Breaking up is hard enough, but if you're trying to win back an ex girlfriend you've got an added responsibility. Not only do you have to make the right opening moves, but you also need to know how to avoid the wrong ones. One big mistake could cost you any chance of reconciliation with your girlfriend. If you're looking to get your exgirlfriend back, the following is a list of errors to avoid at all costs.

Fixing a break up requires patience and strategy. To successfully get back together with an ex, it's not only what you do - it's what you DON'T do that matters. Making critical mistakes during the break up can cause your ex to see you completely differently than she once did (and not in a good way). Below you'll find the most common blunders guys make just after a girlfriend dumps them:

Crying Over the Relationship - Weakness is always bad, especially when you're trying to get your ex to want you again. Women always like men who are strong and confident... not men who are weak, begging, or groveling for their relationship back. No girl wants to get back together with a sobbing, crying mess of an ex-boyfriend. Vulnerability might be cute in a girl, but never in a guy. Therefore, you can never show your ex just how much the break up is upsetting you. Seeing you like this will only justify the end of the relationship in her mind.

Promising Change - Hopefully you'd never ask someone to change for you, so no one should be asking you either. Promising to your ex that you'll change your ways is always a big mistake. Even if she were to take you back based on that promise, you could never fulfill it. On top of that, you'd be changing into something other than what she wants. Chances are your ex fell in love with you for who you are. Try to think back to the beginning of your relationship, and if anything, change your behaviors back to the person you were then. But trying to fit into the mold of what your ex "wants" in a boyfriend will never work. Even by attempting to do this, you're letting her walk all over you.

Excessively Contacting Your Ex - After she breaks up with you, there's actually no reason to be contacting her at all. Not until you've stepped back, dropped out of sight, and given your ex a chance to miss you. Try to remember that nothing you can say or do - not through email, text-message, on the phone, (or even Twitter!) will ever convince your ex that she should take you back. In fact, your ex won't date you until she emotionally misses and wants you again. You can accomplish this by adhering to the old adage: "absence makes the heart grow fonder". Not by bombarding her with phone calls, emails, or by contacting your ex-girlfriend twenty times a day.

Making Demands or Giving Ultimatums - Trying to control your ex while you're dating is a really bad move. Trying to do it after she breaks up with you? Even worse. Not only are you in no position to be making any requests from her, but once your deadline comes and goes you're going to look very stupid. You cannot follow through on any threats or demands you make of an ex that ended your relationship. If you want to win back your girlfriend, you'll keep your cool.

Rebounding To Make Her Jealous - After the hurt of being dumped wears off, many guys try to numb the pain by jumping back into an old girlfriend's bed. This might work for a night or two, but once you realize you still love your exgirlfriend it's usually too late. You've just done something that, if it gets back to your ex, will cause irreparable damage to any new relationship the two of you might build together. When you get back with your ex girlfriend she's always going to remember and resent you for what you did, and it's something you can never undo. Trying to make your ex jealous by hooking up with another girl is a bad idea also. Just don't do it.