This checklist is designed to help you look beyond the initial spark and examine qualities, values, behaviors and life circumstances that influence long-term compatibility. Dating Checklist encourages a deeper understanding of yourself, what you truly seek, and the patterns and tactics that can lead to more fulfilling connections — or repeated disappointments.

You have an invitation to connect, challenge assumptions, examine patterns and look at familiar experiences from a different perspective. The thoughts of interviewees explore themes of love, purpose, attraction, struggle and the often-unspoken realities that influence intimate decisions. Each piece should be an attempt to understand the stories we tell ourselves and the narratives that shape our own lives.

In The Death of Courtship, J.R. Williams pulls back the curtain on the hidden marketplace of modern relationships. Blending evolutionary science, historical analysis, behavioral psychology, interviews and contemporary research, he examines the timeless forces that shape mate selection - and why those forces remain remarkably consistent despite dramatic cultural change. Here, read the book's introduction.