I heard a woman say that she wished Valentine’s Day could be multiple times a year. When asked why, she replied, “Because it is one time of the year my partner is intentional about our relationship. I’d like that to be the case more often.” She’s right. We need to think about how we are doing in our personal relationships more than once a year. We all can probably work a little more on our intimate relationships and be more intentional. So here are a few tips to get you thinking about how you can boost your partner relationship.

1. Create a love map with your partner. A love map is a way to know your partner more intimately. You track with their personal preferences, favorite things, and more. To do so, you have to ask questions about their likes and dislikes, their experiences and passions. It’s really all about getting to know how that person thinks and feels. Knowing the details of your partner’s life tells them you want to know them. And that builds a good foundation for the relationship.
2. Show affection. There are many ways to do this. Tell them you love them. Touch, cuddle, hold hands, kiss their cheek, rub their back, etc. Touch is powerful and releases hormones that create a sense of bonding.
3. Talk about your partner in fond ways. Some examples of this are tell others how proud you are of them and talk about their achievements and accomplishments. State your appreciation for all they do. Tell them you would choose them all over again and remind them why you love them.
4. Shake it up. When you are in a relationship for awhile, it helps to do something new to boost the excitement. The reason is because novelty stimulates dopamine in the brain. Dopamine helps with feelings of desire and activates the reward centers. So get out of that mundane routine and try a novel thing. It may be something like taking a new class together, cooking a new meal, dinner in front of your fireplace, a weekend away, etc. It doesn’t have to be expensive, just new.
5. No matter what happens, always turn towards your partner. If you want to keep your relationship strong, your partner needs to be your go-to person. The mistake too many couples make it turning away from their partner during times of difficult. This is dangerous because you are shutting your partner out emotionally. And if you turn away, the temptation is to talk to someone else about intimate things. When you do, you are bonding with that person, not your partner. So as difficult as it might seem, turn towards your partner when difficulty comes.
6. Share a spiritual relationship. Couples who share faith and attend church regularly report higher satisfaction in their relationship than those who do not. And couples who share religious practices at home, do even better in the satisfaction category. This means that sharing faith and living it out can make you a strong couple.