Interpersonal relationships are thus central in our lives in numerous ways. Purposeful relationships can help us feel happier, can help us through troubled periods, and can help make our lives richer and more fulfilling. But, of course, it is necessary to invest time and energy to build relations.
Here are the top 5 ways you can foster more meaningful relationships in your life:
1. Be fully present
Another vital secret you will need to apply while trying to foster a meaningful relationship is to be present during your time together with the other person. This means dropping your phone, avoiding distractions, and simply listening without preparing your response.
Take your eyes off your desk or phone, look at them directly in the eyes, and listen to what they are saying instead of only physically hearing it. Make general inquiries and balance them with more focused and thoughtful follow-up questions about whatever they tell you. Staying fully ‘in the moment’ with them will give the other person your total attention plus provide you with the opportunity to do more than simply read them.
2. Open up vulnerably
Dependability fosters dependence in any real relationship. Telling the other person things going on inside you, your aspirations, and joys and sorrows make the other person familiar with you and your life.
But, openness is not as simple as it sounds. Begin it with a topic that is not very personal, but little by little reveal things that are going to be somewhat insecure. And remember that quite probably the person that you are negotiating with has the same sensation of anxiety and readiness to disclose. The need to establish a safe talking-to-listen-to ratio and the resistance against judging each other will make the participants vulnerable in response to their counterparts’ vulnerability.
In the later stages of the relationship, be sure to match with the other person – ask him or her questions talking about profound experiences in exchange for your choice of things to disclose. Just do not overdo this though – ensure that your disclosures are in line with the relational context that you have established with the other person.
3. Do your best to dedicate as much time to each other as possible
In a world that is going up faster, but becoming more superficial with every day, making a conscious effort to construct time for a quality interaction is important to sustain the bond. In contrast to briefly reconnecting while walking past each other, make sure you are regularly investing quality one-on-one time with some important people who are doing activities they both like.
Schedule quality time and make it a point to set certain hours to do a specific activity so that it won’t be ignored by other more important things that come our way. It is not the activity that is most important but rather the opportunity to just chat and deepen a friendship without other interferences. Take a walk, have a meal, engage yourself in an activity you both like, or have a long and casual conversation.
Strive for routine in the allocation of this quality time and yet also remain free to change a little when the times call for it occasionally. If you don’t have the time, don’t say you will – but if you do, then following through helps illustrate that the other person is important to you, and not just an afterthought, or someone you’ll only check in on if you have the spare time to do so.
4. Develop an understanding
Besides that, mutual understanding between two people is another crucial aspect of any meaningful relationship. This is categorized as trying to understand each other’s points of view, ways of communicating, feelings, requirements, choices, beliefs, and otherwise.
You are not going to agree on everything at some point and you don’t have to be okay with it. But taking the time to try and understand why someone has a different perspective on things only creates more compassion, less arguments, and makes you better friends.
Take turns asking numerous questions to gain the perspective of the other person. DO NOT interrupt them to tell them what you want to or think; instead, let them express themselves. Look the other way and give sympathy by putting oneself in their position. The feeling here is that you get to know each other better, whereby the areas that seemed to cause division are not as big of a deal or are negligible because you simply understand each other.
5. Support each other’s growth
As a result, every individual and the two of them as a couple need to progress as they share their future. Praise them often as your loved one grows as they present new tasks and develop an ability to cultivate new interests. Do not keep them stagnant or Expect less from them as you do.
At the same time, it is required for this growth to occur reciprocally, that is, every partner should contribute to the general growth. Come up with new ideas of how to enrich each other’s experience, for example, share an interesting book, or invite to try something new – sports, hobbies, volunteering.
Growth also means coming off the hard times side by side. It means to show up to cheer on your partner’s successes, to be a listener when your partner experiences struggles, and to be present to offer affirmation or tangible help when life becomes challenging for one of you. Evaluating each other towards the improvement of a positive self enhances relationships immensely.
Hence the need to accept and foster change, transition, and personal development as a process that involves everyone, not allow for complacency to creep in where partners in a relationship are as a result created by the sole purpose of encouraging each other to grow.
Living our lives behind screens and with limited social contacts, it is more important than ever to invest time into developing rapport. By adapting these basic guidelines outlined herein above, one is certain of improving enhanced and closer relationships with those special individuals within your life domain. The positives of the interchange are immense and make the effort on the side of both parties doable.
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