Marriage is like a car, many components come together to ensure the smooth running of the car. There are so many variables to marriage but one important variable is “the little things that matter”.
These little things to make a big difference in your marriage might look so unimportant and look like they are not a big deal but at the same time, they contribute to enhancing the quality of your marriage.
These little variables such as the little things to make a big difference in your marriage would make your other half look at you more fondly, fall more in love with you, become more intimate with you, and understand you in a way that no one else does.
What Are The Little Things That Keep Your Marriage Stronger Everyday?
The little things that keep your marriage stronger every day are intentional and thoughtful actions, such as making breakfast for your mate, helping your other half with chores, offering beautiful words of affirmation, listening to your partner, being there for your mate, and gifting your significant other thoughtful items.
18 Little Things To Make A Big Difference In Your Marriage
These little things to make a big difference in your marriage are exactly the things that you need to be a better lover.
1. Expressing Gratitude Daily
Your significant other is human and has flaws, deciding to focus on the flaws would make you always criticize them. In contrast, when you choose to focus on their good parts and appreciate them consistently, you will make them feel better about themselves. Definitely, they would want to work on themselves and do more for you.
So by expressing your gratitude, you make your mate want to work on themselves such that in one to five years, there is a wide margin of growth.
2. Active Listening
One of the little things that make a big difference in your marriage is active listening. There are so many benefits to active listening in marriage and they are;
- Your partner feels loved.
- Your partner feels special.
- Your partner knows that they can trust you.
- Active listening improves your intimacy.
- Active listening makes your bond stronger.
- Your partner sees you as a safe space.
- Your partner is emotionally vulnerable with you.
3. Small Surprises Or Gestures Of Kindness
As a marriage counselor, I am a big fan of small surprises or gestures of kindness because this is one of the ways that you can make your mate feel special. There are many types of small surprises, the most important thing is that these gestures are tailored to their needs and person.
For example, your partner might have been having a rough week at the office, so preparing an extra special dinner would make him smile and feel relaxed. Gestures of kindness touch the heart in meaningful ways.
By the way, if you are looking for nice things to do for your mate, these 100+ nice things to do for your husband are exactly what you need.
4. Regularly Saying “I Love You”
There is a beauty that comes with consistent words of affirmation. This makes your other half more confident, more in love with you, and it puts your mate in the consciousness that there is somebody out there who loves them and cherishes them.
This is one of the little things that make a big difference in marriage because it draws out your mate and makes them want to be with you more.
Need a list of creative ways to tell your partner I love you? I have written different unique ways to say “I love you”.
5. Creating Shared Goals
One of the things you should look forward to doing with your significant other is creating shared goals. The importance of shared goals is that they create a team spirit that when infused into marriage makes couples closer to each other.
Shared goals keep both of you accountable, give you a sense of purpose and direction, and create a sense of togetherness.
6. Regular Date Nights
The importance of regular date nights cannot be overstated. As a marriage counselor, I want you to understand that one of the key factors that can make a significant difference in a marriage is the commitment to regular date nights.
A date night signifies that you do not take your partner for granted and that you are eager to spend time with your significant other. Nothing ignites your partner’s passion and love for you more than this.
When you have regular date nights, it encourages your partner to want to spend more time with you and makes them look forward to these special moments.
In my experience as a marriage counselor, I have observed how regular date nights have helped couples navigate difficult times in their marriage and address issues that might have otherwise driven them apart.
7. Apologizing And Forgiving
Marriage is an institution of forgiveness, and the sooner you understand this, the better. One of the little things that can make a big difference in your marriage is the ability to say “sorry”. Saying sorry is not limited to times when you are wrong; it is also important when you are right.
Additionally, the ability to forgive is one of the little things that makes a big difference in your marriage because when you can forgive your partner for small issues, big issues have nothing on you.
8. Showing Physical Affection
It’s not enough to always say “I love you”, it is also important to show it through constant touch. These can be subtle touches such as holding hands, pecking, kissing, massaging the shoulder or the scalp, or just sitting on your mate’s lap and having regular s#x. Physical affection is one of the little things to make your marriage stronger everyday.
These forms of physical touch would make your partner conscious of the love that you have for him or her.
9. Spending Quality Time Together
Spending quality time together is one of the little things to make a big difference in your marriage. Find any excuse to spend time with your significant other, as it matters a lot.
It does not have to be a date night, it can be a movie marathon, game night, trivia night, or even a cooking class. The most important thing is that you are spending quality time with your other half and making your bond stronger.
10. Communicating Openly About Feelings
Hiding your feelings would make your other half distant from you. Your mate will not know what you are thinking and will assume things. However, when you communicate your feelings openly with your partner, they get to understand you better; you are more into your other half and more in love.
Hiding your feelings is a sure recipe for resentment and bitterness in marriage and it’s one of the fastest ways to disconnect yourself from your partner.
11. Supporting Each Other’s Individual Growth
When you have someone who supports your goals, who helps you become a better version of yourself and ensures that you reach your full potential, you would naturally gravitate to that person because you love the feelings they inspire in you.
One of the little things to make a big difference in your marriage is when you support each other’s individual growth. This is very important because it would make life more beautiful and easier for both of you.
12. Sharing Household Responsibilities
Household responsibilities are an opportunity for you to get closer to your partner. When you both share household responsibilities, you are both caring for each other and these are the little things that make a big difference in your marriage.
Leaving the household chores to one person would make them easily fatigued and will make them feel less loved because you are not trying to ease their pain or make life easier for them.
13. Celebrating Each Other’s Successes
One of the little things you can do to strengthen your marriage is when you celebrate each other’s successes. This is so vital because nobody wants to be with someone who downplays their success or makes them feel like they have not achieved anything.
Even if it’s the small wins, one of the things that celebrating your other half’s success does for you is that it makes your mate more confident to go on and achieve more.
14. Having A Sense Of Humor
There is nothing like a sense of humor to defuse a tense atmosphere. It’s very important to maintain your sense of humor in your marriage because when you don’t maintain a sense of humor, it’s harder to trash out certain issues. Thus, you both are unable to find the little joy in life or cannot maximize the little moments of imperfections together.
A sense of humor in marriage prevents burnout and makes the atmosphere in the home more lively, thus leading to marital satisfaction in both couples.
15. Encouraging Open Communication About Needs And Desires
As a marriage counselor, I encourage couples to always communicate their needs and their desires. For instance, I once had a client who was afraid to tell her husband about her s#xual fantasies, such as making love under the stars and having s#x in a car, including the rough and fast kind of s#x as opposed to the vanilla s#x she was used to with her husband.
As time went on, she became s#xually frustrated because she didn’t know how to communicate her needs. Her desire for her husband began to wane.
The counseling section proved to be productive because she was able to open up about her desires and her husband was more than delighted to oblige her.
One of the little things to make a big difference in your marriage is when you encourage open communication about your needs and desires, this brings you and your significant other closer.
16. Practicing Patience And Understanding
Your other half will not always be at their best and might have some low times. The beauty of showing thoughtfulness, intentionality, and understanding in this situation and extending a hand of kindness to them is that they will see how much you love them and how much you care about them.
This will remind them of how much you are not interested in the perfect person they are rather you delight in their imperfections and you’re willing to support them.
Marriage requires patience and understanding to thrive and one of the little things that will make a big difference in your marriage is when you practice patience and understanding with your mate.
17. Offering Reassurance During Challenging Times
How do you treat your other half when they are going through challenging times in their career, health, and finance?
How you treat your partner says a lot about you and how you see them. One of the little things that would create a world of difference in your marriage during challenging times would be offering reassurance to your partner.
For instance, a client of mine was on the brink of divorce because when he was down financially, his wife was always criticizing him and poking at his self-esteem. This affected him in so many ways that when he finally bounced back, he didn’t want to stay married to her.
18. Making An Effort To Keep The Romance Alive
Making efforts to keep the romance alive might look shallow or may look like it is not a must. However, these little things will keep the fire of passion alive, enhance intimacy, and help reignite the spark in your marriage.
You must make an effort to sustain the romance in your marriage because romance is a vital part of your marriage.
Recap: Little Things To Make A Big Difference In Your Marriage
These little things to make a big difference in your marriage are character traits that would enhance the quality of your marriage so much that your marriage would be the envy of many. Make sure to work and improve on these traits because they guarantee you a better marriage.
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