Sharing some dating wisdom to celebrate my 10 year anniversary.

So you're a sweet guy, if a little awkward around girls, and you'd like to find one to go the distance, but don't know how to get from here to there?

Good news; you're going to be fine. You have all the skills you need, we're just going to slightly tweak your approach and turn a weakness into a strength.
Bad news; if you want to be a player this strategy will not help you. Look elsewhere.

A lot of advice consists of a dozen bullet points, all of which fly straight out of your head as soon as a girl looks at you; that's not the case here.
You only have to remember one thing.

Be a campfire.

Source

Fire can burn, but it also provides light and warmth, and keeps the wolves away.
Don't be a wildfire, don't be an ember, be a campfire, and don't change.
If she walks away don't chase her. That's terrifying, being chased by fire.
If she shuffles in closer, don't flicker and die; just be consistently warm.
Don't let her decide how you act. You're a campfire. If she wants to keep her distance, missing out on your warmth, that's her call.
If she wants to get brave and sit really close with her shoes off, that's fine too.
The girl you want is looking for a campfire and she'll run all sorts of experiments to see how you react.
Don't react. Don't change.
It's not up to her whether or not you're a campfire, you just are.
Your only role is to be warm, kind, supportive and encouraging, consistently, to everyone.

Now this isn't a 'being likable' guide, and you're probably thinking I've just punched your ticket to the friendzone.
You're right. I have. Get into the friendzone, and don't try to get yourself out.
You can't and you won't.

Disappointed yet?
At least you're starting to realise you already have the necessary skills.

Don't just endure the friendzone, genuinely enjoy it. Land yourself in another girl's friendzone, and another's.
Practice being a campfire constantly until it's second nature; and establish as many close friendships as you have the time for, aim for a minimum of four.

Source

And that's it. That's the advice. You can literally stop reading here and just come back to thank me in a year or two.
The rest is just explaining why it'll work out so well for you.

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You kept reading. Where's the trust?

The problem with the friendzone is that the girl's getting most of the benefits of a relationship while keeping her options open; including the option to bump you up to boyfriend should the need arise.
That's only a problem from your perspective, certainly not from hers.
Even if she likes you enough to want to date you; she may be genuinely unwilling to risk the closeness and support you provide by starting a relationship which could crash and burn, taking the friendship with it.
Any move you make will undermine the friendship and jeopardise your campfire status, which is why you won't be making any. The threat to the status quo; her motivation to escalate, needs to come from elsewhere.

You're not finishing last, because you're not in the race. You're the prize. You're a campfire.
If she doesn't draw up plans to build a home around you and turn you into a fireplace, leaving the other girls out in the cold, she knows one of the other girls will.
The more girls cooking marshmallows on you, the less certain each girl will be in the long term security of her source of warmth and support.
You're not threatening to leave or change, but she knows what'll happen as soon as another girl locks you down.
If she's not in a white-picket-fence head-space this threat will be insufficient motivation to make a move, and that's okay. You're not trying to pick up a fling, and you're not targeting a specific girl.
You're not targeting anything.
You're the prize.
You're a campfire.
The kind of girl who wants what you're offering will know that it won't be available for long, and that each time she sees you might be the last time you're single.
If she hates her straight hair, she'll imagine a curly haired girl on your arm next time she sees you. If she's self conscious about being tall, she'll picture meeting your petite girlfriend.
This will colour her perception of you, and infuse the friendship with a sense of urgency on her part.

Do not try to play on her insecurities.
A: That's the opposite of being a campfire.
B: You're not as subtle as you think you are.
C: You're not racing. You're the prize. Be worth winning.

Navigating dating can be a real nightmare, particularly if you feel like you're not getting anywhere or you're worried you'll end up alone. This way, you don't need to try and push the friendship towards a relationship. You don't need to be nervous about making a move, and you can genuinely relax and enjoy the company of girls, getting to know them as real people instead of marks. It might be hard, but you only have to get it right once.

Don't try to escape the friendzone. It's actually pretty fun, and you won't be there long.