Relationships thrive when both partners trust each other, spend time together, and love each other. Partners are likely to love each other enough to want to spend the rest of their lives together if they understand how to improve self esteem in relationships.
However, sharing your life with someone who doesn’t help you improve or at least maintain your self-esteem can result in poor self-perception. This is usually due to accumulated resentment caused by your partner’s actions or inactions.
Partners in a relationship need to positively influence each other to maintain a healthy level of self-esteem. If this quality is absent in a relationship, one or both partners will likely feel dissatisfied and fed up with the partnership.
If you are in a relationship that feels as if something is missing, one or both of you might be struggling with self-esteem issues. In this article, I’ll share 7 vital steps you need to start taking today to help you improve each other’s self-esteem in your relationship and foster positive relationships.
7 Tips for How to Improve Self Esteem in Relationships
First things first, you shouldn’t depend on external validation for self-esteem. However, it is natural to lean on each other for moral and emotional support when you are in a relationship.
The following tips are simple but highly effective. Even if your relationship ends due to irreconcilable differences, applying these tips can help you become a better person that goes into their next relationship with a greater understanding of who they are and what they bring to the table.
1. Be Generous with Compliments
One way to help your significant other improve their sense of self-worth and think highly of themselves and their abilities is to actively seek out opportunities to compliment them.
Compliment your man the next time he gets a haircut. Tell your woman how beautiful she looks when she smiles.
The idea is to give constant compliments about your partner’s physical qualities, mental abilities, and just about anything you can think of, no matter how little it may be. It makes it easier for them to also return the favor.
Looking for compliment ideas? Be inspired by this collection of quotes for your significant other.
2. Show Appreciation for Small and Big Things
When partners appreciate each other, it can make them feel great about themselves. But many people only wait until a big event to show appreciation, and that’s a mistake.
Don’t wait until promotions, anniversaries, or birthdays to show appreciation and celebrate each other. Start celebrating your partner even for the smallest achievements, and your relationship will thrive beyond what it currently is.
3. Learn New Things and Grow Together
Repeating the same loop every day can put out the fire in your relationship very quickly. Both parties need to make room for learning new things. This way, you challenge yourself to get out of your comfort zone and grow as individuals and units.
Learning new things brings about growth, boosts your self-esteem, and enhances your relationship.
If you find yourself stuck doing the same thing daily – work, eat, sleep, wake, work – it is time to break that loop and do something differently. You can sign up for a personal development class, pursue a life-long dream, or start a new hobby that challenges you.
Whatever you do, don’t give in to stagnation and redundancy. Improve yourself, and your self-esteem will naturally improve. And if you and your partner do this together, your relationship will thrive.
4. Resolve Differences as Quickly as Possible
It is practically impossible to completely avoid conflicts in a relationship. No matter how great you both are together, you won’t agree with each other 100% of the time. That’s a given.
However, it is super important to talk out your differences as quickly as possible rather than keeping scores. Discuss your issues and promptly resolve them. Don’t let disagreements linger for too long, as that can weaken the bond you share.
But beyond creating doubts in your minds, your self-esteem will suffer if you keep scores. Here’s how.
A 2016 study shows that unresolved interpersonal conflicts can lead to a feeling of more rejection or less acceptance. This can negatively affect how each person feels about themselves, which lowers self-esteem.
Bottom line: talk out your differences and resolve them immediately instead of keeping scores of wrongs and misunderstandings.
5. Continue to Date and Flirt With Each Other
Flirting is good for building self esteem because it is a very direct way of expressing interest and desire between yourself and your partner. Flirting and dating in social relationships are great ways to keep things interesting and remind your partner why you love them while improving low self esteem and encouraging a healthy relationship.
6. Fight Each Other’s Battles as a Unit
Now, here’s one of my best tips on improving low self esteem in relationships. Fight your battles as a unit, not as separate individuals.
Companionship is one of the undeniable traits of a healthy and loving relationship. Couples in such relationships enjoy the benefits of uplifting one another during tough times. They combine forces and fight each other’s battles together rather than individually.
When you do this, you help each other stay afloat no matter the situation. And most importantly, you will believe in yourselves and fortify your healthy relationship.
In other words, challenges have less chance of taking a toll on your self-esteem if you know that you can count on your partner just as they can count on you during difficult times.
7. Go for Counseling or Therapy Together
Okay, this may sound a bit odd for some people who assume that therapy is exclusive to married couples with serious issues.
However, people who want to prevent problems in their relationships can also benefit from counseling or therapy.
But don’t just attend therapy individually. Instead, go as a couple. When both of you can talk openly about potential issues and find solutions together, you’ll develop a healthy respect for each other and strengthen your bond and improve relationship satisfaction.
Conclusion
These tips for improving self-esteem in relationships might sound pretty basic. But trust me when I say they work.
The success of any relationship depends a lot on the self-esteem of both partners. For this reason, both partners must create an environment full of appreciation for each other and completely supports each other’s dreams.
This way, both of you can maintain healthy self-esteem and enjoy the type of relationship you’ve always wanted.