In my last RobZerrvation I alluded to the Four Man Plan. Yes, it’s how I came to be a significant other.
I didn’t know there was a plan, of course. That seems to be part of the plan. I didn’t know about it until two weeks ago, but I was a participant in it. My girlfriend at the time and I were hanging around the old housienda when she casually asked if I wanted to see something on YouTube.
Being of a naturally and endlessly curious nature, I said sure. We went into the office and pulled up the video. I turned my attention to the presentation, and what unfolded in the ensuing segments appeared to have been taken directly from my life.
Well, they had been, and they worked like a freaking charm. I think my then girlfriend was initially worried that she had shared a bit too much as I watched the first few segments of the Four Man Plan totally poker faced.
I wasn’t freaked out. I didn’t feel set up. At the time, I kind of admired the simplicity of the Four Man Plan and how well it had worked. In a nutshell, women are supposed to date more than one man at a time, four in fact. This is not a secret. Telling each guy that you are dating other men is an integral part of the plan. That turns the hunter into the hunted as well as a competitor for the woman’s affections, as you are keenly aware that you have other competitors, all vying for the attention, and hopefully hand, of the woman in question.
I was informed of this on our third date. According to the plan, I was supposed to be advised that there were others on the second date, but, well, that didn’t work out. This is a good thing, because after our climb up the mountain with 40 pounds of picnic for two, I may have not been as happy to hear there were others, unless they had been willing to carry all those freaking groceries up the hillside in my stead.
I guess some men freak out at this whole “I’m dating others” disclosure, but I was unfazed. It did, however, reset my brain, as I began to realize that this could be a pretty amazing woman and she could end up with someone else instead of me.
This too was part of the plan. So is not sleeping together until there was commitment, i.e., exclusivity. Another stoke of brilliance.
I know a lot of women who seem to be having an impossible time finding a good man. Many maintain there is a scarcity of them, and yet she had no problem heading out to the garden of love and picking a few prime possibilities. If one of them proved to be a bit unripe for her tastes, a new one could be planted into the mix. If things were really going well in the gardening department, a relationship sprouted and you may end up with “the one,” the one that would win the blue ribbon at the county fair – the right guy for you.
In my case, I won the blue ribbon at the time. As far as I know, this is the second competition where I have ever finished first. In the first one, I was pitted against millions of other contestants. It was a swimming race and I took first place apparently. It was a crowning achievement in my very young life, as I beat everyone else to the egg and the grand prize was being born.
So how did I find out I was locked in another competition? Not until the third date, which appropriately was at Third Place Books. That’s when we had the “I’m dating others talk.”
The good news is that I eventually placed first in that competition as well, and became a 3 1/2 Man. No, this has nothing to do with the measurement of manhood. Rather, it has to do with the grid in the plan and how the best fit in your life graduates to this vetted role of being, at least for the moment, The One.
If you want to see how it all works, watch the videos. You will see exactly how our dating cycle went. I’m not going to go through it all here in minute detail. Cindy does that just fine on her website and in her videos.
Oh, for you women that have a checklist. As I said, get rid of it. While you can have your deal breakers, things like “over six feet tall” really isn’t worth putting on your list, because the universe will throw you a curve ball and perhaps even throw you your ideal guy who is only 5′ 9″.
My then girlfriend had three things on her list. They came directly from the Four Man Plan and they really do seem to be the only qualities a woman should want, because they trump everything else. These qualities are – ready for it? – honest, willing, loving.
That’s it. Three simple qualities. Everything else is icing on the proverbial relationship cake.
I know that many of my friends are looking for a great guy. I know for a fact that they are out there. True, I don’t know any (that aren’t taken or aren’t looking at the moment), but I think the Four Man Plan is simple, brilliant and insightful.
Unfortunately men, there is no comparable program for you. If I recall, it’s because women don’t like to compete and a similar Four Woman Plan will more than likely end up in a cat fight, with the requisite biting, hair pulling and fisticuffs, until such time that their collective ire is redirected to you, the “player,” at which point you will most likely wish you were dead, or at least knew a good paint shop who could remove the key scratches that spell BASTARD down the side of your car.
In the Emerald City, making some plans of my own,
– Robb