6 expert tips for better dating in 2025

We’re dating better in 2025

If dating more is one of your New Year’s resolutions, you may already be struggling to figure out how to make these dates more successful than last year’s. Hinge’s love & connection expert and licensed therapist Moe Ari Brown has you covered, with these top tips for dating better this year.

As New Year’s Eve approaches, we’re writing out our resolutions in the hopes of miraculously living life better next year. We may be focusing on sticking to new hobbies, regularly going to the gym, carving out more time in our week for friends, and for many of us, dating more.

New data from Hinge has shown that 47 per cent of users are prioritising ‘more dates’ in 2025, but that’s sometimes easier said than done.

Just boosting the number of people you sit across from at dinner or go out for drinks with doesn’t automatically make you a better dater, more confident or any closer to finding someone you want to be with.

The team at Hinge has lent a helping hand, building us a checklist to date better in the New Year.

7 swaps for better dating in 2025

The dating app’s experts are encouraging us to prioritise quality over quantity this year with these priority swaps:

• Instead of compiling your number of matches, ask yourself: what details on profiles made me most excited to see them in person?
  
  
• Instead of compiling your number of first dates, ask yourself: what parts of my profile did people like the most?
  
  
• Instead of compiling your number of weeks spent talking to someone, ask yourself: what are moments in dating where I felt proud of how I handled a situation or times I wish I'd acted differently?
  
  
• Instead of compiling your number of times ghosted, ask yourself: what qualities in myself/people made me the most excited to explore a connection?
  
  
• Instead of compiling your number of date locations, ask yourself: what types of dates felt most comfortable to me?
  
  
• Instead of compiling your number of specific preferences, ask yourself: which first date conversation did I enjoy the most?
  
  
• Instead of compiling your number of relationship endings, ask yourself: based on these learnings, what will I do differently or change in the new year?

The dating app’s experts are encouraging us to prioritise quality over quantity this year with these priority swaps.

Leaving the past in the past 

It can be hard to implement any of these swaps if your dating history is leaving you feeling stuck. 

73 per cent of daters on Hinge said they get held back by overthinking previous dating experiences. 

Speaking to Body+Soul, the app’s love & connection expert and licensed therapist Moe Ari Brown says “Reflecting on the past is natural. It’s a survival strategy that helps us adapt and avoid situations that could cause us harm in the future.  However, it’s crucial to recognise when it hinders our ability to move forward.”

Brown also says it's important to switch up our perspective and use the past to date better in the future.

“Ideally, reflection, when done well, should leave you feeling empowered to apply necessary changes to your dating life that will align with your goals and motivate you to create the relationships you desire! By shifting our perspective from surviving to actively thriving, meaning that we find non-fear-based ways to apply the lessons we’ve learned to align with our dating goals, we open ourselves up to new connections” adds Brown. 

“Equipped with the lessons we’ve learned, the courage to take risks, and the tools to navigate with confidence and emotional resilience, we can approach the journey with clarity. Thriving in dating means embracing personal growth and stepping confidently into the future.”

73% of daters on Hinge said they get held back by overthinking previous dating experiences. Image: Pexels

How to build better dating habits

We also need to leave bad habits in 2024 – including our dating habits. 

42 per cent of daters on Hinge agreed they need to set clearer intentions for what they want in dating, including what they’re looking for and the steps they’re going to take to get there. 

The love and connection expert says that while breaking bad dating habits can be challenging, “with self-awareness and intentional effort, it’s entirely possible.”

Ahead,  Brown shares top tips to build better habits in 2025.

#1. Recognise the pattern

Brown says “You must reflect on what is working and what is not working in your dating life and create a list of associated behaviours that lead to success and those that lead to problems for you.”

#2. Accept that these dating habits are not working for you

He encourages us to avoid labelling habits as ‘bad’ or ‘good’ to avoid shaming ourselves, and instead look at them as things that lead to “success or challenges”.This way you're more prepared to embrace change.

42% of daters on Hinge agreed they need to set clearer intentions for what they want in dating, including what they’re looking for and the steps they’re going to take to get there.  Image: Unsplash

#3. Identify what behaviours support your dating life

By looking at which habits “align with your dating goals, values, and intentions”, you can see which “will likely lead to success”, the therapist said.

#4. Make an actionable plan to practice the new behaviours instead of the old ones

He told Body+Soul “habits that lead to success often take intentional and conscious effort”. We’ll find it harder to break old habits if we’re not focusing on putting the work in to behave differently.

#5. Have compassion for yourself

“Noticing when you are doing the old pattern is a notable self-awareness milestone, and it means you are right on track to changing your behaviours", Brown insisted. "Keep up the good work, and have compassion for yourself. Keep trying, and you will see progress over time.”

#6. Mark your progress and celebrate yourself

He said it's important to pay attention to the beneficial changes you're making.

“When you catch yourself engaged in the old pattern and redirect yourself to do something different, this is good work! Please take every moment to notice that you’re changing and celebrate your progress. Celebrating yourself boosts your self-confidence and reminds you that you’re accomplishing the goal you set out to achieve!”

Originally published as 6 expert tips for better dating in 2025