2023 Dating Resolutions

January is a month of returning “home”. Returning back to our values, our positive intentions, and our forward-thinking personal goals. While it is important to revisit our aspirations periodically throughout the year, the month January offers us the gentle push of a fresh start. Having a plan to better ourselves can generate an excitement of opportunity and promise. Many of the resolutions we construct at the beginning of the year are actually just revisitations of prior commitments that we have intended to honor several other times. January offers us the space to treasure our commitment to health and happiness once more. For singles specifically, January is an active month for dating apps, with many people seeking out a regeneration of their love life. In addition to your personal aspirations, let’s think of some dating intentions we can make for the year of 2023.

The Monthly ‘One’: We get it. Life is busy and dating is hard! With consuming schedules, many of us lack the time and energy to put towards searching for love. But what if we committed to 2 hours a month. One date a month for every month of the year. With many singles spending 10+ hours a week on dating apps, that's a mere 2 hours deducted from the time we are swiping through matches on autopilot and doom-scrolling through dating profiles. Dedicating yourself to one date a month will help combat the slippery slope of dating fatigue and maintain dating confidence. Consider it a once-a-month commitment to revisiting your dating values, reexamining your dating boundaries, and exposing yourself to new people and opportunities.

Honoring Your Non Negotiables: Paired with your 1x month date, we encourage you to get grounded in the dating boundaries that matter to you. Sliding into dating after too-long of hiatus can leave us vulnerable to ignoring our red flags and boundaries. The eagerness to connect with someone following a dating break can cloud our protective judgment when searching for a compatible partner. Perhaps you don’t date people who have poor emotional intelligence or who have an unreliable communication style. Or maybe you know in your heart you know that someone who travels frequently with work or is a dedicated night owl, would not align with your daily lifestyle and happiness. Come into your dating experiences prepared to examine this list of “no thank you”s. By doing this, you will sustain a better filter of who does not make a good match, and ultimately prevent the risk of future relationship conflict. Most importantly, you’ll continue to remain true to your values and preferences.

Dating Yourself: This year, we are spending more time dating ourselves. We are asking ourselves important questions, showering ourselves in compliments and affirmations, and even taking ourselves out on dates. When we commit to treating ourselves as we would a partner, we garner a sense of self-love, self-awareness and self-appreciation. This practice will look different for every person who commits to it. Perhaps you start checking out the restaurants that you have always been interested in, and go on a solo date. Or maybe you take 10 min in the morning to journal and reflect on your personal/emotional growth. The idea is to carve our space and time to treasure yourself the same way a loving partner would. In 2023, let’s all promise to have a consistent self-adoration practice - one that serves as a continual reminder that we are ever valuable, ever cherishable, and worthy of all forms of love.