Dating can be a challenge for many single women. We all know women who have dated the same guy for years, thinking that he is going to marry her. She hangs in there thinking that if she waits long enough, her day will come. The problem is that he probably will not ask her to marry him. She is stuck and there is not an easy way out. Why not keep this from happening in the first place? When you first meet someone you are interested in dating, follow these seven tips to avoid the same fate.

1. Do not ask him out. He has to pursue you otherwise there is no challenge for him. Men need a challenge.

2. Follow your gut instinct. Even if everything seems to be perfect, if you get a funny feeling that something is not quite right, listen to it. Your gut is almost always right, your heart has no clue what it is doing.

3. Get to really know him before you get physical. Most modern day relationships go way too fast in this area and most of the time it is the woman who gets hurt, because she is the one that gets more emotionally involved. If he will not wait for you, he is not the right one.

4. Know your requirements, needs and wants. If you write a list of requirements and refuse to get involved with someone who does not meet your requirements, you will be much better off. For some odd reason, women think they can change men. You should know by now, you cannot make someone change.

5. He has to be more into you than you are into him. This is a basic rule. Most of the time, people don't want the ones that want them. Do not go for the bad boys all the time. Work on wanting the ones who want you. You will get your heart broken less often.

6. Do not drop your girlfriends to spend more time with a guy. You will be more attractive to him if you are not always available. Besides, girlfriends almost always outlast the guy.

7. Do not assume that he wants the same thing out of a relationship that you want. This is where most women trip up. Communication is the most important key here.

   The most successful marriages I know of, are the ones in which the guy said "It was love at first sight". If you can tell that your guy is not feeling that way about you, move on and find the one who cannot live without you. Guys know. If it's not a yes, it's a no. Maybe is where heartache lives.

   Visit The Heartbreak Free Dating Coach at http://www.heartbreakfreedating.com for more tips and tools on how to start taking control of your relationships and stop getting your heart broken. You can also read a free chapter of the book Heartbreak Free Dating: The Must Have Guide for Single Women at www.heartbreakfreedating.com. Jess Kennedy Williams is the author of Heartbreak Free Dating. Her decade and a half of being single and relentless research on the subject, combined with the experience of managing four offices of a major dating service and training from The Relationship Coaching Institute, had given her great insight into dating issues. Her goal is to help women live happy, healthy and heartbreak free lives.