What's the secret to getting over someone?

Just ignore it.
From what you wrote, I see you two are not in contact, and thinking about him doesn’t seem to make your life troblesome.
If it doesn’t actually affect your life, just let it be and move on with whatever you’re doing. If it doesn’t create damage, there’s no need to fight it.

I feel you in a way. There’s this person that is sitting in my head for two years now. We never had anything, but he keeps popping up in my head from time to time. I got used to it eventually and focused on other things.

This has happened to me before, and probably to any person with a romantic streak whose relationship ended “before it should have” (at least from our own points of view).

This is the same thing that often happens to older people – widows and widowers alike – whose spouse dies too young. The dead spouse becomes a paragon of virtue, an idealized version of what a husband or wife should be like, and no one living can approach that standard (in the former spouse’s eyes, anyway).

In one sense it could be said that your blocking the young man on social media and your refusal to deal with him – even from a distance – as a real person whose goals and ambitions apparently do not match yours, has put him in that same kind of status. That is, you had an ideal of him as a perfect partner, at least for the time of that date and until things fell apart afterward (at least on his end) so that he’s still on a pedestal for you.

I think the only way you’re going to get over him, realistically, is to confront him (or the actuality of him, if not “in person”) as a real, flawed human – in other words, to list and face the flaws. Don’t be unrealistic and pretend that they don’t exist, because of course they do! For one thing, he’s not with you now, so what kind of jackass would turn you down?

It may seem a little narcissistic – it may actually be narcissistic – but you have to break down the “ideal” of him into “just some guy I once knew” so that others have a chance to measure up to – and surpass – your idea of him.

Good luck with that. (It took me over six years, but my experience was longer than a single date, too.)

Time. At least 6 months.

When you have thoughts of him, let them in, notice them and then let them go. In order words, don’t give them any weight.

Please don’t feel “stupid.”

Can you find comfort in knowing that he can’t possibly be as wonderful as your imagination has made him? You and he shared one date together, then your longing created your own, epic reality. If you were to see this guy again, you might be disappointed.

The truth is some people, myself included, can never truly get over someone. Chalk it up to having an annoyingly good memory and a mind to follow the spiral of infinite possibilities. Those people are with us always, no matter how momentary their stay may have ultimately been. I don’t know you, but have you ever loved where you lived, then had to move? Have you ever crashed a car and had to get one you liked less? Have you ever lost a job you thought you couldn’t live without? It’s surprising what happens when an irreparable change is forced upon you. You go on. You find a new place to live, or another trinket you “can’t live without.” The new experience without becomes normal reality while the old becomes a cherished memory. Try not to get too hung up on things, people included. Change is good for a person. There are many many many more experiences/things/people out there that are just as or more valuable than the one’s that have gone. When they emerge, you’ll be so happy for the absence of the old to make room for this new.
You’re standing on a beach watching the waves break and after each one you think, “That’s it. That’s the last one.” But that’s foolish. Just as it’s foolish as to know that you’ve been so happy, and think that you never will again. So buck up!

The secret is that there’s no secret. It’s just time, time, time.

While you wait for time to pass, though, keep busy with other stuff and pay attention to some relationships that aren’t romantic.

It’s okay to have some sort of ideal in your head, but you don’t want it to interfere with your prospects for a real relationship. That’s the kind of thing that makes for movie and opera plots, where much too late in life someone gets jolted out of her daydream and realizes she’s been in love with an illusion all along.

Sometimes it’s harder when it was just a quick thing, and there is nothing negative to help you feel like he was the wrong match. I’m pretty sure he has some negative attributes, it’s just easy to idealize him with so little time spent with him.

Your thoughts about him will come and go. Eventually, he won’t matter anymore, it’s just time, and moving forward with new things to look forward to.

I still think about a boy I had a crush on 50 years ago. Memories don’t go away, we just learn to assign a priority to them, based on importance. That one is way, way down your list.

Let me know when you find out, please.

Take your feelings of wanting a good relationship with him (which isn’t happening), and consider that they are your feelings for wanting a good relationship with someone (not really him – the real him isn’t the good half you want in that relationship). Then you haven’t lost anything but an attachment to the wrong person. Also, I recommend savoring the time between relationships.

I jump really high and hope my ‘nads don’t get hung up on her forehead.

I’m not sure we ever completely get over some old loves, but time will softens the pain.

Great suggestions so far. I will add: be busy doing things you like with people you like. And do things for other people. Bake cookies for someone who doesn’t have time to bake, offer to clean someone’s house (maybe an elderly neighbor or relative), volunteer at your local animal shelter. There are lots of people that you probably already know that could use a little help, or who would just enjoy a little company : )