Honestly, studying animal behavior the last year or so has taught me a lot about people. Obviously not every case, but if you look at sexual selection there are so many facets to it.

I'm not rich, particularly good looking, or anything special by any means (definitely in the worst shape of my life physically). I always just used humor. However I'm so far removed from the dating game, I wouldn't even know where to start these days. I suspect it was a combination of whatever redeeming qualities that I have and luck. We also tend to be focused on our kids these days more so than ourselves/relationship, but we've also been together for 12 years. As a fun experiment I asked my girlfriend what she would expect out of a guy and threw her on the calculator. I was surprised by the range she proposed because I expected her to want a lot more/be more specific. Still, she was in the 1%(ish) range. Even reasonable expectations have an uphill battle.

The real question here is why we settle (or don't settle)? Relationships are largely a compromise. I think I read one time that back in the old days a long-term relationship was treated like a business relationship, and everything else came from flings.