Date...or Soul Mate? - Neil Warren (4 of 5 Must Haves)

This is the third book I've read by Warren.  The first was Felicity's Finding the Love of Your Life.  The second was Falling in Love for All the Right Reasons.  Perhaps the most interesting thing about this book was watching the evolution of the theories espoused by Warren.  Finding was published in 1992, Date in 2002, and Falling in 2005.  In 1992 he was already talking about how successful relationships were based on a wide variety of similarities.  His second book was published just as eharmony.com was taking off.  The 29 dimensions were included in the book, but only in an appendix at the end.  By 2005, the website had over 6 million members.  His third book examined the 29 qualities in detail.

As you might expect, there wasn't a lot of original material in the second book.  It felt like a rehash of the other two.  However, there were a few tidbits of wisdom.  

Warren stresses the importance of creating a list of ten "must haves" and ten "can't haves."  He provides a list of fifty general things on both sides and then asks you pick your top ten.  Once they are ingrained in your mind, you will be able to make your dates more effective.  If you see one of the can't haves, you should avoid further dates.  If you encounter over five or so must haves, you should consider establishing a relationship.  You shouldn't however get married unless you find all ten.  Essentially effective dating is the product of consciously working out exactly who you are and what you're looking for.