Dating Resolutions For The New Year

We're a few weeks in to 2011, and if you're like most people, that means you've already started forgetting about the resolutions you made at the beginning of the year. I can't help you with your resolution to lose weight, or your resolution to spend less time at work and more time doing things you love, but I can help you keep your resolution to find love in the new year.

If you want to find your match, dating has to become a priority. Good intentions are useless unless you make an effort to realize them. Success - in dating and all other aspects of your life - only comes to those who are willing to work for it. With that in mind, I want you to make a list of 2011 Dating Resolutions (feel free to share yours in the comments!), and I want you to keep them.

Here are a few of my suggestions:

In 2011, I resolve to...

• Change up my routine. If you're always looking for love in the same places...your local bar, the bookstore up the street, your weekly dance class...it's time to switch things up. Check out a new venue or two where you haven't already exhausted the supply of desirable dates.

• Be more open-minded. If you're the kind of person who has a laundry list of traits that a partner must have (non-smoker, loves country music, travels frequently, plays sports), consider expanding your horizons. Love can come from unexpected places, if you're open to finding it, so don't automatically reject someone who doesn't immediately appear to be your "type" on the surface.

• Revisit lost opportunities. Somewhere down the line, your busy schedule might have gotten in the way of your love life. If you lost contact with someone you were exchanging messages with on a dating site, or forgot to return the call of a suitor you met once for a coffee date, try reaching out to them again. Perhaps their 2011 resolution is to find love, too.

• Refresh my online dating profile. Maybe your picture is out of date. Maybe you developed a few new interests and hobbies over the last year. Or maybe you took an amazing vacation in 2010 that you're dying to talk about. Updating your profile will give you a fresh start in the new year, and could make your profile show up higher in a search.

• Stop making excuses. If someone piques your interest, go after them. Don't waste time waiting for them to initiate contact with you, and don't psych yourself out by inventing reasons to justify your inaction.

Making New Year's resolutions - and sticking to them! - about your approach to love and dating is key to finding the relationship you want. What are your resolutions for 2011?