As 2025 comes to a close, I’ve been reflecting deeply on my work as a dating coach for men this year.

It was one of the most revealing years of my coaching journey, not because of new tactics or techniques, but because of what surfaced beneath them.

Through real, in-person coaching across different global cities and social environments, I began noticing recurring blind spots in men that are rarely spoken about in the dating or relationship space.

Blind spots that are also difficult to teach, yet quietly shape a man’s outcomes.

The Core Realization

What became increasingly clear to me is this:

Most men don’t struggle because they lack skills.
Most men struggle because they lack leverage.

The Facets That Kept Showing Up

Over the year, certain facets kept appearing again and again — subtle, layered, and often invisible to the men themselves:

1. Up-scale Presence / Polished Personality
   How a man lands in a room before he speaks.
2. Social Taste
   Knowing where to be, how to behave, and what fits the environment.
3. Style Quotient
   Not fashion, but coherence, restraint, and alignment.
4. Healthy Entitlement
   Feeling internally permitted to initiate, express, and take space.
5. Strong Self-Trust
   Acting without constantly seeking approval or validation.
6. Flair in Expression & Communication
   Ease, rhythm, and individuality — not scripts or formulas.

Having even a few of these facets gives a man real leverage in today’s world, with women, with men, in professional spaces, and in personal life.

What Leverage Really Means in Dating and Social Life

When I say leverage, I’m not talking about dominance or arrogance.

Leverage is the invisible room you’re given.

It’s what allows you to:

• Say hi without it feeling intrusive
• Smile and have it returned
• Start an exchange naturally
• Make a comment without overthinking
• Express interest without tension
• Touch, invite, or lead without resistance

In professional spaces, leverage shows up as ease and respect.
In personal spaces, it shows up as receptivity and openness.

A Real Coaching Moment That Revealed the Problem

“I Don’t Know If I’m Allowed” — The Absence of Entitlement

One moment this year made this painfully clear to me.

I was with a client; intelligent, articulate, professionally successful.

On paper, he had everything most dating advice says a man needs.

We were sitting in a café. A relaxed, well-put-together woman was seated a few tables away.

Nothing dramatic. No high-pressure moment. Just a normal social setting.

I asked him a simple question:

“If you wanted to say something to her right now anything — what stops you?”

He paused, thought for a bit, and then said something that stayed with me:

“I don’t know if I’m allowed.”

That sentence had nothing to do with confidence, lines, or mindset.

It was about permission.

He didn’t lack social skills.

He lacked the internal leverage to take up space, to feel entitled to initiate a human exchange.

I heard variations of this hesitation repeatedly in 2025, across different men, cities, and contexts.

That’s when it became undeniable to me:
Most men aren’t failing at dating, they’re operating without leverage.

Why This Is Especially Relevant for Indian Men

What I’ve observed, especially among Indian men: be it an NRI, or an Indian resident — is that many struggles in dating and social life don’t stem from bad intentions or lack of effort.

They stem from never having developed this leverage.

Skills were learned.
Mindsets were discussed.
But presence, polish, entitlement, and self-trust were rarely cultivated.

And dating is simply the environment where this absence becomes impossible to ignore.

How My Coaching Is Evolving in 2026

Because of these realizations, I’ve already begun adding new layers to my coaching — and in 2026, I’m expanding this direction aggressively.

My work is no longer just about getting better with women.

It’s about shaping the kind of man who naturally carries leverage — socially, professionally, and personally.

Dating is simply where the gaps reveal themselves most clearly.

A Closing Thought

If you’ve ever felt that:

You “do the right things” but don’t get the response

You’re socially capable yet still overlooked

You hesitate even when you want to act

It may not be about learning more techniques.

It may be about building the facets that quietly give you leverage.

This is the direction my work is moving in, and I’ll be sharing more as it unfolds.

Hence, I have added a Customized Program option in my program lists to include the work for men who are looking towards gaining leverage in addition to learning skillsets and developing mindsets to get good with women.