While a new relationship can be fun, exploratory, loving and nurturing, it can get irritating, stressful and dissatisfying if the relationship doesn’t live up to your expectations, Says Hirav Shah, Thought Leader and Business Strategist.

When unmet expectations are the number one cause for break ups in today’s relationships, high expectations don’t just affect our love life, but also our career, friendships and goals. This leads to more disappointment and anger. In order to avoid such unpleasantness in relationships, it is important to learn how to communicate, understand and fulfill relationship expectations, adds HIrav Shah.

Meanwhile, Hirav Shah explains 10 things you should expect from your partner for a healthy relationship.

1. Respect

The first and the most important one to expect from your relationship is respect. Treating each other in a respectful way, even when a disagreement arises, is crucial to the health of your relationship. Maintaining this throughout is vital for a happy relationship. Prior to entering into a relationship you should communicate what respect looks like to you and what you will and will not tolerate.

2. Communication is key

Of all the things to expect in a relationship, communication is definitely a big one. It’s necessary that your partner should communicate with you in a positive and constructive way and if they can’t or won’t, then it’s an issue. Effective communication between partners leads to a positive and healthy relationship.

3. Time management

You definitely have the right to expect alone time with your partner. Whether you need to set up weekly date nights or set aside specific time where it’s just you two, one-on-one with zero distractions, then do it. It doesn’t matter how busy your lives are, you should always make time for each other and you should expect that time together from each other.

4. Adequate Affection

Different people show affection in different ways. It’s necessary as a couple, you should discuss your ways of showing affection to each other. Be clear about how you expect affection from your partner. While some people feel uncomfortable with too much physical affection and will prefer showing it in words and actions, it is still very important to experience touch as a romantic couple.

5. An equal partnership

There should be a balance of equality in a relationship. You shouldn’t just expect it but demand it. If one partner earns money more than the other, there should be understanding and balance in the relationship. This isn’t 1950 and it’s more than reasonable to want to be treated as an equal.

6. Emotional and Mental support

When you are in a healthy and grown-up relationship expecting your partner to be with you through all kinds of bad situations is very normal and reasonable. Supporting each other and coming up with solutions and plans to make things better and less painful is what a healthy relationship should be like.

7. Show Compassion

You have the right to expect your partner to be there for you when you are hurting. It is not necessary for your partner to read your mind or be in it with you but being a soft place for your fall is how he/she can show their compassion towards you.

8. Perfection doesn’t exist

Movies, magazines and social media will have a lot to answer for when it comes to creating unrealistic expectations of a ‘perfect’ relationship, partner or life. We become unfair with our partner when we expect them to complete us, read our minds, understand all our feelings and fulfill all our social needs. Such pressure is all too often unbearable. We should expect imperfection from our partner. He/she can’t do everything perfectly for you.

9.Forgiveness

We really do forgive for our sake, no one else’s. It is an act of strength and an essential part of healing because it releases our pain and, crucially, releases the hold the experience once had on us. None of us can change our past experiences, but we can change our perception of them. Grudges, regrets, and resentment poison relationships and lives. We should expect our partner to not judge but to understand and forgive at times.

10. Love is meant to be shown

No one likes to feel they are unappreciated or taken for granted in a relationship. We can’t just assume that our loved ones know how important they are to us, so it’s vital to show them in words and actions. Your partner should appreciate you and express their admiration for you as well as for other people too.

Final Words

You have probably heard the phrase “behind every great man is a great woman.” Of course, nowadays the phrase could also be reversed, but the point is still the same:

The right partner or a spouse can really help bring in a number of amazing influences over one’s life,that will contribute toward their careers in more ways than one.

Good relationships can help make you successful in life and in the workplace“- Concludes Hirav Shah, India’s Most Celebrated Thought Leader.