10 Tips for Building a Healthy, Happy & Lasting Relationship

Whatever the reasons your last relationship ended, it never hurts to be reminded of what you need to make one work.

Photo by Toa Heftiba on Unsplash

I’ve had several failed relationships in my past. They all stemmed from not following some of the basic rules of building happy and healthy relationships — which meant they were never built to last.

Lasting relationships all have a few simple things in common. But because they’re so simple, it’s easy to forget or overlook them. When we start looking for a new partner, or get into a new relationship, we can skip one or two of those basics and create a shaky foundation for the relationship.

Keep these tips in mind to make your next relationship healthy, happy, and built to last.

Don’t try to change each other

I think everyone has met that person. The one that you think to yourself, “Oh, if only he/she did/didn’t have this one thing, they’d be the absolute perfect person for me.” And that thought makes you very tempted to think you can just change that one thing (or two things) and boom, you’ve got your soulmate.

But the reality is you can’t, and shouldn’t, change someone else. People will only change when they want to and that desire must come from within — it can’t be just to satisfy someone else. And if you’re busy trying to change someone, you’re not appreciating them for who they are.

You’ll make yourself and your partner miserable and destroy the relationship. If there’s something you can’t accept about a person, move on instead of thinking you can change them.

Don’t invite others into your relationship

Whether you’re asking for advice or venting your frustrations, inviting other people into your relationship is a bad idea. First, because they’re not getting both sides of the situation, whatever they say is likely to be at least a little biased.

Second, when you give someone the chance to speak about your relationship once, they’ll often take it to mean they can do so whenever they like. And that can lead to unsolicited advice and criticism that can not…