The Olympics are just around the corner, so we’re taking a look at the 10 major hurdles in a Relationship and helping you to tackle them and make your relationship the best of the best.
Although we all enjoy lavish gifts from time to time, it’s the small romantic gestures that keep a Relationship going and continue to push a relationship from strength to strength.
We’ve teamed up with relationship expert Jo Hemmings for tips on helping to keep your romantic journey on top form.
Understanding what you want
If you have an impossibly long ‘shopping list’ of must-haves or have no idea of what kind of person you want to date, then you may end up on a fruitless search to find the right partner. While keeping an open mind, you should think about just three non-negotiable attributes that you want in a partner. Sense of humour, intelligence and sporty, for example.
First date
You’re bound to be feeling nervous before a first date. Preplanning it helps unburden you of the anxiety of wondering how and when it will end. If you like each other, you can fix to meet up again. If not, then it’s only been an hour of your time!
Meeting your partner’s friends for the first time
This can be nerve-wracking in a relationship as you just know that they’ll be sizing you up and possibly comparing you to their partner’s exes. Just be yourself, try and relax and be friendly. Look them in the eyes and smile – it works wonders for your own confidence and their first impression of you.
Three months together
There are significant milestones in all relationships, but three months tends to be a make or break time, depending on whether you think the relationship has any real future or simply run its course. It’s worth making sure that you have the more ‘difficult’ conversations around this time, so that you know whether you both think the same way in the long-term. Topics such as whether you want children, want to get married where you might live and other goals and aspirations are the kind of topics you might want to consider.
Meeting your partner’s parents
This is another one of the anxiety inducing moments in a relationship. Will they like you? Will you be good enough for their ‘baby’? Will you like them? Keeping the first meeting light and easy and on neutral territory always helps. For example meet them for a meal in a restaurant, rather than going to their home or them to yours, so that you both feel on equal terms from the outset.
Your first holiday
Holidays are make or break time for many couples. Spending concentrated periods of time together can test a relationship. Make your first holiday together the best ever by discussing what you both want to do before you get there, setting yourselves a manageable budget that you both agree to stick to and planning some romantic time together whether it’s a city break or a beach holiday.
Knowing they are ‘the one’
Just how do you know that your partner is the person that you want to spend the rest of your life with? Always a tough one this, but it’s a combination of ‘just knowing’ the signs and all important and enduring chemistry between you as well as a mutual respect of the values that you both find most important in life.
Moving in together
Moving in together can sometimes be a bit of a wake up call for couples. It’s often the first time we see some of our partner’s habits and mannerisms that we weren’t really aware of when we were just dating! Setting out a few clear rules – such as the sharing of housework and finances as well as knowing that this is going to be a period of adjustment that we need to adapt to will help broker your new lifestyle!
Getting married
Wahoo, you got there. You’re getting married. Congratulations! Make sure that it really is the best day of your life by both sharing the planning and preparations and taking help from friends and family where it is offered. And remember that you are celebrating the first day of your married life together, not just planning an often stressful and inevitably over budget party!
Keeping the romance alive
You’ve made the commitment and you’re looking forward to sharing the rest of your lives together. Inevitably, there will be ups and downs in your relationship, but one way of keeping that all-important spark alive is by still being romantic with each other. It’s the little gestures of love, affection and consideration that make a long-term relationship special and enduring.
For more tips on how to keep your romance alive, you can visit Zoosk.co.uk. Zoosk is the romantic social network that helps members create and share their romantic journeys, with millions of members from around the globe enjoying the service each month
You can also use Zoosk’s Couple Profiles, which allows you to document the romantic journey that you and your partner have shared and continue to share.
Members can easily access Zoosk’s services from its website, its Facebook app, mobile devices, and a downloadable desktop application.
by Cara Mason
find me on 
and follow me on 
