Habits and Hustle

Episode 538: High Performing Women and Why They Lose Attraction in Relationships When They Lead

12 min
Mar 20, 202630 days ago
Listen to Episode
Summary

Tony Robbins and a female co-host discuss why high-performing women lose attraction in relationships when they lead, arguing that women are naturally drawn to men who are smarter, stronger, more successful, and more masculine. They explore how alpha women need equally or more alpha partners to feel feminine and how male confidence and decisiveness can transform relationship dynamics.

Insights
  • High-performing women experience attraction loss when they become the dominant partner, suggesting a biological/psychological need for masculine leadership in romantic relationships
  • The pool of suitable partners for successful women shrinks significantly because many men are intimidated by female success or fail to demonstrate sufficient confidence and initiative
  • Male confidence and decisiveness (even in small decisions like choosing restaurants) are major attraction triggers for high-performing women, allowing them to relax control
  • Successful women don't want to relinquish ambition but seek partners who can handle decision-making and leadership in the relationship, reducing their cognitive load
  • There's a gap between what women say they want publicly versus what they actually find attractive, driven by social pressure to appear egalitarian
Trends
Growing disconnect between stated modern relationship values and actual attraction patterns in high-performing womenIncreasing recognition that masculine/feminine polarity dynamics remain relevant despite cultural shifts toward gender equalityRising awareness among successful women that partner selection significantly impacts their ability to access feminine energyEmerging conversation about how male confidence deficits affect relationship satisfaction for ambitious womenShift in relationship coaching toward understanding complementary gender dynamics rather than pure equality models
Topics
High-performing women and relationship attraction dynamicsAlpha female and masculine/feminine polarity in partnershipsMale confidence and leadership in modern relationshipsGender roles and relationship satisfactionDecision-making authority in relationshipsAttraction patterns in successful womenIntimidation of men by successful womenFeminine energy and masculine presencePartner selection criteria for ambitious womenRelationship power dynamicsDating pool scarcity for high-achieversVulnerability and confidence in menEmotional labor and decision fatigue in womenBiological versus cultural attraction driversRelationship coaching for successful couples
People
Tony Robbins
Host of the podcast episode discussing relationship dynamics and attraction patterns in high-performing women
Quotes
"I believe a guy has to be alpha, double alpha, or else I will eat him for breakfast, and that's just the way it's gonna be."
Tony Robbins
"I don't want to be the one that is superior because it's hard for me to be attracted to someone who I feel I'm more dominating in some way to them."
Co-host
"We are animals, and as animals, we are animalistic and have needs, and we are automatically drawn to a stronger. A woman is drawn to a stronger sex."
Co-host
"When I have a guy around me who's like way more masculine and super alpha, I automatically just feel more feminine. I feel more of a girl."
Co-host
"If I'm handling all this shit all the time, I want someone else to be like, you know, I got this. I don't have to handle stuff. And trust me that like changes the entire dynamic of the relationship."
Co-host
Full Transcript
Hi guys, it's Tony Robbins. You're listening to Habits and Hustle. Crush it. I have to talk about something that I saw that I was so excited to bring up on this podcast. I saw this video where this woman was saying that women need men that are better than them, who are smarter than them, more successful than them, fitter than them, more inspiring than them, more of everything. And the reason is because that's what we would naturally be attracted to. I gotta tell you something, I actually totally agree with her 100%. I believe a guy has to be alpha, double alpha, or else I will eat him for breakfast, and that's just the way it's gonna be. And when I was watching this, I thought to myself, wow, this is probably one of the most controversial videos, or it probably would be a really controversial video because of the time we're living in. Wait, really? I think so, because it kind of feels like it's like how people thought 50 years ago or 100 years ago. Yeah. But I think that we're living in a time that we're unable to say what we, like we say things that we don't actually really believe in our heads, or that's actually really human nature. The truth of the matter is, it's 100% true. I do want a guy who is better than me, who is smarter, fitter, faster, stronger, taller, more inspiring, more successful, richer. I mean, all the things, right? I don't want to be the one that is superior because it's hard for me to be attracted to someone who I feel I'm more dominating in some way to them. Yeah, I know, I totally get that. I mean, especially I think the stronger, I could never imagine being with a guy that's literally weaker than me. I can only bend press 75 pounds. Like, if you can't do that, that's just craziness. Okay. I think the exercising aside, I think it's overall, and I think that if people say otherwise, they're lying to themselves. It's bullshit. Like what girl wants to be with a guy who is... Who's weaker? Who's weaker? Less successful, less inspiring. Who is... All the things, who is less fit? I mean, I don't know. I think we are as... We're animals, and as animals, we are animalistic and have needs, and we are automatically drawn to a stronger... A woman is drawn to a stronger sex. It's just how it is. When I'm with a guy, or not now, I guess, but when I used to be, I guess. Back in your dating? Back in my dating life. No, I remember, even now, what am I even talking about? In real life now, even, I find so many men aren't even men. It's actually sad and pathetic. The pool of people that I see some of my friends having to deal with, I'm like, oh my god, that is so unattractive. Help us. They're weak. I mean, it's just like, they're weak, and they're just not manly. They don't take any initiative. They don't take any control. I guess I am more of an alpha girl, right? Especially if you're an alpha girl, you need a guy who's double alpha, or at least alpha. Even if you're not an alpha girl, even girls who are beta, or Kappa, or whatever you want to call it. Delta Gamma. Delta Gamma. I don't know any girl. I don't know any girl, any woman, any female who is attracted to someone who they can walk all over and who has no spine and all that. They may decide and choose to be with them because it's easier, right? And it's the path of least resistance, and they do it because they can. But don't lie to yourself or lie to me and say you're hot for that person because there's no freaking way you are. Period. That's my opinion. Now you can tell me yours. No, I mean, I think I agree for the most part. I obviously there's nuance to every situation, but I just can never imagine. Even the only category in which I could see myself giving a little leeway-ness would be in the financial success category just because I want to be a billionaire. Now I cannot only dream of dating. That's such a silly thing to say though. Why? For example, so here, let me give you an example. You're focusing on the outcome and on doing something that can make you that way by doing the work to get there. That's not all we're talking about. I'm talking about dating guys. No, you're saying I want to be ex. Right. I'm saying realistic expectations. Okay, but hold on. Let me finish my sentence. You're not, that's absolutely not even the point of what I'm trying to say at all. Okay, okay, fine. I'm saying I would, I consider myself to someone who's aspiring for crazy aspirations when it comes to success financially and also in career, right? Now if my guy that I'm dating doesn't want to be a billionaire, but they want to be a millionaire, for example, and they are moving towards that direction, they're motivated, they're inspired, they're constantly working, they're an entrepreneur, they have that grit to them where they're successful and they don't make me feel like I'm the wealthier one in the relationship. They still pay for things, they still support me, they still make me feel like the woman, then I'm okay with that. But I don't necessarily, do you know what I mean? Yeah, I agree with that. 100%, I agree with that. I was just... I think that's the only area where there's, I just said that there's new ones. I'm not disagreeing with you. I said I agree with everything you said, I just said that there's new ones and I'm just adding to the layer. I actually agree with that. I think I'm grifting here. I think that it's not about the money, it's more about the errs, like smart er, fit er, you know, stronger er, you know, whatever it is. I just think that a lot of times when you are a successful woman and have a lot of those things going for you because you are fit and you are smart and you are successful, you know, the pools of men get smaller and smaller to pick from because there's a piece of it that's like a lot of guys are intimidated by that or the woman gives off too much alpha male energy where it's not even a turn on for the guy. So there's, okay, that component becomes very difficult. So what I really feel is that when a guy is all those things more than the girl, it quiets down that girl's alpha energy. 100%. That's what happens. The girl's alpha energy comes out more when she's around a guy that doesn't have it and can't bring it. 100%. Right? So like, It brings out their masculine. Right. So when I have a guy around me who's like way more masculine and super, like super alpha, I automatically just, but not on purpose subconsciously, I end up not cowering like, No, but you do get like a little like a computer, you know, you do just, But I do like, I get like, I feel more feminine. I feel more of a girl. I feel much more like a little girl. And every girl wants to feel like a little girl. They don't want to feel like they're like taking over. And I guess the girls who do feel that way, well, then all the power to you, you know, God bless you. But the majority of us, the majority of women who are just like doing well and strong and smart and fit and blah, blah, blah. We want the guy to be way better or we will eat you for breakfast and snack. So that's just how it works. But I really wish that guys understood that concept. Like because I feel like if they did, they would understand that when they're presented with a woman who's maybe a little bit more masculine, if that guy were to just assert themselves more, that would allow the woman to be able to enter feminine anymore. And I think guys don't understand that dynamic as much. So they immediately think, oh, well, she's just a masculine, more intense female. And then they think to themselves, oh, well, she's got this. I guess I don't have to be like, I can just be a bit more beta. But I think if they understood that a lot of those really intense women who are power, you know, just powerhouses who are working, who are crushing it, they actually can be really feminine females within their relationship dynamics. They just need to be given that shot. And they need to be with someone who can present that more masculine kind of vibe. Right. But the guy has to have enough real inner confidence to even- Like do that. To actually show that and be that as opposed to going the opposite. Like listen, I'm not going to lie to you. There's a lot of women I meet who are like super like, who are successful, who have like a really, a really strong male energy and it is a turn off. Right. But I'm saying for the majority, for the most of us, like people who are not like in the 0.1 percentile of like super, super successful, crazy powerhouses. I'm saying, I'm saying the majority of people, majority of women who are whoever and on the scale of whatever that what they are, what we need, we are looking for someone who, who is better than us. We need men who are better than us. Like I said, smarter than us, fitter than us, all of the urrs of us, you know? And it's just what we naturally will gravitate to. And like again, you can't fake that stuff. Either you have it or you don't, right? So this is not about like people like being, you know, kind of like pounding their chest and pretending. It's the ones who actually are those things. Yeah. So, you know, that's really how I feel. It's interesting. You know the joke about how women can never decide where they want to eat? Yeah, that's me. Yeah. So what's so funny about that scenario is that I just think the joke could be non-existent if guys understood that sometimes we just don't want to have to decide things. We're constantly faced with a ton of decisions. And in some scenarios, I think like just handle it. Just handle it. Like, you know what I like? We've been out to eat many times before. You know what my vibe is, just fucking pick something else to go. So that's a great point. And that's what I guess that's really at the end of the day, what I was even getting to because I just want someone to like handle shit. Yeah. If I'm handling all this shit all the time. I want someone else to be like, you know, I got this. I don't have to handle stuff. And trust me that like changes the entire dynamic of the relationship. If I don't have to like take control, trust me, I don't want to take control. Like I'm taking control in enough areas of my life. I don't want to be taking control in every single area. And if someone can like alleviate some of that for me, oh my God, it is the biggest turn on in my like for me. I love that shit. Yeah. Me too. So that's all. Let me know what you think. Leave me a comment. And for someone who thinks that I'm out of my mind, crazy or whatever, let me know that too, because I like to hear from you and what you think.