| Strategy | Examples |
|---|
| Remember what made you interested in the relationship in the first place | - Share inside jokes
- Visit favorite places (a coffeehouse where you used to meet)
|
| Spend quality time together | - Share your day-to-day activities
- Explore new hobbies and interests
|
| Share tasks and humor | - Plan finances and do chores together
- Have inside jokes and laugh together
|
| Be understanding | - Empathize with your partner’s concerns, dreams, fears, and so on
- Try to see conflict-causing situations from your partner’s point of view
|
| Express affection | - Proclaim how important your partner is (“You’re a great friend” or “I love you”)
- Do something nice or unexpected for your partner without being asked
|
| Have realistic expectations | - Don’t compare your relationships to others
- Accept your partner’s strengths and weaknesses
|
| Work on intimacy | - Offer supportive, positive messages, particularly during stressful times
- Reveal your commitment by showing and sharing that you are invested in the relationship (self-disclosure, make future plans together)
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