You're aware enough to know something's been off, but old habits still have a grip on you. 

Maybe you've started to find your voice, set the occasional boundary, and stopped outsourcing your self-worth entirely.

But in relationships or emotionally charged dating situations, the people-pleasing instincts kick back in. 

So you may choose to avoid relationships entirely because you don't want to slip into a chaotic situation gain.

And who can blame you? You definitely don't want to go back there.

But the risk with this is getting stuck in "self-analysis mode" for decades and never breaking through.

(unless you are genuinely happy being single until you die, in which case I'm not going to try to convince you otherwise).

If you don't have a consistent plan for training relational skills like assertiveness, authentic communication, emotional self-regulation etc...

You may find yourself in the common loop of endlessly consuming self-help content (like mine), talking with Chat GPT and distracting yourself but rarely taking bold action.

Action.

That's what is required next. 

And a part of you knows it.

If you really want to fast track the process, get some accountability and train relational skills in real time, check out the men's group I run for recovering Nice Guys.

See you there.

Oliver