As you go on your journey of attracting a good man, you may meet a man who doesn’t live in your town. Due to online dating, this seems to be the new norm. Depending on how well you and your new date get along, it can eventually turn into a long-distance relationship.

I have been in a long distance relationship before and it can be very stressful. It will also ONLY work if both people involved are willing to do whatever it takes to make it work.

Based on my experience of being in a long-term relationship that eventually led to a commitment, here are the steps I recommend. These steps can be applied if you are currently in a long-term relationship or thinking about having one.

The key to having a successful long distance relationship is that both of you must have made the decision to commit to one another and are working towards eventually living together or becoming closer to each other. This is a serious conversation to have with your man and it should not be put off.

Both of you should also be on the same page when it comes to your vision of your love life. If you have a desire to get married, then you need to let him know exactly where you want this relationship to go. If he is not dating you to eventually get married, you may find yourself being tied down by a man who is enjoying having a woman in another city.

Another key to having a successful long distance relationship is communication. Because you won’t be seeing each other every day, you should keep the lines of communication open and talk often. With the limitless use of technology, there’s no excuse why you haven’t seen him virtually or talked to him in days.

Because we need human interaction, you both need to come to an agreement about how often you will see each other. Depending on your work schedule and how far away you live from each other, you need to make time to see each other. When my fiancé and I were in a long-distance relationship, we saw each other twice a month. Because we both had weekends off and because of our finances, we agreed that we would spend two weekends a month together. One weekend he traveled to see him and the other weekend he came to see me. This seemed to work very well for us until we were finally able to live in the same city.

It is possible to have a successful long distance relationship. It just takes strong commitment, open lines of communication, and teamwork.