of getting my hands dirty and dealing with
people’s worst problems while coaching, and I knew that taking on
the challenge of break ups was essential if I was going to do justice
to my ambition to always be willing to confront the worst hardships
people go through in their quest for love.
Wherever you might have chosen to hide during this break-up, I’m
here to tell you: the world is waiting for your return…
Welcome back :)
FAQ - Your Questions And
Unresolved Fears
Q.1 Why is the ‘No Contact Rule’ 21 days? Does it have to be so specific?
People obsess about this rule more than any other, and it causes
a lot of needless confusion and fretting over the exact number of
days. The truth is, there is no exact science when dealing with ‘No
Contact’ (we are dealing with love, after all!).
Some people need 21 days to separate fully from their partner, some
need a month, whilst other need 60 days!
Others will go for a month and still feel sick with loneliness and
despair, and any contact with their ex will only set back their
progress. They may need longer than 30 days to be ready to move
forward with their life and have become ready to attract their ex
again.
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Q 2. If he doesn’t reach out at all during the No Contact period does that
mean he doesn’t care about me?
Guys can vary greatly in the way they deal with the aftermath of
a relationship. A guy may not have reached out simply because he
is too proud or is scared of how he’s going to feel about getting
back in touch with you. He may even be unsure of whether you’ll
respond positively or negatively and be put off by the uncertainty.
There are some guys who will text you very quickly during the No
Contact period, and I encourage you to get back to him if he
does reach out . It doesn’t mean you should get lost in LONG,
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ENDLESS texting all day with him, as this may reduce his intrigue
and attraction to you once he catches up on every tiny thing you’ve
been up to since the breakup.
By no means should you think that during the ‘No Contact’ period
you are required to ignore his texts or phone calls. Remember, No
Contact is only about whether you reach out to him, not the other
way around! If you ignore him completely in this time you can
damage the potential for any future relationship, so I urge you to
stay away from these kinds of games.
Q 3. I’m not sure I should be the one who reaches out first. Shouldn’t
I just wait and see if my ex gets back in touch with me? Won’t I seem
stalkerish if I send him messages out of the blue after we’ve broken up?
No, you won’t seem like a stalker at all. Remember, you are only
getting in touch with your ex after you have gone nearly a month
without initiating contact from your end. If you follow the No
Contact rule correctly, after that time has elapsed there’s no problem
pinging your ex a small message to remind him of your presence.
Just remember, you are never really doing the chasing here. You
are just giving him an opportunity to get back in touch. The big
mistake many women make it trying to rush things and move too
quickly to get back their ex, so they bombard them with messages
and then wonder why they run away.
All you are doing is ‘testing the waters’ and seeing what comes back.
That’s why I advocate easing in with a light, short text which is non-
needy but also fun e.g. “I just saw a trailer for Dumb and Dumber
2! I can’t wait!”
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These are only very small steps, and the fact that the contact is light
and low-pressure is exactly what will make your ex feel safe about
responding to your text.
Just make sure if your ex doesn’t text back, you wait a week or so
before sending anything else. Do not send a message the next day
if he doesn’t get back. Always let him have space and he’ll then feel
safe about getting in touch.
Q 4. But won’t it just look like I can’t let go? I don’t want to be needy!
lts a common fear that women are taught, to constantly worry about
being seen as desperate and needy, but the truth is neediness is only
in the attitude you approach this with. There’s nothing needy about
getting in touch to send a fun message to someone you care about
who was a big part of your life.
Q 5. What if he’s already seeing other people? Am I the idiot who’s just
hanging on?
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With regards to the first question, it’s hard to judge people on what
they do or who they see immediately after relationships end.
If you break up, you’re technically not together right now and
seeing other people (even if for a night or two!) is not a crime. I’ve
known couples who have gotten back together after both having
dated other people, so it’s not always a one-way thing either. I even
suggest that it’s healthy for you to go on dates when you’re apart
from your ex if only to use this opportunity to show yourself there
are other people out there, so that you can make a truly informed
decision about whether or not to go back.
So you’re never really just “hanging on” waiting for him to decide to
take you back. You are moving forward while this is all happening,
and it’s precisely this that will make your ex WANT to chase you to
get you back before you do.
Of course all relationships end for SOME reason, and I agree that
often that can be a very good one (i.e. you were incompatible, you
had different life plans/goals, he refused to watch scary movies on
Halloween). But some relationships end because one of the parties
still has growing to do, and time off of the relationship can be the
best way to understand how to work better as a couple.
can live without this guy (and in many cases, women find that after
this they can live without their ex, and move on). But I don’t believe
in shutting off any meaningful relationship just because it broke
off - sometimes two people can realise their mistake later, but we all
get too proud to go back because we think GOING BACK must
mean we’re GOING BACKWARDS in our life. That’s not always
the case.
But here’s the thing. You are right. A guy should be certain about
you. Which is why before you get back together you need to discuss
clearly what went wrong and what you both need going forward.
You also need to make sure you both truly want to be back together
and to work on things in the future. You’re allowed to both have
made mistakes the first time around, but you need to be certain
that these are things you want to work on to have a stronger, better
relationship the second time over.
Q 7. What if he gets back with me now but the old stuff hasn’t changed
and he just ends up hurting me all over again?
If you can both do that and resolve to grow together then you have
a shot at creating something new and beautiful by starting again.
What then??
Ok, first things first. If you followed the first two steps exactly as
they are laid out above, your ex SHOULD at the very least have
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If you imply it’s a date, it’s game over . Your ex will hear about it
and he’ll either be pissed at his friend for meeting with you which
will provoke all kinds of arguments and havoc, OR he’ll think
you’re making some desperate ploy to get him angry, or worst,
he’ll simply ditch both of you (and then his friend will be
pissed at you for making him lose a buddy). If you hang out
with his friends, you are doing it only as friends. Once your ex
sees that his friends are hanging with you, he’ll get curious
and go crazy wondering about you, and he’ll get back in touch.
Even if he just hears you went for pizza and a movie with
some of his buddies, you’ll pique his interest and he’ll be want
to send a message. (Remember: You have to follow this PLUS
the steps above on growing and rebuilding your life. If you
haven’t changed and shown signs of moving on, it won’t
matter what else you do.)
But this is the Last Ditch Attempt for a reason. It’s risky, it’s
unnecessary, and it can leave you trapped in your ex’s social
web with all the potential awkwardness and problems that it
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Remember, your first bet should be to follow all the steps above,
but if you absolutely HAVE no other way of getting his attention,
this is going to do it.
But is it the right thing? Like, the long-term right thing for your life,
as opposed to the it-must-be-right-because-it-soothes-my-immediate-
pain type of thinking?
But how do you know whether those people have your best interests
at heart (which they may), or whether they are simply telling you
the same-old platitude: there’s plenty more fish in the sea?
The first (and dare I say clichéd) logic is that there was a reason
it ended in the first place . A reason that is easy to ignore or shrug
off now that the bad memories of the relationship have been
shrugged off and enveloped in a haze of vague wistful
recollections.
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The cognitive dissonance that comes from both time elapsing and
our desire to be in love and find our ideals can lead us to glorify the
best moments even if few and far between, and neutralize the most
painful moments.
.
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Here I’m referring to a one-off event that led to the end of the
relationship. Let’s say for a moment that the incident was his doing,
not yours, and that it was you who proceeded to end the relationship.
At the most basic level though you have to make a decision: Is this
something I am willing to put behind us and move on from without
bitterness or anger, and without it fundamentally upsetting my well-
being and my feeling of security in the relationship?
Challenge No. 2 = Are you only forgiving one incident, or does his
mistake indicate a bigger pattern of unacceptable behaviour?
There are very few situations in life where the incident in question
happened because of some spontaneous divergence from an
otherwise squeaky-clean persona, never to be revisited again.
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So before you decide to put the past behind you and forgive a mistake,
be REALLY REALLY honest with yourself: Does this seem like a
one-off screw up on his part, or is it a pattern of behaviour he has
repeated in tiny ways over and over again?
Notice these things for what they are, and don’t rationalize or
excuse his behaviour. This will only lead to years of unhappiness
and disappointment, followed by hating yourself for always giving
him another chance. Most of the time, if the relationship ended
because of a big incident, the behaviour won’t change just because
he says he’s sorry and feels remorseful about what he did (which he
probably will). Even if his emotion and regret are honest, and his
will is the best in the world, it doesn’t means he’s fundamentally
going to change who he is.
However.
the case, and he’s not trying to get you back, proceed with caution.
By not pursuing your forgiveness and reconciliation he’s already
showing his lax attitude towards your old relationship, which doesn’t
bode well for a new one.
What if you were the one responsible for the bad behaviour? – Three
Steps For Reconciliation
So what if it was a trait you had, or didn’t have, that had him
breaking up with you?
In that case you must take full responsibility for something you
need to change.
This is your number one maxim that you must always stick to.
If you are changing in a way that hurts you or goes against your
principles, in the long-run, even if you get your ex back you’ll be
setting yourself up for misery and resentment later on.
If you acted out in a bad way, the onus is on both of you to guide
him toward forgiveness and to convince him that whatever you did
will not recur a second time around.
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a. Forgiveness
b. Communicating it won’t happen again
But there is also a third:
c. Making him feel like your number one priority
you to be trying to get him back with the hope that “maybe he’s
changed”.
At the very least, your assumption that he ‘might have’ will make
you the fool who gets burnt again, only this time you won’t be able
to make him the enemy, because the enemy will have been you for
going back in the first place.
But time isn’t the only thing that will have you ignoring a trait you
didn’t like in him back then. It’s also a product of loneliness.
Once you’ve spent enough time dating around and ‘finding no one
quite like him’ - I always wonder if people include the worst parts of
the their ex here - or not dating around and arriving at the absurd
notion that they have no other options.
So we could express the Formula for the “I’ll Never Find Another
You” Trap like this:
The first and more superficial of the two, is to create more options
with men and remind yourself just how much choice you actually
have.
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It’s a surefire way to redirect focus away from your ex and put
things in proper perspective. It’s true that this strategy is only as
good as the options you have right now, and not sustainable for the
long term, but it’s certainly effective in the short term. The logic
is simple. If I put you on an island with one man, before long he’ll
start looking attractive regardless of whether he’s your type or meets
your standards. Our innate need for connection and intimacy can
have this distorting effect. If he threatened to leave the island you
could be forgiven for feeling desperate at the thought of losing him.
If however, four new men are introduced to the island, your sense of
perspective would be restored and two things would happen. Your
reliability in measuring the merits of each man would be restored,
and a sense of inner peace would arise from knowing the fate of
your happiness doesn’t rest with one person.
The very thing that keeps you from finding other options is the over
reliance on the guy you had before, and the false sense of comfort
that comes with it.
feeling of worth above all else which gives you the strength to
reject bad behaviour, stop putting men on a pedestal and allow you
to proceed in your love life without the crippling fear of rejection .
This isn’t something I can give you in some condensed online
training program . It’s instilled in you by a process that takes
me five days to accomplish . However, once you do undertake it, it
will change your entire approach to relationships and increase the
attraction you receive from men - both old and new - ten fold . This
five-day process takes place on my retreat programmes which I run
only a couple of times of the year for a select group of women who
.
One more thing on this… when you’re really honest with yourself,
you’ll find out that you are just trying to get back with your ex to
prove that you can, stop right now. The victory of knowing you
could have him again is a shallow one that comes from insecurity.
If you feel you are trying to get back with him to gain some form
of closure, you are also wasting your time. Trying to get closure on a
situation that was wrong for you regardless is pointless. What more
do you need than knowing that there are better men out there for
you? The details aren’t always as important as people think.
If your self-worth is derived from your ability to ‘win’ back your ex,
or have sex with them again, or just to enjoy the buzz of attention
from having them fall for you again, I beg you, close this document
immediately (or turn it off if you’re listening) and get on with your
life. The path to getting back your ex, in your case, is a road that
should remain untraveled.
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In other words, you don’t quite get the same before and after effect
as you would if he hadn’t seen you for three months. There are
certain advantages of being able to go away and work on yourself
in private without having to bump into someone each day or each
week. You do have two advantages though. Since he is seeing you
regularly, you have the ability to show him in real time how your
life is being updated. He will get wind of you going out, enjoying
yourself, meeting new people. He’s more likely to hear about the
stories second hand, or even see them first hand. He gets to see
you show up with a positive demeanor each day. This alone can be
enough to attract someone back as they see you become stronger,
more independent and more challenging. You also have the
advantage that you don’t need to make a point of going out of your
way to arrange to see him, you will naturally have opportunities to
see him and recreate the spark without looking like you are even
trying.
I do want to warn you though, right now if you feel that you can’t
be around him without being jealous, depressed or anxious, you may
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want to go out of your way to create some space before seeing him
again. If he has the same friends as you, so be it, see them when
he’s not around, or even better, find some new friends. You’ll
appreciate the new networks they’ll bring, and potentially, the new
guys. It’s much harder to get over someone or build yourself up
when they are still in your presence, so don’t betray yourself by
attempting to keep him in your routine before you are ready for it.
Q 12. What if you are sleeping with your ex periodically? Does that
change things? What should I do in this case?
Just having sex with him alone won’t bring you closer to him in
the way that you want to be closer to him. If you want to be in a
relationship, and he keeps telling you “he just wants fun” and doesn’t
want anything serious, all you are showing by continuing to sleep
with him is that he can be physically intimate whenever he likes
with you but never has to make any emotional investment.
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And since he’s likely to be aware of the fact that you would like
something more than what you are getting, he will also find himself
respecting you less, because he sees you disrespecting yourself by
settling for less than you deserve. Then your Perceived Value in his
eyes begins to drop.
I call this situation the Ex-trap. Your ex strings you along just
enough that you don’t feel the need to go out and meet other
people, both because your needs are being half-met, your desire for
connection elsewhere diluted, and because you have the hope that
what you have with him is leading somewhere. Meanwhile the lack
of commitment still leaves him with the freedom to go out and
meet other people. It gives him everything and leaves you without
your needs being met to your satisfaction.
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I particularly love this language and tone, because rather than saying
“it’s not fair on me for us to keep sleeping together” – something
which implies you are the victim in the situation because you want it
more than he does – you are taking power back and expressing your
options with other people, and making clear that he’s not satisfying
you.
The idea of the two of you just being friends will be something he
will hate, especially if he’s used to having much more than that, and
your acknowledgement that you can still flirt with each other is your
way of saying that you don’t take him (or yourself ) too seriously,
whilst further showing him how many steps backwards he is about
to take. It’s a great way to increase your value and the challenge
elements at the same time.
I know it’s hard, because not only do you want to be close to him,
but you worry that if you’re not sleeping with him someone else
might be, and at least if you’re close to him you’re more likely to
know what’s going on and be able to influence him. But the reality
is that he needs to feel the effects of having lost you, and see that
he has to behave a certain way to get you back. You are denying him
that chance by giving in to his short-term demands.
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If you were proactive before, and that was how you got your ex,
then I’m not worried about you. You can do it all over again by
following the same formula. If in the second instance you really
found yourself doing nothing proactive, he just saw you one day
and did the work for you, or your friend set you up with him,
congratulations, someone just became attracted to you without you
having to do very much. If someone was attracted to you it means
that many people could be attracted to you, you just haven’t met
them yet. Now imagine how many people you could choose from if
you actually proactively started seeking them out.
The point is: if you did it before, you can do it again. To think
otherwise would be completely illogical and stupid, and I wouldn’t
dare suspect you of being that.
hard things makes you better, and this is so much more important
than WHAT you get by doing them.
Q 14. Yes but Matt I’m older now, I’m not who I was the first time
around…:
If you were with your ex for a couple of years and are now using the
age excuse, forgive me for not taking it seriously.
If you were in a relationship for 10+ years and are now over a decade
later saying that in your new age category you will not find someone,
let me reassure you, not so much has changed.
The game is still creating a life you love, sharing it with people
in conversation and being eager to hear about theirs. It’s no more
complex than that, no matter how many new apps and dating sites
are invented, and no matter how much men ‘text’ instead of calling
these days. You’re aging? Good, we all are.
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Q 15. I could be alone for years waiting for someone else to come along
Yes of course you could. Fortunately none of us have to sit here and
wait. If you weren’t getting fed today I can tell you it wouldn’t be
long before you went out and found a meal so that you could satisfy
your hunger.
That’s why we always eat no matter what. If you always want options
in your love life, simply begin the process of bringing new men into
your life. The good news I have for you is that it will be one of the
most rewarding experiences of your life if you go into it with the
right attitude. Building a great life and bringing new people into
it is one of life’s great pleasures whether it brings the love of your
life or not. To deny yourself the ability to do this would be to deny
yourself the experience of truly living. You won’t be waiting for him
to come along, and you won’t be desperately trying to find a new
one either. You’ll be living.
In a relationship, giving your all to one person and not getting the
same love back is an indication of energy being sent in the wrong
direction, not of the energy being futile in the first place. Your
intimate love isn’t supposed to be right for everybody, it’s supposed
to be right for those whom you could have a true connection with,
and have the ability to give it back. Not everyone will have the right
connection with us, and not everyone has the ability to give it back.
That doesn’t mean we spite ourselves and the next person we meet
by giving up. We have to keep going, if only for the reason that
being a loving person who gives our all is something we are, not just
something we do when it’s easy.
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If you want your ex back right now because you are afraid of being
alone, at least we know it’s not about your ex. It’s about you. This is a
feeling you would get no matter who the person is, which means we
need to work on that before you get back with your ex or find anyone
else. Being alone can be one of the most rewarding experiences of
life. In fact it’s incredibly important. In his book Letters To A Young
Poet, Rainer Maria Rilke writes on the importance of solitude and
being alone:
Q 18. I’ve invested so much time and energy in this person. How can I
give up now?
These feelings feel their worst when our focus on that one person
is at its peak. They can be so bad we wonder how we are to be
expected to bear the pain. As time moves on, and you meet new
people, and realize the new encounters you yourself are to have, you
will find this feeling begin to drift into the distance, becoming less
and less intense; more like a distant memory of a feeling you once
had, which is beautiful in it’s own way. It acts as a reminder of how
much you are able to love, and be attached, and hold onto something
pure. Make no mistake, this feeling too will repeat itself. It has the
ability to attach itself to the next person you develop feelings for in
exactly the same way, and when it does, you will likely forget about
having felt it for anyone else and they will feel fresh all over again.
Knowing that these feelings can arrive again with the next person
you desire is the key to overcoming them in the present. They are
human feelings, they are natural, and they will pass, just as they
have with every other partner you’ve had in the past. Life moves us
on to the next experience.
Q 20. They were the best person I’ve ever met, I’ll never find anyone
else like them
Actually, it’s highly likely you will find someone else like them.
That he exists and you became attracted to him is simply evidence
that people like him DO exist, and that you CAN become attracted
to them. It also proves that someone like that CAN be attracted
to you. All of these things are important, because they remind you
that it wasn’t mere luck. Relationships are created in the world for
people who get out there, take chances and put themselves on the
line, every single day.
Oh and one last thing on this. It’s worth noting that however great
you thought your ex was, the guy you end up with, unlike your ex,
will have chosen to be with you, he has that much on his side.
I hope I don’t need to restate this, but there are more incredible men
out there than you could hope to date in 1000 lifetimes. The idea
that this one man from your past is the only one who can make you
happy is simply not true. It’s ok to want it to work out, but know
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that if it doesn’t you will find happiness again with somebody else,
or even several people. The world is yours to enjoy, and you are free
to enjoy it in a series of infinite adventures that now stretch out
before you.
If you're feeling pain right now, know that you are more resilient
than you think . Studies have proven that human beings have what
is called immune neglect: this means we forget just how good
our psychological immune system is at recovering from the
effects of what we perceive as a negative life change . We
overestimate how hard and for how long a negative situation
will affect us . When people go through a breakup, they often
.
If you dedicate your life to being the best you can be, and becoming
all that you can become, it will never be wasted. You will create
wonderful life. One of the common by-products of a wonderful
life is the people who want to be part of it. The men in your life
will always be a symptom of your wonderful life, not the other way
around. Perhaps you’ll find it easier to imagine it this way: You are
the business. The men in your life are the revenue. Revenue can go
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up, it can go down, but as long as the business remains, you always
know you can replicate a result again.