When you are looking to build a very strong relationship, at the very core of that relationship, you need trust.
And this is not just whether the relationship is a romantic one, or a familial one, or even if it’s a platonic relationship. Something that is required in all of this is consistent effort, communication styles, and mutual respect. Below, I am going to list a few things you can do to create or deepen the level of trust in your relationship, which will help you further build a meaningful connection with your partner.
6 Ways to Build Trust in Your Relationship
1. Communicate Openly and Honestly: The first step to building trust in your relationship is to learn how to communicate openly and honestly. By doing this, you are creating a safer place for you and your partner where you feel safe and both of you can be seen and heard without inner feelings of judgement. By open communication, we mean that you don’t keep important facts away during your communication, which could impact the relationship. No matter how comfortable it feels, open and honest communication means you have nothing at all to hide. This could be about financial issues. Instead of keeping things to yourself and bottling it all up, it is better now to express how you feel, which helps you avoid potential future misunderstandings. Communicating openly and honestly also helps both parties or partners feel valued. Especially when you also practice active listening. That is, when your partner speaks, you give them your undivided attention. You even offer your sincere support when you feel they are worried about personal activities or events from work. Also, you must know that in a relationship, bigger problems are often as a result of all the smaller frustrations that you have ignored. So instead of allowing these smaller problems to build up you should also learn to respectfully and with kindness bring up your concerns during your communications. These are foundational steps you need to take in order to make your relationship strong and encourage trust.
2. Be Reliable and Consistent: What this means is that when you say yes, over time, it remains yes. Your words align with your actions every time. So, how exactly do you do this in your relationship? When you have commitment, being reliable means following through with those commitments, no matter how small they are. If you have promised your partner to get the groceries later in the day, do it. Because they can rely on you, you help them feel secure, and they feel more confident in trusting and depending on you. If paraventure for some reason, you cannot meet up with expectations, you should have reasonable explanations, as a sudden change in your behaviour without a reasonable explanation can break the trust and give room to doubt. For instance, when you are tired, your partner may see that you are quiet, but they may not know that you are tired. So to prevent suspicion, which is unnecessary, it is important to often clarify so they don’t think that you are upset with something they have done, whereas you have only been exhausted from your numerous activities. So, when you falter, be ready to apologise sincerely. Acknowledge your faults instead of brushing them off.
