Start by learning to rule with logic instead of emotion. Adapt quickly to knowing what it is you do want versus what it is you don't want in a potential partner. If you aren't fully sure of either, then get a pen and paper and write a list. Make sure your list is based on your current real life priorities and not something you came up with after watching one of those Nicholas Sparks movies. In doing this, you are intellectualizing your bottom line. This is a very practical approach that makes it easier to stop skirting around with the fantasy and address exactly what it is you're looking for head on.
Second, work on cleaning out what you are afraid of, especially emotionally. This will help you to make more reasonable and rational decisions in the dating game. If you want to take it a step farther, delve into your spiritual side and get a base set up for who you are. I am a firm believer that one should embody and personify the very same characteristics and qualities they seek in a potential partner. If you haven't met the goal of reaching your full potential just yet, then start by setting some goals to do this before even bothering to seek a serious relationship. It's pretty unfair to desperately seek someone who's a good listener that is a financially stable, honest, loyal, sexy and confident when you are a waist-deep-in-debt, obnoxious, lying, jerk-wad with no real direction about where you want to go in life. Our egos and self-obsession often give us a false sense of entitlement. The idea that we are deserving of someone who is almost as amazing as we see ourselves in our head distorts our perception of the reality we live in daily. This is why so many of us end up wasting time getting involved in numerous miscellaneous relationships that were ultimately doomed to fail before they ever began. Work on yourself because it's extremely important to have your stuff together!
The Wall