Photo by Dave Goudreau

Have you just had some of your hopes shattered or your heart broken for what feels like a millionth time, and it made you wonder:

“Why do I get attached so easily?!”

I am a person who gets attached a lot, and I have a very hard time letting go.

I used to hold onto people and things, feel responsible, take the blame for when something didn’t work out etc…

So I know, from my own personal experience, how difficult of a problem our attachments can become.

On one hand, getting attached can be a sign of great strength. It allows you to build meaningful connections.

But on the other hand, it can also become your greatest weakness.

It might make you let our guard down prematurely and expose yourself to being burned time and time again.

And these kinds of bad experiences will inevitably take a toll on your self-esteem, mental health and overall well-being.

This is why in this blog post I will tell you more about my own journey of why I struggled with getting attached so easily and how I learned to manage it.

1. You Have a False Idea About How Love Works

The number why reason why people can become attached to someone they barely know is because of all the false preconceptions about love we’re being fed all the time.

Books, movies, series and even other people sell this idea that when you meet the one, you instantly feel the spark and know that this is the person you’ll want to spend the rest of your life with.

In reality, love doesn’t work this way at all.

You can absolutely feel attracted to someone at first sight! But it takes time to get to know someone enough, for real feelings to develop between the two of you.

You can’t truly love someone you don’t really know.

If you fall in love fast and easily, chances are, rather than taking your time to get to know your crush, you’re creating an idea of who this person is in your head.

Unfortunately, doing this is a recipe for disaster.

It’s like driving blindfolded, hoping that the road ahead is straight and clear.

And it never is…

I used to think in those terms too and kept on making this very mistake over and over again.

I had to learn how to recognize the signs of true love, to be actually able to finally meet my soulmate and make things work with him.

2. You’ve Been Made to Trust Blindly

Another big reason why you might be getting attached so easily is because you were never taught how to actually build trust.

Much like when it comes to love, there are also a lot of false preconceptions about how trust works too!

In fact, most people tend to mistake trust for blind faith.

This is why they so often say things like “I just need you to trust me” or “why can’t you just trust me?”

Truth of this matter is, trust is not a choice, it’s a feeling.

And you can’t make yourself feel something.

One of the shocking discoveries I’ve made on my journey of fixing my own attachment style was that I actually had a lot of trust issues.

What’s more, I was trying to simply override them the whole time, all by jumping into commitments blindly.

Because of this, I never got a chance to build real trust and inevitably ended up becoming anxious, desperate and needy.

Becoming aware of, and overcoming your trust issues, might be the very thing you need to do, to stop yourself from getting attached too quickly.

3. You’re Eager to Get People to Like You

Another reason why you might be getting attached so easily, could be because maybe you’re just so eager to get people to become attached to you too.

A lot of us do vulnerable things in the hopes of our efforts being reciprocated.

I used to hope that me being open, giving and caring will ensure that people will treat me the same way I treated them. I would start liking someone quickly, hoping that it will make them like me back.

Unfortunately, this was not always the case.

I would put myself out there, only for my vulnerability to just get exploited.

The reality is, we don’t live in a fairy tale land. Sometimes your love might stay one-sided.

What’s more, you can’t control other people’s feelings.

Which brings me to the next point…

4. You Might Be Trying to Create a Very Particular Outcome

Another big reason why you might be getting attached so easily is because you’re trying to create a very particular outcome.

This used to be the case for me.

I was so invested into the whole true love narrative, it led me to become insecure and controlling.

I had a very clear idea of how relationships should unfold, and I was trying to push things that way.

But just like you can’t make someone feel a certain way, the same way, you can’t force them to commit.

What’s more, trying to do so will eventually drive them away.

So if you find yourself becoming clingy so fast, consider you might be trying to control the situation and the outcome of your relationship.

5. Someone Is Making You Chase Them

There is actually a flip side to this whole dynamic…

This is something I first realized in my own relationship, but also observed among a lot of our coaching clients.

There are two sides to every story.

The reason you might be falling in love and getting attached so easily, is because you keep on picking partners who are making you chase them all the time.

Maybe they’ve been love bombing you and then suddenly pulled away.

Or they were giving you all these signals of how much they care about you, only to then ask for space.

They’re hot and cold. Giving you mixed messages. Leaving you doubtful and confused.

If this is the case, keep in mind that they wanted you to get attached and are now keeping you hooked.

Is It Normal to Get Attached to Someone Quickly?

Now that you have a better understanding of why people get attached fast, you might still be wondering: is being easily attached bad?

The unfortunate answer is, yes, generally speaking, it is bad.

It’s not normal to let yourself be this vulnerable right away.

Even though it might feel good, opening yourself up and letting yourself get invested fast is setting yourself up for being hurt.

You need to give yourself time to get to know the person you’re with, build trust with them, and give them room to go at their own pace.

As you go through these stages, you’ll find yourself gradually getting more and more attached in a deep and fulfilling way.

But do we choose who and when we fall in love with, you might ask…

I used to think in those terms too. But it only made me feel and act as though I was a victim of the circumstances I was in.

The thing is, even though we do not have control over our feelings, we have the ability to question limiting beliefs that are hurting us.

You have to be willing to see that you might be stuck in an unhealthy emotional attachment. Which is a way of getting attached that results in a lot of pain and drives people away from you.

Once you see it in this new perspective, that’s when you’ll be able to put things into question and regain control over when and how fast you fall in love. I’ll go more into this in my next point:

How Do I Stop Getting Attached So Quickly?

The secret to stopping yourself from getting attached so easily is not to try to resist it or control it, but by questioning the beliefs that are making you act this way.

These are the five reasons why you get attached so easily:

1. You Have a False Idea About How Love Works

2. You’ve Been Made to Trust Blindly

3. You’re Eager to Get People to Like You

4. You Might Be Trying to Create a Very Particular Outcome

5. Someone Is Making You Chase Them

Getting attached so fast is not normal and will only make you get hurt over and over again. What’s more, you can’t make others become attached to you, no matter how hard you try.

You need to truly realize this in order to be able to regain control over your love life.

You can stop yourself from being needy and desperate when you truly see there is no need for it and that it’s never going to get you the results you were hoping for.

Furthermore, you have to protect yourself and put your own well-being first.

Someone who truly loves and cares about you will respect this and continue pursuing you, even when you’re more doubtful and aren’t chasing them the whole time.

If you’ve been struggling with getting attached too fast so much, that it still ends up sabotaging your love life, this is something either my husband or I can help you with in a coaching call.

SimplyTogether Coaching Calls

Here, we will give you the right kind of reassurance, so that you can calm down and let things unfold at their own pace.

We will also tell you what you can do, to flip the dynamic in your relationship. This way, you can get your significant other to chase you for a change.

Click here to check out Coaching Calls.

I hope you found this post helpful. If you have any comments, leave them down below.

People who get attached easily also tend to struggle with overthinking. If this fits you, you might want to check out my other post:

How to Stop Overthinking in Your Relationship

Thank you for reading!

Karolina

Karolina Brenner