Healthy Relationships 101: How To Cultivate Productive, Positive Friendships

As many cognitive psychologists and life coaches know, people who maintain strong, healthy relationships oftentimes attain higher levels of success and self-actualization. However, it’s quite common for people to find themselves continually immersed in counterproductive, shallow, or otherwise ineffective relationships that do not metabolize personal growth, professional advancement, or any other good outcome. Luckily, individuals who are ready to begin cultivating healthy relationships should know that there are many strategies they can implement to realize the objective. Here are three of them:

1. Focus On Attaining More Self-Knowledge.

One of the best ways to cultivate healthy relationships is by focusing on attaining more self-knowledge. This approach is imperative because everyone doesn’t have the same definitions for terms like “health” and “relationships.” Moreover, there is no general consensus regarding what a healthy relationship is nor how it should be sustained. Yet when you go through the ongoing, intense process of acquiring and maintaining a deep understanding of who you are, an authentic answer that comes directly from your own heart and mind will likely surface. You may define a healthy relationship as one in which you feel you can share intimate details of your personal and professional life with the other individual without hesitation or concern that they will judge you or share the data with other people. Other people think that talking about anything under the sun is imprudent and therefore rash rather than healthy. You have to decide what types of actions and attitudes should be integral to the relationships you’re trying to form and maintain for the purpose of ensuring that they are healthy. Thus doing the work of attaining self-knowledge is the precursor to the cultivation of healthy relationships.

2. Become A Healthier Person.

If you’re really serious about cultivating healthy relationships, make sure that you implement strategies that will help you become a healthier person. This approach is important because when you are constantly dealing with the psychological and physical outcomes of poor health, your ability to connect with people in an authentic, positive way is severely limited. For example, people who are constantly grappling with illnesses are typically subject to mood instability which results in angry outbursts, vacillation, enervation and irritability. However, it could be that they are lashing out because there is an underlying issue causing them stress that needs to be dealt with first. For example, men who are struggling in the bedroom might have taken a real knock to their confidence as a result of this – ideally, they should go and make an appointment at somewhere like this ED Clinic Houston, but even seeking help is difficult for some.  Regardless of the issue, when you communicate with other individuals in a manner that involves going off on them or constantly canceling dates because you’re upset or enervated, the relationship will not be healthy. Yet when you implement wellness techniques that promote great outcomes like more energy and a regular release of serotonin which engenders sustained feelings of happiness, you’re more likely to interface with other individuals in a loving, positive manner.

3. Accept Being Alone.

In many cases, people go through the intense yet rewarding work of attaining self-knowledge and pursuing mental and physical well-being only to find themselves disappointed when they start trying to build healthy relationships with others. The key to success here is two-fold. First, accept that you’re not going to connect with everyone you meet in an authentic, dynamic manner that results in the development of a deep relationship. Second, don’t settle for less than the meaningful relationship you’re seeking. In many cases, people have found that they have had to accept being alone for several weeks or months until the right individual or community revealed itself to them. Don’t be afraid to be alone, and use that time to continually improve upon yourself so that you can get things done in an expedient, excellent manner while simultaneously becoming the type of individual who can positively contribute to the world around you.

If you ever get serious about tapping into the power of being alone for extended periods of time, consider the value of using some of your “alone time” to exercise. Doing so can be incredibly empowering because exercise enables you to attain deeper levels of body awareness while simultaneously keeping you physically fit and healthy. There are many ways that you can jump into the world of fitness. One is by learning more about equipment such as the exercise board by visiting a website such as SmartSquat.

Conclusion

If you’re ready to begin cultivating healthy relationships that are mutually beneficial and rewarding, know that you can do it. Use some or all of the techniques discussed here to get on the road to maintaining and growing relationships that are predicated on holistic wholeness and authentic connection.