10 Ways to Improve Your Marriage and Relationship

Marriage is a complex web of various strands –  social and personal, that come together to form a relationship.

There may be thousands of ways in which you can improve your marriage. Here we look at 10 ways to improve your marriage that may seem random; but which do really work.

1. Get out of debt

This may not seem central to the relationship but it does in fact have great bearing on it, which is why it is one of the 10 ways to improve your marriage.

Getting out of debt means fewer points of friction and opportunities to blame each other.

2. Control stress

Stress is a killer for any relationship because it takes the joy out of life. So learn relaxation techniques and prioritize life in a way that helps you lower stress for yourself and your partner.

3. Schedule date nights

Most lists of 10 ways to improve your marriage will contain this. In the hurly burly of your job, looking after the kids and a thousand other things that need doing, the ‘Us’ in the relationship tends to be relegated to the back burner.

Schedule date nights regularly. It doesn’t have to be a fancy restaurant and show but it does have to have just two people occupying center stage.

4. Really listen

Listening (as opposed to merely hearing) is the key to communication. And by listening we mean actually giving due consideration to your spouse’s point of view.

5. Create goals together

This gives you something to work towards together; a commonality of purpose. It gives you the chance to create a united front for a joint ambition.

6. Trust

Trust should be implicit and constant. It is one of the bedrocks of a successful relationship.

7. Play or pray together

Among the 10 ways to improve, your marriage is to perform any important activity together. Companionable time spent together each day is important: you could pray together, cook together, go for a walk together or play together.

8. Touch

Satisfaction of the tactile sense is an important part of any intimate relationship. So touch your spouse regularly: hold hands, hug, rest your head on his shoulder, put your arm around her, kiss, cuddle… do this every day, several times a day and enjoy it.

9. Give each other space

Some couples joke that having separate bathrooms is the secret of their happy marriage but there is a serious reality there. It is a personification of the importance of giving each other space in a relationship.

10. Remove the TV from the bedroom

This may seem a trifling point among the 10 ways to improve your marriage, but it is important. Getting the TV out of the bedroom means that the bedroom is sanctuary where no one else intrudes. The bedroom is a place for two people to talk, love, communicate and just be; not for something as intrusive as a TV.