Have you ever had a great relationship? If you have, then you most likely remember how great and exciting it was in the early stages of your relationship.
Many people often refer to the first several months of a relationship as the “honeymoon” stage. That is because early on in a relationship everything is wonderful and things are just clicking. You get butterflies every time you are with the other person, you get excited just at the thought of them, and you just have an amazing time every single time you are together..
But, the reality is that despite how easy and great any relationship is in the beginning, it is always necessary to invest in your relationship and be willing to do things that will allow it to flourish.
However, it is easy to overlook the importance of having a strategy that will allow you to continually give all you can to your relationship and make sure you are doing those things that will allow it to be a great, long lasting and amazing relationship.
Just like we have an approach for pursuing our goals, our careers and the other things we want, we need to make certain we also have an approach for maintaining great relationships in our life.
That means we have to be open and willing to do things that will be beneficial for our relationship and also be willing to invest all we can into our relationships. There are definitely many things you can do, but the most important thing is that you decide you are going to have an approach you keep top of mind. Your approach should include great things you can do daily to sustain and help your relationship flourish.
Here are 30 Tips to Consider to include as a part of your approach:
1. Prioritize being kind over being right
2. Every morning, remind yourself of one great thing about your significant other
3. Be affectionate and loving
4. Always be on the lookout for great things your significant other does to appreciate
5. Realize that you have idiosyncrasies too
6. Start and end every day telling your significant other “I love you”.
7. Have “Talk Night” for at least a ½ hour every week where you turn off the tv and eliminate any other distractions so you can just focus on having a great conversation with each other
8. Compliment your significant other every single time you notice something great about them
9. Have consistent conversations about things other than kids, money, work and issues
10. See your relationship as an opportunity to learn from each other and be willing to change those things about yourself that are working against you
11. Talk about your dreams and desires
12. Be willing to do things your significant other enjoys doing, even if they are not necessarily your favorite things to do
13. Make sure you reserve time for date nights and special outings
14. Eat dinner together as often as possible
15. Talk calmly about any issues or concerns
16. Think about and do one great thing for your significant other every single day … it can be something big or small
17. Laugh together
18. Always be willing to meet half way and compromise when appropriate
19. Support your significant other’s dreams and desires
20. Send texts and friendly messages throughout the day that show you are thinking about them
21. Be a great apologizer when you are wrong
22. Alone time is good, but make sure you are also spending as much time as you can together
23. Come home with little surprise gifts from time to time
24. Be open and over communicate
25. Talk to each other at least once during the day, no matter how busy you are
26. Be willing to see things from your significant other’s perspective
27. Be gentle, kind and pleasant
28. Always assume the best of your significant other until they give you a good reason to believe otherwise
29. Be an amazing listener
30. Love and Learn
Hi Sibyl,
Very nice post on relationships. I like your tips especially number 2. It is crucial to be affectionate and loving. This is what brings us closer to our partner. Also laughing together is a must. Thanks for sharing
Dia: Thanks for the comment. I am so glad that you enjoyed the post. I agree with you that it is really important to be affectionate and loving. I think when we approach relationships with a desire to be loving and affectionate as much as possible, it really helps us to open up and allows our relationships to flourish. It just brings a great type of energy to a relationship.
Great tips as usual, Sibyl. I really liked #s 12 and 26! Thanks for sharing the online “luv”.
Hey Jennifer: Always great to hear from you. Glad that you liked the list. Thanks for stopping by and leaving a comment. I really appreciate it.
Sibyl,
You’re tips were spot on! Terrific!
It’s so important to plan for the growth of your relationships just as you would for you business – great point!
We all take each other way too much for granted.
Angela: Thanks so much for the comment. I am glad that you liked the tips. I do agree with you that it is too easy to fall into the trap of taking the people closest to us for granted. It is all about making sure that we are focusing on the right things in our lives and always doing what we can to invest in our relationships and help them grow. Thanks again for the comment.
Great list Sybil and easily the words of someone speaking from experience. If I could contribute to your list it would be be forgive quickly and to learn to argue fairly. I think you do have to speak your mind in a relationship, if you let things bottle up it can all be a bit too much so it’s good to get things out in the open quickly so that they heal quickly too!
Amit: Thanks for the comment and you can most certainly add something to the list. I think forgiving quickly is great advice. It is so easy to get caught up in the emotion of a situation and let anger and frustrating linger. It is amazing how much better things work out when you really do become a master at forgiving quickly. It is not that you don’t put your point on the table and work to resolve them, but rather that you always have an open mind to moving forward. Thanks again for the comment. I appreciate it.
Great tips Sibyl… I am in a great relationship for the 2 years now, and I agree that the relationships are important, they can create heaven or hell of our lives. I also agree that we must be open and ready to invest in our relationships because, after all we are talking about two different people… without openness and investment on both sides there will not going to be connection or satisfaction….
# 21. is the most difficult to me personally
Marko: Thanks for the comment and congrats on being in a great relationship. Relationships are definitely something that we have to work at and when we can look at our relationship and refer to it as a great relationship, that is definitely something we should appreciate. I thought what you said about there being openness and investment on both sides was very important. It is so important that both peole invest in the relationship in order for it to really flourish. And, #21 is understandably difficult … I would have to definitely agree with you on that
Hi Sibyl,
Love the new look and ebook offering! Congratulations!
I like the 30 relationship tips, I specially liked #9 and #17 very much, thanks for sharing! Zenguy and I are married for million years so I know these tips works, and we were best friends and still are
best friends can have disagreement but we talk it out.
Preeti: Thanks for the kind words about the book. I really appreciate it. A million years is a very long time to be married so I think we should look to you for some advice on that
I think what you said about being best friends is key. There is nothing better than knowing that your significant other is really your best friend. Thanks for the comment and stopping by. I really appreciate it.
Sibyl,
Great list. This will keep me busy for the next few years as I try to convince my wife to like me again, lol.
I agree with Marko though #21 is going to be difficult for me to do because I am always right. Does anyone else have that problem?
My wife and I have been married for 4 years and together for 10 and we have a great relationship so far. If you haven’t guessed it I am a clown and I keep her laughing. I think that is why she likes me. Now to get to work on the rest of the list.
Frank: There is no doubt in my mind that you definitely keep your wife laughing
I agree with both you and Marko that #21 is challenging. One day at a time right 
Thanks so much for the comment and always stopping by and sharing your thoughts. I am sure I have told you before on numerous occasions, but it is worth repeating over and over again … I appreciate it 
For me it’s that I want a meaningful one to start with. You won’t get out what you don’t put in. So, I’ve opened my heart and said I want love. First that and then your fab 30 of which eat together and laugh together resonate deeply inside me. It feels good to have love don’t you think Sibyl, especially when you put your heart into it?
John: I am a fan of love
I see from your latest post that you must be as well. I do agree that having the right relationships in your life just opens your heart and allows you to experience so many great things. I think love is where it all begins and you just have to feed and nourish your relationship so they really can flourish. Thanks so much for the comment. I appreciate it.
Rather than showing our love with a bunch of words, a affectionate physical contact can do more…BTW i love your laugh together tip which is really an excellent way to keep the relationship strong…
James
James: Thanks so much for stopping by the alternaview and leaving a comment. I am so glad that you appreciated the tip to laugh together. I really do think it can just get the right type of energy flowing in your relationship. I think it is all about focusing on those things you can do to really invest in strengthening your relationship and once that is your focus, you relationship opens up in so many great ways. Thanks again for the comment.
Thanks Sibyl,
We can have this special moments in our dinner table or by watching a funny movie with our family…
James
James: Thanks so much for the comment. I think that is definitely something to add to this list
There is just something really great about those special moments at the dinner table. I think it is all about being thoughtful and making certain you are reserving those times for good time to spend together and enjoy experiences. Thanks again for the comment.
Hi Sibyl,
The 30 Tips For A Great Relationship is terrific. For so long I was in a loveless marriage where there was no affection, no communication, and constant worrying. Once my divorce was final I remained single for several years and told myself this is great…I no longer have to worry about being in a relationship and not being happy. Well recently I met a wonderful guy, and I will say that in the beginning I would hang onto the same issues that I had with my ex, however, this man is totally different. NOW, we have great communication, we are very affectionate, we date, and we tell each other “I love you” every day, and it feels so good. When I feel myself worrying about something, I go back to your tips, and they help me to get through whatever is bothering me. Thank you so much for this site…I love it….
Val
Valerie. What a great story and a real world example of how to really make relationships work. Thank you so much for sharing it. I really think it helps so much when other people can see these tips put into action and see how they work for other people. Thanks also for the comment and for dropping by. I am so glad that you liked the list and appreciate you letting me know.
I want to write number one down somewhere I can see it everyday. It is so true and something I should do more often(: thank you for that.
You are very welcome Torri:) Thanks for dropping by. So glad that you enjoyed the article.