When you’re dating someone you really like, you might feel eager to take things to the next level and commit to a long-term relationship together. But if you try to take it there before the other person is ready, you risk scaring them off. So being able to tell when they’re ready for a relationship is an essential skill in the game of love. From reliability to exclusivity, here are 10 signs his heart is open to love and he’s ready for a relationship.
- The mind games are over. Mind games are one of the worst parts of dating. Playing hard to get. Sending mixed messages. Appearing in your life and then disappearing again. Gaslighting. When a guy is ready for a relationship, all this will stop for good. He won’t do anything to jeopardize being with you, including playing games that drive you crazy.
- He opens up to you. This is a definite sign his heart is open to love. Vulnerability is a big part of being in a relationship. Allowing yourself to be vulnerable is a huge step towards building trust in someone and growing closer to them. The fact that he’s no longer trying to impress you with perfection and is instead being real with you is a good sign.
- He makes you a priority. When he’s just dating for fun, other areas of his life will often come first. But if he’s ready for a relationship with you, then you’ll be one of his highest priorities. It’s easy to tell when you’re a priority, too. He won’t put every other thing in his life before you!
- He follows through with his promises. A guy who’s ready for a relationship follows through with his promises. Why? He’s planning on sticking around, so those promises matter. On the flip side, if he’s planning on disappearing in the near future, there’s no need for him to prove that he’s trustworthy. So reliability is a big sign to look for in determining whether he’s open to real love or not.
- He doesn’t judge you for being yourself. In a relationship, you have to accept that the other person isn’t perfect. If a guy doesn’t judge you for just being yourself, flaws and all, it’s likely that he’s moved past the stage of dating for fun. When you’re doing that, it’s common to abandon people when the charades fade away and the flaws start becoming obvious. But when you commit to someone, you accept all of them.
- He makes concrete future plans. It’s not a great sign if he never talks about the future, or his discussions about the future are really vague. But it is a sign that he’s ready for a relationship if he does talk about the future with you. Even better, if he starts making concrete plans with you, it could indicate he’s ready for a relationship.
- He has difficult conversations with you. Contrary to popular belief, arguing is actually a good sign. It shows he cares enough to have a difficult conversation with you. If he were only in it for a bit of fun, he’d probably walk away when things became difficult. The fact that he’d rather sort through your issues shows that he is ready to put in the hard yards.
- He wants to be exclusive. It doesn’t get much more obvious than this! Asking you to be exclusive with him is the first step towards being in a real relationship. In some cultures, this is already counted as being in a relationship. The fact that he doesn’t want to see anyone else says a lot about where he stands.
- He introduces you to his friends and family. Most of us don’t bother introducing someone to our family and friends unless we plan on having them in our life for the long run. It seems pointless to go to the trouble of introducing someone we’re planning on ditching. So it’s a pretty strong sign that he’s ready for a relationship if he’s introducing you to the people in his life.
- He says he’s ready for a relationship. A lot of the time, a guy who genuinely wants to be in a relationship will just say so. The trick is to be careful of guys who say they want a relationship just to string you along. To work out the difference, look at his actions as well as what he says. Does he act in ways that are consistent with someone wanting a relationship, like those listed above? If so, then there’s a good chance he’s telling the truth.
