One must always be cautioned when entering a relationship: Love does not exist.

What men and women consider to be love, are two very differing concepts with contrasting motivations. A man believes that when he finds his "one true love" that what he feels for her is love. But it is not really love. What most men are feeling is an attachment motivated by desperation. One "loves" a woman and does things for her out of "love" because he is subconsciously afraid that he will not find another woman like her. Love for a man is ultimately a display of oneitis.

Likewise, when women say they love a man, it is not because she feels this indescribable emotion of fondness towards him. On the contrary, she does things for/to him because she is attracted to him, all while claiming that she does so because she loves him. A woman's "love" is driven by her attraction to a man.

The obstacle that most men in LTRs encounter is that they believe a woman will be with them and cherish them forever because of love. They do not understand that love is not an abstract concept, but rather a misconstrued term. A woman will love you forever... so long as you remain attractive to her.

Most men nowadays long for the relationship that their parents have/had: a long-term, stable relationship where both individuals are satisfied and more or less "happy" with one another. Our society describes it as true love, a union between two people who are attached by an indescribable force.

... but your parents lived in a much different society than today's society. Your mothers were happy when they were able to marry a man who treated his family well and provided for them. Your fathers were happy because they could start a family with a woman who would work earnestly to keep them in the best state.

The majority of men who live in today's society long to be in a stable and "loving" relationship where they can work and provide for their wives and children, while their wives dote on them and shower them with affection.

It doesn't work that way anymore. A man cannot rely purely on "love" as a driving force to maintain a relationship. A man cannot simply expect that his commitment to her will be enough to keep her committed to him. He must be able to see that in maintaining her attraction to him can he make a relationship long-lasting.

Love is a contract; one that is often one-sided. To be successful and to negotiate "love" properly, a man must see that a relationship is a contract between two individuals and he must hold the other party accountable to their end of the contract. If a man blindly believes that an abstract concept is going to be the glue of his relationship, he will fail miserably. He must be attractive at most times. He will become weak at points in his life, but he must be able to re-fortify himself and become a stone wall once more. Most importantly though, it is his duty as a man to hold his partner accountable, otherwise he will be stepped on and relegated to a lowly position in her life, like a pawn to a king.

Every now and then men need a reminder that love does not exist the way most of us were taught to believe. To be successful in a relationship means understanding what keeps two people together... and it is not love.

tl;dr - To be successful in relationships, men must strive to remain attractive and they must hold their partners accountable.