Imagine a new world of dating where:
-People can’t lie about height, weight, and other aspects of physical appearance
-You can actually tell if a person is real or a catfish
-You can know if you’re compatible with someone before you go on the first date
-You can experience important aspects of dating like scent, charisma, charm, and body language as soon as you meet
If this sounds too good to be true, then you need to step away from your phone because what I’ve described is known as “real world dating.” In fact, it’s not a “new” way of dating at all, but the way people have fallen in love for millenia, long before dating apps cursed us to the whims of the algorithm.
The other day a good friend of mine and I went to the Gallery Hop, an event held monthly in our city where people visit various art galleries, shops, and bars. We attend these to have fun, experience culture, and meet new people.
Next to us at a coffee shop, we noticed three women glued to their phones. Incredibly two of them were on Bumble. They were mostly swiping left and complaining about all of the bad guys on the app.
They were in the midst of a social event with thousands of people in one of the most vibrant sections of the city. But, instead of meeting the educated, cultured guys all around them and talking to them, they were swiping left on losers.
I’m not here to bash technology because I love it. But, technology has definitely contributed to the loneliness epidemic sweeping America. People are glued to their phones and socially isolated. And, they only try to find love via technology where they are limited by algorithms and platforms that turn them into a picture and a headline.
The way to break free is to talk to people in the real world. While you might be limited by geography and schedules, at least by meeting people at bars, coffee shops, on the train, at work, and at social events, you bypass a lot of the nonsense of online dating.
That cute guy you’ve never seen online after months on Tinder? You can say “hi” at the Starbucks counter. The girl who filtered you out on Match because you didn’t make enough money? You can flirt with her while ordering drinks at the bar. Your future soulmate? He or she could be anyone of the the hundreds of people you encounter, but ignore on a regular basis!
Meeting in the real world can be tough. Even thinking about it could give you anxiety. It’s so much easier to swipe and match in the comfort of your own home. Or is it?
I like to remind people that online dating is actually difficult and stressful. You spend a lot of time matching and messaging only to be ghosted in a week. Or, you get the person out and he or she looks and acts nothing like the online persona. So, it’s back to the drawing board. And then there’s the outright lying, deception, spamming, bots, scammers, and time wasters you have to wade through.
While meeting people in the real world can be anxiety inducing upfront, at least you’re saving yourself a lot of the headaches and heartaches that online dating brings.
For example, if you see a cute guy on the train, talk to him and you give him your number, you know what he looks like, you know you find him cute in the real world, and you’ve bonded briefly. If he texts you and you get along, then you’re already way ahead of the game.
In the real word, you see people you like and choose to meet them. You can experience their personality, their looks, and all of the intangibles of attraction. You decide then and there if you like them. And, above all, your options aren’t limited by artificial preferences or algorithms. You control your destiny. Do you talk to them or not? That’s it.
Yes, you might be rejected. In fact, you will be rejected. But, at least you can “shoot your shot” rather than never be seen at all because you’re out of someone’s preference ranges or the algorithm thinks you’re a bad match. And, did I mention algorithms suck at finding love anyway?
Also, the more you try it, the better you’ll become at meeting new people in the real world. And, you won’t be rejected. Trust me, going on a date with someone you met and asked out in the real world is one of the greatest feelings in the world.
This month we’ll be focusing on ways to succeed in real world dating. But, it’s easier than you think. It’s often as simple as hanging out in the right places, being friendly, saying hi to strangers, talking to people you see regularly, and offering to followup. Sure, it can be harrowing at times. But, the reward is great.
Please join us over at our Facebook page in our quest to find love in 2019!


When the results arrived, I was extremely disappointed. My top matches weren’t even close to the girls I liked in real life. Others complained as well, as their boyfriends and girlfriends weren’t on their top list. The only “couple” that did have a high match percentage was my brother and a girl who liked him (whom he ended up dating), but that’s because she got a hold of his answers and changed hers accordingly.
All of this seems like a good development, but the problem is that we are dealing with human love and attraction, not picking which computer to buy.

Dating profiles run the gamut from amazing to painful. The amazing ones are the people you’d like to date, while the painful ones can elicit a left swipe and hopefully a good laugh (unless, of course, you’re the one with a painfully bad profile). But, most of the profiles are in what could be called the “boring middle.”
I’ve done numerous personal experiments with online dating and I can tell you that most profiles look almost exactly alike. Sure, the photos and wording differ slightly, but people generally follow the same motifs. I’m sure you’ve noticed this too.
Most people are understanding of things like work, family, and travel commitments. But, if they get the impression that you have no room in your life for them, they aren’t going to favor you over the hundreds of other people on the app who actually express that they have the time and energy to commit to dating.





A friend of mine recently showed me his interaction with several women on Bumble that went nowhere. He asked what he did wrong and wanted help reviving the convsersations. The reality was that he was funny, engaging, and showed genuine curiosity. But, I’d summarize the conversation of his matches as “boring, bordering on rude.”
Finally, people simply
Usually this means narrowing (or eliminating) the gap between who you are in the real world and your online persona. And, remember, this isn’t necessarily about the bad things you do online. It also can include texting in a boring way or carrying on a conversation, then ghosting.

A few weeks ago I was thinking that I didn’t really have a lot of new people in my life. Then, I decided to look a little harder.
Or maybe you’ve felt something for someone for a long time, but you’ve labelled him or her as something that excludes romance, and you believe and reinforce the label. For example, you could see yourself marrying him instead of the 50 duds you dated from Tinder, but he’s “like a brother to you” so you dismiss him. Those duds on tinder? They’re “romantic options” (even though they ultimately aren’t, but you apply the label).
Did you keep walking when two girls smiled at you just to go back to your apartment to browse Tinder where you know you never get a match?
You may think pre-screening is a good idea, and I do suggest some degree of “gate-keeping” to keep out the worst-of-the-worst (like felons, scammers, etc).
This is probably the biggest reason dating is awful in 2019. We have created so many “rules” that nobody ever stops to question whether they are useful. You would be shocked how many people (women in particular) will start a sentence with “he is so amazing and I really like him…” and then explain why they can’t date him because he is outside some sort of personal rule they set for themselves (or, more likely, society has told them they should set for themselves).
You can make dating fun again by getting rid of insane perfectionism. I once learned about a woman who had a requirement that a guy must have never have “peed outside.” Yes, you read that right. Any guy reading this knows that this probably disqualifies most guys on the planet.
At least they used to pretend to, but when I checked out Tinder’s recent articles on their Swipe Life site, they seem to be more interested in helping you enjoy being single. Even their twitter banner right now is “single, not sorry.”
In some ways, we demand this from companies. A lot of people are more comfortable going on a dating app for validation and to waste time (and to see whom they can match with next…that dopamine hit is quite a good feeling) than they are going through the process of matching, connecting, and getting on a date.
Her jaw was clenched and she started to fidget in her chair. She was furiously typing on her phone, ignoring my attempts at conversation. She told me that we had to cancel our plans later in the evening because she “was a mess.” I knew her drill: she’d go back, get drunk, and stalk his social media. Her friends and I would spend our evening without her.
A friend of mine desperately wants to marry. She decided that she’s too old to be single (she’s 30) and is relentlessly stressed about finding the right guy. This includes matchmaking, online dating, and meeting through friends.
Leaving survival mode and embracing the opposite, thriving, isn’t always easy. It involves letting go and trusting rather than holding on and fearing. It requires “allowing” rather than forcing, reciprocal love rather than control, and, most importantly, faith that venturing into the unknown will result in happiness.