Successful relationships are built on the strength of trust, mutual respect, individuality, and most importantly, communication. Long-term relationships require timely maintenance to thrive. Good communication is vital to the sustainability of any relationship. Conversely, if a communication gap persists between two people in a relationship, it is impossible to save the relationship without one of the partners taking the initiative to bridge the communication gap. This is a fact that everyone is well aware of, but putting your ego aside and being the first to initiate communication in the event of a conflict, or even a small argument, is not an easy task. Therefore, to maintain a long-term relationship it is essential to develop good communication skills and humility. The seven golden rules of communication to maintain and sustain your relationship are given below.

1. Listen to your partner, let him talk. You may not agree with his opinion, but as an equal in the relationship, give him the opportunity to express his thoughts and views.
2. Don’t say the first thing that comes to mind. She thinks and then she talks. Words once spoken can never be taken back, so speak up, but whatever you need to say to your partner, say it in a nice way. Avoid saying anything rude and hurtful.
3. Don’t play the blame game. Take responsibility for your mistakes, do not blame other people or circumstances or your bad luck. If you’ve made a mistake, there’s nothing wrong with admitting it. It is in human nature to make mistakes. Don’t blame the other person or what they said or did for their behavior.
4. Don’t jump to conclusions. Don’t make assumptions. Just because your partner is late from work doesn’t necessarily mean they’re having an affair; if he doesn’t eat too much, it doesn’t necessarily mean he doesn’t like what you’ve cooked. You can rarely really understand what was the intention behind someone’s actions. You will base your conclusion on her own experience rather than your perspective of the situation.
5. Don’t be critical. It’s not easy to make an opinion without being biased or critical, but try to base your arguments on actual facts and incidents rather than what you felt and thought.
6. Be practical. Don’t let your emotion be responsible for your behavior. Feelings need to be acknowledged, but don’t base your decisions on them alone. Emotions are tricky and make you say and do things you shouldn’t. So be practical, don’t react impulsively but make a determined decision about how to respond.
7. It is not enough to forgive and forget. There may be times when you and your partner have had an argument, but after a while you just start talking without acknowledging the problem and with some resentment. So acknowledge the problem, try to discuss it. Humble yourself and ask for forgiveness, even if you feel like it wasn’t your mistake. Your partner will also realize their mistake and make amends.

More than 50% of all marriages in the United States fail and end in divorce, and the most common reason for this failure is communication problems. So if communication problems are also a problem between you and your partner, use the above strategy to resolve conflicts and enjoy a longer lasting relationship with your partner.