It would not surprise me if the answer to that question was no, as I don’t think many people do.
At the beginning of a new year, many people set a resolution, goal or intention, which usually involves giving something up or starting something new. These goals tend to be of a personal nature, such as Dry January or Veganuary; you might commit to it with your partner or friend as a means of support or accountability, but it is usually for your own benefit and not a collative unless it is for charity.
I think relationship goals aren’t that common and hence don’t make the headlines because we don’t think of personal relationships in the same vein as work relationships.
In the workplace, you might actively think about how you can build a cohesive team, improve your communication or connect better or network to grow the business.
In a personal relationship, you don’t actively work at being a better team, or improving your communication or connection unless there is a problem. People believe personal relationships evolve naturally and frankly just happen – newsflash, they don’t!
Have you heard the quote by Bert Lance – ‘If it isn’t broken, don’t fix it’? Many people have and in respect of relationships, sign up to it and therefore don’t set relationship goals as it is counter-intuitive.
I’ve got over 12 years of experience helping couples and individuals resolve their relationship problems and the best advice I can give you is to work on your relationship when it is in a good place. I think a better adage would be ‘relationships are like muscles, the more you work on it, the stronger it gets’. Ok, it doesn’t have the same slickness, I admit, but the message is still valid.
Next week, I’ll share with you 3 relationship goals that you can set to help you work on your relationship to make it stronger. In the meantime, think about this question:-
If you could improve one thing about your relationship, what would it be?
Answers on a postcard or in the comments.
