The whole point of being in a relationship and sharing your life with someone is the anticipation of spending a lifetime together in joy and love.

But what happens when you wake up one day and realize that your convictions are replaced by unending questions, a cycle of routines and lack of interest towards your partner?

What used to be so exciting suddenly loses its appeal. You may even find yourself consumed with boredom and resentment with a strong urge to find your way out.

This is where bad and unhealthy habits in a relationship start – when boredom takes over and it feels like there is nothing more to look forward to.

Bad habits in a relationship start when things are no longer as exciting as they used to be. As a result, we prefer to do other things rather than being with our partner.

Some of the bad habits that you and your partner might develop are; intentional or unintentional cheating, wanting to stay out with friends longer and more often than usual, fixation to social media and unhealthy vices.

Other forms of bad habits in a relationship are; lack of communication, spending too much time at work, arguments and fights that keep getting worse and constant irritability over your partner.

How to Stop Bad Habits from Ruining Your Relationship

It’s hard to break bad habits once they have started to take over in your relationship. It also takes a magnanimous amount of patience and understanding to accept each other’s mistakes.

Still, no matter how bad things are, if you’re willing to recognize the issues and work towards resolving them, there is still a good chance that you can save each other.

Here are some ways to stop bad habits from harming your relationship;

Communicate

Failure to communicate each other’s issues is a bad habit between couples. Communication problems remain to be the most common factor that lead to break ups and divorce. It happens to 65% of couples.

Needless to say, an open and honest communication between you and your partner can solve half of your relationship problems.

Forgiving your partner means letting go of the past, throwing away all grudges and starting over on a clean slate.

Forgive each other

If you want to keep your relationship with your partner, you must both be willing to forgive each other’s shortcomings.

And by forgiveness, it means forgetting the past and starting over. It does not help to bring back the pain of the past in order to justify a current situation. So let bygones be bygones and be sincere about forgiving each other.

Help each other break the unhealthy habits

Vow to make a change in your routine by doing things together. You can start by scheduling regular work outs, running together, doing home improvement projects, planning vacations and going out with other couples to share insights about life and relationships.

You can also invite friends over to your home for a barbecue party or informal dinner and make preparations together. This will allow you to develop a sense of partnership.

Imagine your future together

Try to picture your life together in the future. Nothing works as well as visualizing what your future looks like. This can help you identify your individual goals and your aspirations for your relationship.

Start seeing the best in each other like your strengths, talents, potentials and best traits. Express appreciation for what you can both accomplish individually and as a couple.

Imagining your future together can help you make the present more meaningful. By doing so, you are also empowering each other to become the best persons you can be.

There is no relationship in this world that does not go through challenges and trials.  The truth is that, unconditional love develops during the most difficult times in a relationship.

Sometimes, it’s through mistakes and shortcomings that we finally come to realize how much we love our partners. So learn how to acknowledge your problems and try to find solutions early on to avoid bad habits from taking over.