How To Improve Your Relationship: These 12 Tips Are Guaranteed to Work

A ‘good relationship’ means different things to different people. However, good relationships generally involve two people who respect each other, can communicate, and have equal rights, opportunities and responsibilities. Most people would also expect their relationship with their partner to include love, intimacy, sexual expression, commitment, compatibility and companionship. If you and your partner feel stuck in a rut, and you don’t know how to improve your relationship, I can guarantee that the following 12 tips will help you.

How To Improve Your Relationship: The Top 12 Tips on Relationship Scope

1. Make your relationship a priority

Too often we put our careers, families, and friendships before our loved ones. Of course, there will be times when work requires extra time or friends and family need you, but it should never cause you to become inconsiderate of the most important person in your life.

2. Learn to listen to your partner

Regardless of how terrible things are, let your partner have a chance to speak. They will say much more than they intended to. It can be revealing and surprising, and will pave the way for their honesty. We have a tendency to jump in with our opinions before we have heard another one out. So, keep your cool: this will make a big difference. You can resolve many things by listening each other out.

3. Give each other space

Be sure you have a life of your own, otherwise it is harder to have a life together. What do I mean? Have your own interests, your own friends, your own support network, and your own hobbies. Overlap where you can, but not being identical should give you something to talk about and expose one another to. It helps to expand your horizons as a couple, but isn’t so boring as both living the exact same life.

4. Do not judge

Practice observing your partner or yourself without judging. This is because judging will close a door. Compassion is the exact opposite of judging. When you’re compassionate, you’re open, connected, and can communicate respectfully. When you learn to view your partner with compassion, you’ll have greater ability to choose your responses as opposed to just reacting.

[ctt template=”1″ link=”81Y9N” via=”yes” ]Compassion is the exact opposite of judging[/ctt]

5. Compliment each other, and often

You’re there to make each other feel like your best selves, so let the genuine praise flow freely. Like his outfit? Tell him! Like her hair today? Let her know. Saying and doing small, simple expressions of gratitude every day yields big rewards. When people feel recognized as special and appreciated, they’re happier in that relationship and more motivated to make the relationship better and stronger.

6. Find common goals

Couples who share dreams and goals have longer-lasting, more satisfying relationships. If you feel like you’ve been out of sync lately with your partner on this front, discuss your philosophy of life together. The aim is for both of you to share what you want your life to be about, where you want to end up and what these things mean to you. Look for anything that’s common between both of you and talk about ways to work toward that aspiration together.

7. Have fun

Couples who engage in exciting and enjoyable activities together have greater relationship satisfaction from before to after the shared activity. Choose an activity with your partner that you’ve never done together before that you would both find engaging and fun, such as taking dancing lessons, staying the night at a new town and exploring it, or indoor skydiving. You can also try something with your partner that he or she enjoys that you’ve never done before.

8. Actually tell your partner about things that annoy you, even if they’re little things

Contrary to popular belief, couples need to sweat the small stuff in their relationship to be happy and together over the long haul. It might seem like a great idea to keep a seemingly minor pet peeve to yourself, but over time, you will end up ruminating and this can turn to a nastier type of resentment and irritation. Bring up your annoyances, but in a loving and constructive way. Do this when they’re still not a big deal so they don’t become problems later.

9. Work on yourself

Love should never be expected from your partner to make you feel whole, fulfilled and content. It is our own responsibility to find happiness from within, which will organically overflow to your partner through a natural act of giving.

10. Compromise

Compromise is a part of life. We learn it early and must do it often. This fact is never more apparent than in a relationship: One person wants to hang at home while the other would rather hit the town, or one partner has always wanted a houseful of dogs but the other can only tolerate a quiet lap cat. Spending time with both families at the holidays can require compromise, too. Learn to recognize what really matters to your partner, and hopefully he or she will do the same for you.

11. Trust

Once you’re in a relationship, you have to let the trust flow.

You’ve made up your mind to be with a person, right? Instead of dwelling on insecurities and spinning jealousy stories in your mind, let yourself trust in the process. Everyone should be given a fair shot at proving themselves trustworthy; and if they’re not it’s not your problem.

You just move on, right? Because you’re already a complete person.

12. Get in touch a lot

No doubt you hug and kiss each other hello and maybe snuggle a little after having sex. But simple acts like stroking his arm while you’re watching TV, taking his hand when you’re walking down the street, or fondling his thighs during dinner are great ways to bond. Touching your partner during the day will trigger your feel-good hormones, which reinforces your affection and makes you feel closer on an instinctive level.

Relationships are hard. They take a lot of dedication, focus, and work. Finding the right person to settle down with can feel like a very frustrating game of chance. And even when you do find the right one, you’ll still have your work cut out for you as you make an effort to maintain your relationship. I hope this article has given you some insights into how to improve your relationship. Now, get off the screen and give a hug to your partner!