Good advice and a good read over at WhatAManKnows.com on 4 Things a Woman Needs From You (written a few months ago, but I’m just now getting around to it):

Those four things are (along with my thoughts on each):

1. A woman needs you to be decisive — when your wife asks you, “where do you want to go to dinner”, she really does want to know where do you want to go to dinner. So tell her.

If your wife asks, “which dress should I wear tonight?” as she hold up two different ones, don’t hem and haw and say, “I don’t know.” She asked for your advice because she wanted or needed it.

Being decisive in the small daily decisions in life gives your woman confidence that when bigger and important decisions need to be made, that you are up for the task.

2. A woman needs to feel safe with you — this doesn’t mean in just a purely physical protection sort of way, though that is important to. But she needs to feel that you always have her best interest in mind, and that she can rely on you not to hurt her or allow her to be hurt.

…she needs to feel that she can express her deepest thoughts and feelings to you in a totally open and honest way …without being argued down, rejected, or made to feel stupid.

A woman needs you to be successful — she needs you to be ambitious, and to show that you have the ability to take care of her and potentially her children. You don’t have to be a millionaire. But you do have to be industrious and not afraid of work, success, or failure.

Every emotionally healthy woman desires an ambitious man who aspires to something greater than he is.

4. A woman needs you to lead her, not follow her — this one will get the ire up in the feminists…but they’re not the ones in good, healthy relationships with men anyway.

When my wife and I were still dating, I told her if we ever got married there were something about me that she shouldn’t try to change: I ride a motorcycle, I like to play golf with my buddies at least once a month, I eat red meat, I like to own and shoot guns, during football season, I spend Saturdays watching my beloved Longhorns play football.

Since we’ve been married (6 years), there are many things she’s changed about me (mostly for the better). But I haven’t stopped doing those things that I love doing, and have always loved doing:

It’s not the woman’s fault. She’s waiting for you to lead. What sound like complaints are really simple voicing of her fears, concerns and preferences. As a man, it’s your responsibility to take those preferences into serious consideration and accommodate her, where possible. However, when those preferences conflict with a value that you have determined to be important to your well-being, you must steer the ship accordingly. As the leader, if you’re not okay, nobody’s okay.

Most any emotionally healthy woman will respond favorably to confident, capable leadership. Allow her the responsibility for her own happiness, …steer the ship with confidence, …and hold on to your N.U.T.s!