Healthy Dating Resolutions, Today!

Why wait for the New Year to change stale dating techniques? Seize the day and resolve to stop making the same dating mistakes yet again. From being realistic about your expectations to exuding mysteriousness and keeping lovers intrigued, from finding a balance between talking past, present, and future to bouncing back faster after breakups -- learn to be firm in your resolutions.

New Tease on Life
Stop limiting yourself to your immediate social circle and start branching out. You've heard it before, but it pays to take this advice seriously. Enroll in a sushi cooking class or co-ed hockey league, offer to walk a friend's puppy to the dog park, find a local pub or café and call it home every Thursday to see who else frequents there, or accept that blind date offer. Don't leave home without a smile on your face. Look sexy, feel sexy -- you never know who may be watching, and a grumpy expression screams "issues."

It's Fine Online
Give your e-flirting techniques a refresher course. It doesn't take much. Update your Lavalife photo (a good pic is worth a thousand dates) or add a handful of others that flatter your best features and add some visual intrigue to your written description. Also, rewrite your profile with playfulness in mind, and turn those quiet evenings at home into naughty nights of flirting with prospective singles.

Date Expectations
It's important to be willing to migrate from your list of ideals when meeting new people. Pick your must-haves -- say, religion, profession, sexual preference, cooking style, shoe size -- and let your other preferences be more fluid. Once you're amply intrigued by someone and could see yourself on a hot date together, avoid asking that dreaded question, "Is this The One?" Give yourself a chance to get to know them before you start filling out that mental scorecard.

Settling Down for Less
While it's imperative to stay open-minded, sometimes it doesn't take more than reading a Lavalife profile or sharing a single outing to know for sure that someone isn't right for you. The singles world is full of bad matches. Be honest with yourself, and then be honest with them. Trust your instincts, and don't expect to be able to change someone's nature to fit your preferences. People don't learn to feel gaga for someone over time -- it's a feeling that bursts at the beginning of a relationship and subsides to deeper emotions over time. There's no point in spending all your enticing energy on a going-nowhere relationship when you could be 100 per cent available on the Singles Market.

Be a Master of Mystery
Nervousness is the great propagator of verbal diarrhea. Master mystery and lure lovers by learning to pace your confessions discreetly. There's no reason to tell a first date that your last serious relationship ended because of your third nipple or that you have a thing for biting other people's fingernails. Likewise, no good can come from talking only of the future and of the things you'll do together on next year's dates. Balance is the key. Strive to moderate discussions between past, present, and future, being careful not to reveal too many personal specifics along the way. Keep your dates curious about you, slowly letting them in on the quirks and quibbles that make up your personality.

Boing Boing
Breaking up with someone isn't exactly "ego boosting" or "like a day in the park," but it is a natural part of dating. Learn to bounce back better, celebrating your new single status and looking at the turn of events as an opportunity, not a stifling morale muffler. What did you learn from your last lover? What did you learn about yourself? The best part about breaking up or getting dumped is that a whole new world of romps and relationships awaits you.