Thought Catalog Agency

6 Concrete Signs He’s Soft Launching A Breakup

You’re dating a guy, all seems well, and then he starts to slowly slip out of your life. While some men will be up-front when they don’t want to be with you anymore, others take the cowardly approach. Soft launching a breakup–where he starts to pull away without actually telling you he doesn’t want to be with you anymore–seems like a rite of passage at this point. We all go through this at some point in our lives. But how do you know if a guy is soft launching a breakup with you? Here are some concrete signs that he’s slowly moving away from you.

His texting habits have changed.

He used to be so attentive. But now? He doesn’t seem to initiate text exchanges anymore. He doesn’t ask questions to keep a conversation going and only uses one-word answers. While less text communication can be common even in a loving relationship, when paired with the rest of the concrete signs, it’s a red flag.

He’s no longer initiating or planning dates.

Did you notice a shift? Suddenly you’re the one suggesting dates. He used to put in the effort. Now he’s stopped, hoping that you’ll “get the hint.”

He’s non-committal when it comes to meeting his inner circle.

If you have anyone in his life that you’ve yet to meet, from friends and coworkers to immediate family, it’s a bad sign if he’s no longer suggesting that you meet them. Don’t ignore when he uses lame excuses why you shouldn’t come.

He talks about how anyone would be “lucky to have you.”

Oh boy. The missing part to that statement is, “but it isn’t me.” No one happily dating you would say this because they’re the lucky one. A guy who says this is laying the groundwork so that he can eventually let you down easy.

Any long-term plans are met with a “Maybe.”

While he might be letting you take the lead in planning dates for the next few nights, anything longer than a week and he might be getting antsy. If he’s soft launching a breakup, he’ll avoid making concrete plans for the future with you, even if it’s something as unromantic is a pair of concert tickets.

He isn’t nearly as nice to you as he used to be.

Don’t let yourself ignore the energy shift. We can sometimes reason away a changing attitude with stress from his job or other life problems, but there’s no excuse for treating you badly. In fact, he might be doing this so that you break up with him instead. It’s the kind of cowardly behavior you can’t put past a guy who soft launches a breakup. Might as well break up with him now so you can be rid of this guy ASAP, you babe.