What Do You Want From Your Relationships?

We know that solid and meaningful relationships are critical to our happiness and success. The connectedness we experience with others provides comfort when we need it; intellectual stimulation when we want it; and reciprocity of love when we share it. It allows us to get our needs met and to meet the needs of others.

Our interactions as social beings can also do much to nurture our psychological wellness. The quality and nature of the interactions we have with others can affect how much anger and stress we carry around with us, and it is commonly understood that the more quality relationships we have in our later years the less prone to depression we are likely to be.

We’re all in this thing together and we need one another: humans are social animals. When we develop the relationships in our lives we become filled with abundance and prosperity. And the further we branch out of our small troupes to connect with others in meaningful way, the better off we all are.

But a wider circle of connectedness begins with strengthening the connections in our immediate environment. And even before that it starts with an understanding of our needs…

What exactly do you want from your relationships? What are your goals?

• Do you want to strengthen the existing connections in your home or work life? Or maybe just one or two in particular?

• Do you want to be more effective at getting along with others in general? Or just have more quality people in your life?

• Do you want to expand your social circle for personal and/or business reasons? Or do you just want to overcome your shyness?

And why do you want these things?

• To experience more enjoyment in your life?

• To shield yourself from feelings of loneliness?

• To foster greater levels of confidence?

The list could go on with any number of reasons, but I ask these questions to help you begin to get really clear about the ‘whats’ and ‘whys’. The clearer you can be about your purposes, the stronger your intentions – and the more likely it is that change will happen.

So decide what it is you’d like to accomplish with your relationships, and why. And choose a specific target. Decide what the ideal outcome for this relationship (or set of relationships) would look like, and start to think about ways to make it happen!