Learn what pressure free contact is and why this approach to getting back your ex works better than pushy contact or no contact.
There are three ways to approach contact with your ex:
1. Pushy or aggressive contact
You apply pressure to get your ex to come back and keep pushing them until they give in. Pushy contact includes, begging and pleading with you ex to give you another chance; or promising them that you’ll change. As many of you may have found out, if you push your ex to get back together, their natural response is to push back.
2. No contact
You ignore your ex for 30 days or more in an attempt to make them miss you and come back. It’s also an avoidance way of approaching relationships; and uses someone’s anxiety and fear of rejection and abandonment to pressure them into taking you back. Most couples break-up again because once you get back together; there is no more fear of rejection or abandonment, and your ex wants out again.
3. Pressure free contact
You stay in contact with your ex and instead of focusing your energy and time on getting them back; focus your energy and time on making them feel safe enough to want to come back on their own.
With pushy contact and no contact, you are focused on only on what you want. Most exes can see that you don’t really care about them, all you want is to get them back; and they build more blocks and walls.
But with pressure free contact, you earn their trust because they can see you want them back; but you also want what’s best for them. The more your ex sees that you want is best for them, the more likely they are to trust you. With time your ex becomes more receptive to getting back together because you are not pressuring them.
Is the same as “pressure free contact” the same as low contact? No. The two are not the same.
1. Quantity vs. Quality
The assumption behind “limited contact” is that if you contact your ex just the right amount of times; they’ll think you are not needy and clingy and will want to come back.
Not true. People don’t fall in love because of how well you time your contacts. People fall in love because of how well you emotionally connect and how you make them feel. You can spend all your time and energy trying to figure out how often you should contact your ex; or you can spend your time and energy trying to figure out how to make your ex feel loved the way they want to be loved.
Pressure free contact is about quality. The focus is NOT on “number of contacts” but in the “effectiveness of communication”.
Some people need many contacts or constant communication to feel that feeling (of safety, closeness, importance or excitement); and some people need just a few emotionally powerful words to feel that they are in love. So, instead of putting all your energy trying to get just the right number of contacts, pressure free contact allows you to work with the needs (safety, closeness, importance or excitement) and attachment style of your ex.
2. Doing Vs. Being
Just like “no contact”, “limited contact” is about how long you can sit on your hands to stop yourself from picking the cookie you are not supposed to be eating. It doesn’t say you have the mental toughness to not pick up the cookie; it says you are “trying too hard”. This can help if you have no “self-control” and have a tendency to get anxious and go off contacting someone needlessly. It may make your ex feel less overwhelmed with your number of contacts; but it still doesn’t get you closer to your ex emotionally.
Meaningless “Hi, how are”, “Hi what’s up?’ “Hi, how is your day?” every few days or once a week; and “I’m doing fine”, “My life is good”, “I’m on my way to the gym” etc. replies every few hours or days is just that; meaningless and superficial!
Shallow gets you as far as shallow does. After sometime, you run out of things to say and contacts become further and further apart. Next thing you know, you are panicking and over-contacting again.
Pressure free contact is focused on the energy you send out and is sensed by your ex. I think it was Anthony Robbins who said ” The quality of your communication equals the quality of your life”. If you don’t have a quality life, no matter how “perfectly” you time your contacts; the quality of your communication will always be poor. That’s the bad news.
3. Calculating Vs. Flexible
Limited contact is focusing on a particular outcome. That is “I’m doing 1+1 to get to 2”. There is a lot of fear, anxiety, and worry there. You not only spend a lot of time, energy and emotion trying to figure out how to do it “perfectly”; you also also spend just as much time, energy and emotion second guessing yourself and beating up yourself for your “mistakes.”
The real smacker is that you can’t get it “perfect” every time. And because you keep making “mistakes’ (which you will, because you are human), you conclude that things aren’t working and walk away; or muddy it up some more (with desperate pleas, emotional outbursts, over-reactions etc).
Pressure free contact implies just that – no pressure to get the desired result. 1+1 might get you 0, 1.5 or 3; and that’s okay. You take that into consideration and make your next move based on what is happening as things unfold. Instead of always trying to get the result you want; you operate from a place of transparency, openness and trust (self-trust and trusting the goodness of the other); and let things add up how they will.
There is no fear, anxiety, and worry because you are not busy scaring yourself with what might happen if you don’t do things “perfectly”; or torturing yourself for what you didn’t “do right”. Your times together are relaxed, easy and more fun — in a very natural way. Even if there is someone else, there is no fear, anxiety, and worry because you are not jumping up and down screaming, “choose me! choose me!”; but allowing your ex to “choose you” (on their own free will).
4. Ineffective Vs. Effective
Low Contact is like showing up at work exactly when you are supposed to, but doing absolutely no work. You check in and sit back waiting for the day to end so that you can show up again tomorrow – on time as expected.
Showed up alright, but achieved ABSOLUTELY nothing!
Pressure Free Contact is about moving things forward at the pace that is comfortable to your ex. It’s about achieving results!
RELATED:
My ex and I broke up a few weeks ago, and I am out of town for the next two and a half weeks. He told me that while he didn’t want to be talking every day, the door to communication did not have to be closed. I’d like to open the door to communication again, and I’ve read your blog. I’m not sure how to introduce “pressure-free” communication on initial contact. How do I get this ball rolling???? Is this included in your ebook? Thank you, L
YES. Dating Your Ex eBook
Re-establishing Contact (page 82)
Dos and Don’ts of Initial Contact (page 88)
Needy Contact (page 144)
Pressure-Free Contact (page 151)