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How to never have a bad date again
Sean Hyde • November 3, 2020
Adventure dating principles to guarantee you never have a bad date again.
Bad dates suck.
Adventure dates are awesome.
A lot of people will tell you that dating sucks in general, but I’m here to tell you it doesn’t have to.
I’ve never had a bad date in my life, it’s true, my dates have always ranged from good to downright magical. For a long time I was lucky until I started really studying human behavior and then I realized it came down to two things.
I never went on dates with expectations, but I always went on dates with a goal. Almost sounds contradictory, but stay with me a minute.
Too many of us go on dates putting the whole date on the other person. I mean we are great already, if they don’t suck they should be able to have a good time with us right? If they can’t it must be because they just suck or are lazy or crazy or just broken like every other man/woman we’ve dated before.
And there is where the expectations come in. A. We are already expecting them to fail, and when you treat someone like you expect them to fail, you unconsciously will set them up for
Type to enter text failure, and B. You are expecting them to create something special (which usually requires effort) while you have no intention of putting in effort yourself.
You are probably saying to yourself right now: A. No for real, every man/woman I’ve been out with is crazy/shallow/lazy/crazy and my hair/nails/clothes/tan/body/car/horse and/or shiny suit of armor take so much effort they should be perfect all night. Hey, you might even be right, maybe you are amazing to go out with, and do everything right, and put in as much effort as possible, but then you are expecting them to somehow be aware of that effort and match it without ever seeing it. Expectations hurt relationships. Unspoken expectations kill them. And men are oblivious let’s be honest.
So if you can’t help having those expectations, speak them. I doesn’t have to be aggressive, but a cheeky reminder of how much unseen effort you are putting into the date can help you get the return you want from the right person. “Hey, just so you know, I’m spending 8 hours and a whole bunch of money getting myself ready to make you look good on this date Saturday night, so you had better bring your A game”. “I had to call in every favor I had to get us a table at this restaurant Saturday night and I even got my suit tailored so you had better be ready to pretend it’s the best night of your life ok?”
Creating the perfect date:
Whether you want to believe it or not, mindset determines our lives, that’s not what this section is about, but remember that what you focus on, you notice more, and get more of. So if you are focused and worried about all the things that can go wrong on this date, you will be focused on problems the entire date, whether you realize it or not. And if you are convinced that everyone you date is crazy, your brain will hunt out things to prove you right, while not noticing all the things that could be fun and enjoyable. Whether you realize it or not, your brain just does exactly what you show it you want it to.
Now that we have the disclaimer out of the way, let’s get to the good stuff. Back to our earlier story it tuned out I wasn’t lucky, it turned out that I set goals and expectations for good things to happen regardless of the other person and how they behaved.
I’d pick dates based on new experiences and activities I would like, that someone who could be a good partner for me would also like. Notice I already planned the date based on this person having future potential. I’m a realist, I’ve never thought that every date I went on with one someone I could marry, but I treated them like that anyway, because people tend to manifest into the person you treat them as.
Imagine if you started approaching dates like that right from the beginning. Instead of leaving everything in their hands, or leaving it up to them, what if you thought about activities you would enjoy doing with your ideal partner, and picked one. Then the absolute worst case scenario is you did something new or fun or exciting with the wrong person. And that’s not a half bad worst case scenario.
Dating with intention, and the intention of having a good time, what a concept right? Now let’s take it one step further and add some adventure.
What if you decided that you were going to have an exceptional night. Full of new experiences, adventure, and excitement, and then made it happen. How would that change your outlook on your next date?
How would you feel if you spent all day in excited anticipation…that had nothing to do with the person you were going with. They were just going to join you on this exciting night that you were creating.
It’s a lot easier than you think to change your view of dating really quickly from something stressful and not worth it, to something exciting and fun, I promise.
So what would that look like?
Do you like trying new things? Could you create a night where you went to a new restaurant, tried something you've never eaten before? Maybe tried a drink you've never had before or decided to not drink at all for the first time? Ever gone out for a night and pretended to be somebody else for the first time? Set out on a mission to find out the middle names of as many new people as possible that evening? Decided you were going to make up background stories for everyone else in the restaurant, start a food blog about your meal, write your first Google review, walk a way you've never walked before, taken a mode of transportation you've never taken before, worn something you've never worn before...anyway you get the idea. Could you put on something you've never worn before, get a luxury car to drop you off at the restaurant, change your name and your story for that night and introduce yourself to as many people as possible just to learn their middle names? Would that probably all create some interesting experiences and feelings you haven't had before?
And would any of that depend on your date?
But how cool would it be if he joined you in all of that? Would that be a really fun bonding experience and a great story you could tell about this (good)crazy date you had. And if he or she turned out to be a dud that didn't want to participate in any of that, could you still do all of it and have a great time, an adventure full of new people and new experiences, and maybe even meet the person you should actually be dating while doing it?
Welcome to adventure dating. Where you decide the bare minimum of fun and excitement you will have on every date, and if your date wants to play along, that's awesome, but if they don't, your night will still be awesome, they will just be missing out.
So the next time you are going on a date, think about something or some things you've never done before that could be really fun, or interesting, or new, and plan them into your night...instead of waiting for someone else to.
Bad dates don't have to happen if you plan, put energy into, and expect them all to be an adventure.
Wayyyyy back in 1938 a sociologist named Willard Waller first coined the idea of the principle of least interest in his book The Family: A Dynamic Interpretation. Waller put forth that in all of his research around relationship dynamics, that he almost never observed equal power between people in a dating relationship. He theorized that the primary cause of this was the due to the principle of least interest, the idea that the person with the least interest in continuing a relationship has the least to lose, and therefore the most power. The idea is that one partner always gets more out of the relationship, whether it's money, physical stimulation, ego stimulation, or just all the warm and fuzzies, so the person giving that fulfillment gets less for their investment and will be more willing to walk away.
It seems like more people than ever are battling loneliness and a need for connection as the pandemic makes us more hesitant to connect with new people than ever. If you find yourself alone more than usual and wondering how you can find love in the new world that just added a whole bevy of new challenges, we have tips that will make sure you are ready to find and create new love under any circumstances. 1. You might “find love when you stop looking for it”, but only if you are ready… One of my closest friends likes to regularly say “You know who catches the most fish? Fisherman.” And then coyly follows that statement up with a not-so-subtle request for a compliment. So you know who probably gets the most dates? The person trying to have the most dates by regularly asking for them. But if that’s not you (it’s not me either it’s ok), then the next best option is to be the person fisherman like to bring their fish to first. Ok, I don’t think I’d like people walking up to me and offering me fish randomly either, but we all appreciate the compliment of someone requesting our time and attention…don’t we? So what if instead of being the person constantly chasing down dates and playing the numbers game, you became the person that people wanted to chase? You might be saying I’m not “insert self deprecating comment here” enough for that to ever happen, but I promise you that’s not true. How do I know? Because I got more dates when I was old, overweight, and cranky then I ever did when I was young, super fit and excited about everything. And it’s just logical. Think about it, if you want to find the perfect job, do you just go look for the perfect job, or do you also do what you can to become the perfect person for that job? And if you actually become the perfect person for that job, do people just start seeking you out for those kind of jobs? They do. Kind of like how a bank never wants to lend you money when you desperately need it, but will literally throw money at you when you don’t…when you don’t need a date, when you don’t feel needy for companionship, it shows up all over the place. We’ve all seen the darker side of that when people talk about how they suddenly got so much more attention from the opposite sex once they got married. Does that little ring of metal around your finger have mystical powers, or could it be more than that? If you become the perfect partner, ready for the perfect relationship, the perfect partner will show up, and now is the perfect time to do that. For more on that, check out our blog on becoming the perfect partner here, but for now, consider that falling in love with yourself, and giving yourself the gift of becoming the perfect partner, might just be the first step in finding true love. How are you even going to fall in love with someone else completely if you can’t even do that for yourself? 2. Go where your tribe is You want to know the best way to meet the perfect person while also becoming the perfect person? Spend more times in the places and with the people that help you grow. So many of us obsess over where to meet the perfect person. Is it online? Is it at a bar? Am I told old for that bar? Should I ask my friends to set me up? Is it ok to date that girl from work? Is it ok to date that guy from church? What better place to find the ideal partner, than the place that makes you feel your best? If you love dancing, then dance events, dance lessons, dance parties, holding your own dance party, galas and other fundraisers that offer dancing, public music events where dancing is encouraged, dances held by local organizations, dance camps, dance conferences, weekend dance workshops, etc. etc. etc. offer ideal settings for meeting people that share at least one of your passions as a mutual interest. And as a bonus, you will feel amazing while meeting these new people. Meeting people doing what they love, while you are doing what you love at the same time sounds like a halfway decent recipe for success doesn’t it? Even if Mr. or Mrs. right isn’t at that event, their sister/brother/coworker/mom/best friend probably is and what a way to start getting into the right circles…while also giving yourself the energy and attention you deserve to grow and thrive and become the best version of yourself. If you can’t think of many good places that bring your passions together, sign up for our free mini-workshop here, and in five minutes you’ll have more activities than you could imagine that will put you in place to meet the perfect partner, while also developing into the perfect partner. 3. Stay focused on the prize If you spend all day focused on how there aren’t any good partners left out there, that’s all you will see…and more importantly that’s what you will start to embody. There is no faster way to become undatable, unlovable, and downright unhappy than to believe that finding love is impossible. Because guess what? We’re humans and we like to be right, it’s a survival mechanism at our basest level. So if you get up every day asking what’s going to go wrong on your date tonight, or what crappy thing is gonna happen today to prove that men suck or that women are all crazy, your brain will spend all day focused on proving your right. Get focused on possibility and things that will excite you and watch the world around you change instantly. Also, stay focused in general. If you have your face in your phone all day like 90% of the people out there, you will (literally) miss Mr. or Mrs. right walking right on by. Not to mention even if they walked right up to you and started talking to you that you wouldn’t’ be able to hold a conversation because your brain would be screaming “Check Instagram to see how many hearts that post got!!!!!” Get clear on what you want, instead of clear on what you don’t, and stay focused on it and the world around you. 4. Plan for the long term Unless you are just looking for a temporary distraction, it makes sense to get into a relationship planning to create a partnership not just a whirlwind romance. It's easy to get caught up in the excitement and make a lot of concessions to keep feeling passionate and alive in the moment, but that never works long term. What's important to you is still going to be important to you once the rose colored glasses of new love go away, so make sure you and your new crush are compatible in all of the critical ways. He or she won't change, and neither will you with (extremely) rare exception, so accept them and yourself for who you are and be honest about if that can work long term. If security is important to you, that live for today mentality of the empty bank account might be exciting for a bit, but it will be a big point of contention before you know it if your dreamer isn't dreaming up a long term plan for creating that security you crave. 5. Create the feeling first. Too many of us are searching for someone to make us feel better...when the truth is the only one that can make us feel good is ourselves. If you aren't happy single you won't be happy in a relationship long term either...and you won't attract the right kind of partner. People who feel good about themselves attract people who feel good about themselves. People that feel broken attract other broken people or people looking for projects. The problem is most people looking for projects are doing that to hide from the fact that they have a lot of self improvement projects they've been avoiding themselves. Becoming the best version of yourself is one of the best ways to attract the best possible partner for yourself. So if you find yourself constantly attracting the wrong people, it's time to accept that you are the common denominator in those relationships and somewhere along the relationship journey you are accepting less than you deserve. So take time to remind yourself of what a rockstar you are. Handle the unfinished business in your life, start that project you've been putting off, try something new and exciting, and create the life you want now, a life the perfect partner will just naturally fit into.