Tired of looking for a date? Think you’ve run out of options? Think again!
Read on and see what other possibilities there are..
Go out – simple eh? Unless you’re expecting dates to come knocking at your door how else do you expect to find a perfect partner? Don’t stick to your local bars and clubs – try new places. As well as meeting a fresh set of potential suitors, new venues can give you a sense of adventure and you’ll be surprised at how much confidence you’ll gain as well as being the new kid in town.
Join an internet dating site – a few million people can’t be wrong! There are so many dating websites that cater for practically every need. Find a couple of websites and check out the quality of the members – are they your type/age/social background? If you don’t see something you like right away, join another one and look again. The key to successful online dating is knowing that you’re going to stand a much better chance of meeting your type if you are a member of more than one dating website. Try the DateGeneration website and see who is out there!
Use your social network – they say that there are six steps between everyone in the world – if that’s the case, why not use your social network to find out who’s available? Asking your friends if they know someone suitable for you doesn’t mean you are desperate, it means you are proactive. If one of your friends comes up trumps, your date will be impressed that you took the lead in finding what you wanted. For more about this activity- read ‘Utilizing your friends to generate dates’
Attend a speed dating event – sometimes it’s all about numbers and that means you have to be one of them. Speed dating is great fun and even if you don’t hit it off with every single speed dater, you will have come away from the experience more confident, knowledgeable and your communication skills will be greatly refined.
Go cruising – We’re not suggesting you hang about the park in a Basque or anything silly like that but that sometimes, a little flirting on the go can yield impressive results. Take for instance your local gym – a perfect place to see others in their prime and you can easily play the ‘dumb blond’ card by asking men if they know how the bendy-backwards machine works. Cheesy? Of course! But who said finding a date had to be boring? Men don’t expect to be picked up by a woman and if you’re in there with a funny pick up line or ‘appear’ to be in need of ‘help’ then you are going to get what you want with a bit of exercise thrown in.
Join a club – A club with an emphasis upon interactivity or better still, bodily contact. Don’t limit yourself to Salsa dancing where there are more women than men, instead, find an activity which will present you with a challenge that falls outside your comfort zone. Participating in an activity outside your normal comfort zone boosts your confidence and people will pick up on this.
Hunt within Facebook/Myspace. Have you got an account? Get one and get online. Social websites are probably the easiest ways to peruse a wide range of potential dates and depending on your links with certain friends, you’ll be able to see if someone is single or not. Asking your friends in your network for information about one of their friends will provide better results than simply expecting your friends to find a potential lover for you. After all, only extremely supportive friends will have your dating agenda on their mind so you have to be the proactive one and ask them about the good looking friend of a friend.
Take a trip – Do this by yourself or with others, either way, like a new bar or club, you’ll be out of your normal comfort zone and more likely to tackle new situations. You don’t have to conduct yourself in the same way as Shirley Valentine but practicing your man-hunting skills on people you’re not likely to meet again is a sure safe bet. A bit of sun, some wine and relaxing all makes for the perfect romantic recipe and you’ll be surprised at the response people give.
Ask your parents – don’t rule this one out just yet! Ok, so you mum might still think Cliff Richard is the hottest thing ever but if she’s got a group of friends, there is a high chance that one of them will have offspring who’ll be looking for a date. Being clear about what type you are looking for will help narrow down the search and ensure Michael Bolton doesn’t turn up on your doorstep.
Stop looking for a date – what? Yes, if you are desperately looking for a date there’s a good chance you’ll be giving off a scent and one that makes other people avoid getting to know you. Don’t forget for one minute that we are still animals and we give off more than we know. Try not to think about dating for a week or so and concentrate on doing some other activity with you (not your ideal date) firmly in the centre of the activity. As well as giving you some respite, you’ll be surprised at the number of opportunities that arise once you take yourself off the waiting shelf and instead, become one of the people who are not desperately searching but instead, getting on with life. If you don’t believe us, take a look around you and notice how much attention men pay to women who are not waving the come-and-get-me-I’m-gagging flag.
Team DateGeneration also write articles for the Dategeneration.com internet dating service & dating articles website.