In my personal quest to find "the one" I have always found the guy who is "the one for right now" who naturally turns out to be "not quite what I had in mind" and then ultimately "why didn't you guys stop me!" Yes, we have all been there, we have all made our share of mistakes, but that is why we can say we learned from experience, right? Or are we destined to repeat the same mistakes over and over?

Welcome! I am by no means a dating guru; in fact, I have never even had a relationship exceed one month in my life! How dare I even write this article! But, like most people in their twenties, I have had my fair share of pleasant and unpleasant experiences in the dating world to speak with conviction.

For years, in addition to dealing with my own impaired judgment, I have watched both my male and female friends alike go through the same kind of dating drama. It makes me sick how stupid and blind we can be in our own personal struggle to relate to the opposite sex. We find ourselves constantly misinterpreting the actions of the other, justifying ill behavior but then -worst of all- we are guilty of repeating the same mistakes over and over with each new person we meet. It's like we want to get hurt!

I am not suggesting that it is possible to live a life of love that is error free, because lets face it, there is no such thing as perfection. However, there are certain dating mistakes that are possible to avoid and worth avoiding.

The following lists focus on what I feel are ten of the most important dating strategies that most of us tend to ignore in our quest to find love (or what not). Bear in mind, it is the everyday stuff that we ignore that always comes back to haunt us.

For the Ladies

1.The man pursues the woman.
It is as simple as that. Women should not be the hunter, but rather the hunted. Men know what they want and will go after what they want. When women initiate contact by calling a guy, they set themselves up to be let down. If you don't believe me, think very hard about a relationship that you initiated and what happened to the relationship. Maybe things went well for a week, or two, maybe even a month, but after that...POOF! This is because men need to be the pursuer-it is the only true way to know whether they are truly interested. If he is not calling you, then he is probably not interested.

2.Avoid hang-ups!
Do not rub salt in your wounds. Sorry to have to use the clich¡§? on this one, but there is really no better way to put it. Whatever do I mean? Ladies, you know when we think we've moved on from a guy, but then about two months later we decide "Maybe he changed his mind about me" or "Maybe if I call or send him a message, I'll put myself back in his head" NO! There is no excuse for this behavior (alcohol induced or not)! Why? Yes, I will admit, it is fun and entertaining to some extent, but it is a vicious cycle. Don't get hung up on one guy, especially if he's made it clear that he's not worth your time. Hang-ups like these take you two steps back! There are plenty of men out there-no need to stress one! Plus, why would you waste your precious, valuable time on someone who has already slighted you?

3.Two words: OVER-ANALYZATION
Over-analyzing a situation; we are all guilty of doing it on some level - especially those of us that like to think. I encourage thinking but dissecting every word that someone says and analyzing every gesture is torture in the very highest form! Employing bad communication tactics is often the culprit, especially in today's day and age where it has become second nature to use technology as a primary form of communication (i.e. the text message, email). However, no matter what form of communication is being applied, people will continue to baffle one another with impromptu gestures and ambiguous speech. When it comes to certain situations in life, there are a variety of times where one need not know the why part to.

4.Take everything at face value.
"I'll call you" "I want to be with you" Comments such as these mean NOTHING until they happen. Think about it. People like to talk. We are constantly making promises that we never intend to keep and we say things to others because we think it is what they want to hear. Words mean nothing until they are given meaning which of course, is set forth by example.

5.Actions speak louder than words.
This one seems pretty elementary but it's the one we never seem to get right and always try to defend. He didn't call you back when he said he was going to-that's kind of big. Sometimes unforeseen events do arise and it is necessary to cut someone a proverbial piece of slack, but when this happens more than once, especially in the preliminary stages of a relationship, PAY ATTENTION! This is a huge red flag! If someone can't complete a simple chore such as returning a phone call, how do you expect them to respond to larger commitments in the future?

6.Don't expect someone to change.