The steps to building a healthy relationship are just as important as the desire to have a healthy relationship.
In both cases, one needs to put in the work in order to achieve results.
The importance of building a healthy relationship cannot be overemphasized.
Besides giving one a sense of belonging and making one know that one isn’t alone in the journey of life, healthy relationships has a way of increasing one’s self-esteem.
So, how can you build a healthy relationship?
Let’s take a look at the steps to building a healthy relationship.
8 Steps To Building A Healthy Relationship
1. Be honest
In the journey of building a healthy relationship, honesty is a virtue that you should not look down on.
I know of a security man who is very honest in his dealings.
In the opinion of some people, he is brutally and blatantly honest.
They feel that he is too uptight and should loosen up from time to time by adding ‘sprinkles of dishonesty’ here and there.
I’ve been around people when they discuss him and they feel that he’s missing out on some things that he should be gaining because of his honesty.
According to them, he is way too honest to thrive in this world.
Well, an opportunity came up in his area not too long ago and he was among the people who applied for it.
Words on the street had it that his salary bid was the highest.
Guess what?
He was hired for the opportunity, despite having the highest salary bid.
A reliable source told me that the organisation preferred to hire and pay him even more than his expected salary due to his honesty.
They felt safe and secure dealing with him than bringing in someone with a questionable character and regretting in the future.
Honesty is a virtue that everyone should have.
It makes people trust and believe you easily.
In the long run, it’ll be your key to unlocking healthy relationships and building strong connections with people.
2. Be respectful
Everyone craves and deserves respect in their own right – men, women, and children alike.
Respect people the way you want to be respected.
It’s not rocket science.
When you respect people, you’re setting the precedence for how you want them to treat you in return.
Mutual respect is an essential part of building a healthy relationship.
3. Get to know people
Have we even scratched the surface of steps to building a healthy relationship if we don’t talk about getting to know people?
I doubt.
People want to feel seen and heard, in a good way.
It’s only wise to put effort into getting to know people who you crave having a healthy relationship with.
Spend time with them, no matter how long or short.
Ask specific or generic questions about their wellbeing.
It passes the message that you truly see them and care for them.
It’s a good way to let people notice you and let you into their lives.
That way, you’re gradually gaining grounds, and building trust and connection with them.
It’s without saying that your good actions are helping you to build healthy relationships with them.
4. Be humorous
Employ your sense of humour when necessary during communication.
It’s one of the important steps to building a healthy relationship.
No one wants to be serious always.
Life is serious already, and a little humour here and there won’t hurt.
On the contrary, it’ll brighten up gloomy days and unburden heavy hearts.
Most people want to be around someone who understands the importance of humour in relationships and employs it when necessary to achieve desired results.
5. Communicate effectively
You might be familiar with the mantra – ‘Communication is key.’
Permit me to make it better – ‘Effective communication is key.’
Communication is one of the most important steps to building a healthy relationship.
It is the bedrock and foundation of every relationship.
With communication, a relationship is formed.
You still need communication to keep the relationship going.
The quality of communication individuals practice in their relationships determine the quality of the relationships.
If someone communicates openly and effectively with their partner, they’re building a wholesome relationship.
On the other hand, when someone is stingy with communication or doesn’t communicate with their partner at all, the relationship will suffer greatly.
And if nothing is done to salvage the situation early enough, the relationship is bound to either crash or die a natural death.
The reason is due to lack of communication or the healthy one.
When it comes to communication, what you see is what you get.
Over here, it’s GiGo (garbage in, garbage out).
There are no two ways about it.
If you want a healthy relationship, keep the communication line open and be transparent with your dealings.
Otherwise, it means that you don’t value your relationship.
6. Offer a helping hand
If you’re keen on building a healthy relationship with people, you should be ready to offer a helping hand when necessary.
We live in a society where minding one’s business has become a norm, and is unfortunately doing more harm than good.
It’ll be a breath of fresh air to see people who are ready and willing to offer help when needed.
Try to help people when you can.
Be dependable and reliable.
Let them know that they can count on you.
They should know that you’re ever ready to give them a hand whenever it’s necessary.
7. Be a good listener
I agree that everyone will have something to say at some point.
But it’ll help if you paused and listened to what the other person has to say too.
Everyone wants to be heard, but a relationship doesn’t have to be all about you.
That’s not the way it’s meant to be.
You should talk when necessary and listen when necessary.
Don’t just be a talker or a listener.
Strike a balance between both of them and give your partner room to express themselves too.
When they’re talking, listen carefully.
Listen to understand, and not to reply.
Interact with them and go with the flow.
People feel more at home with someone who understands them and sees things from their own perspective.
It makes trusting you easier and invariably helps to create and maintain healthy relationships.
8. Set and keep to boundaries
It’s one thing to set boundaries.
Keeping to and respecting the boundaries that are set by other people is another.
You need to realise that you’re not the only one who has boundaries that should be respected and kept.
Just as you want yours to be respected, do the same to other people.
One of the steps to building a healthy relationship is by setting and keeping to healthy boundaries.
It’s human nature to want to give back the energy you give out most of the times.
Expect other people to respect your boundaries if you respect theirs.
They’ll flout and disregard yours too, if you do the same to theirs.
It’s a no brainer.
Choose the fate of your boundaries wisely.
What will it be for you?
