The Social Game — How People Use (and Misuse) Connection

The Social Game - How People Use (and Misuse) Connection

People are wonderful — and people are complicated. And most of what makes them complicated… isn’t personal.

Every relationship you’ve ever had has been shaped by unspoken social instincts — ancient drives that still decide how we bond, how we protect ourselves, how we compete, how we pull closer, and how we push away.

The Social Game reveals those instincts and shows you how to understand people without overthinking, over-accommodating, or losing yourself.

Inside this book, you’ll learn to recognise the subtle patterns behind:

• closeness and distance
• silence, withdrawal, and shutdown
• mixed signals
• guilt, obligation, and invisible emotional debts
• rivalry, comparison, and status tension
• rescuing, fixing, and over-functioning
• emotional pursuit and emotional avoidance
• connection on good days — and survival on bad ones

Most people think connection is about personality, compatibility, chemistry, or effort.
In reality, it’s about instincts responding to threat, approval, belonging, and fear.

This book gives you the tools to:

• read what’s really happening under the surface
• stop personalising someone else’s behaviour
• avoid the trap of overgiving or overexplaining
• understand why people pull close… or pull away
• break patterns of guilt, rescuing, or emotional caretaking
• hold your boundaries without drama
• build cleaner, more honest, more balanced relationships
• understand what you’re responsible for — and what you’re not

Every chapter includes Key Insights, Try This steps, and Real Talk moments so you can apply the ideas immediately.

If you want to understand people more clearly…
If you want less confusion and more calm…
If you want steadier, healthier, cleaner connection…

The Social Game will change the way you relate — to others and to yourself.

🧭 Included Formats

• PDF (for any device)
• ePUB (for Kindle, Kobo, and Apple Books)