Marriage goals are goals that two people set in their relationship to achieve. They’re useful because they help keep the fire alive in your marriage, so you don’t end up getting stuck in the monotony of everyday life.
Today, we want to share with you some marriage goals that we think will keep your relationship alive and full of excitement, even 10 years into your marriage.
Our hope is that sharing these with you, it’ll help inspire you to establish some healthy and fun marriage goals of your own!
21 Marriage Goals Every Couple Should Set For 2023
1. Always apologize
Apologies are a form of communication that can be very effective in repairing damaged relationships. It’s important to always apologize and recognize when you’ve made a mistake or hurt someone’s feelings.
Apologizing shows that you care about your relationship, the other person, and their feelings.
Apologies are not always easy to give and receive, but they’re an important part of a healthy and happy marriage.
One time my husband said something means about me to my dad, so I called him out on it and he apologized right away. It felt really good to hear him say I’m sorry with sincerity in his voice.
2. Not give excuses
It’s difficult to have time alone with your spouse when you have children and a busy schedule. It is easy to come up with excuses for why you can’t spend time together, but the truth is that it takes effort. Just like any other relationship, a marriage needs nurturing and care.
By setting aside just five minutes a day for your spouse, you will create an environment of love, trust and intimacy. This will lead to stronger feelings for one another and make your marriage goals for 2023 more attainable.
3. Become Each Other’s Best Friend
“Happy is the man who finds a true friend, and far happier is he who finds a true friend in his wife” – Franz Schubert
The chemistry and love between couples are considered the backbone of every marriage relationship. However, even more, critical in a healthy marriage is being each other’s best friends. When you are best friends, you will joke around and cherish each other as long-time buddies do.
4. Don’t lose your temper
It’s easy to get frustrated with your spouse when you can’t seem to get along. It’s even easier to let the anger boil over and lash out. But, if you want a happy marriage this year, then don’t lose your temper.
Keep the lines of communication open, and avoid saying things that might hurt the other person. You should also avoid making assumptions about what they’re thinking or feeling in order to keep from being hurt or disappointed by them.
Finally, if you feel like something is wrong and want advice, try not to ask for it in front of others so as not to embarrass them or make them feel like they have something to hide.
5. Support Each Other’s Dreams and Goals
“The goal in marriage is not to think alike, but to think together” – Robert C. Dodds
Having marriage goals doesn’t mean that your partner won’t have their own specific goals and dreams. When your spouse talks to you about his or her goals this year, make it your goal to listen keenly and patiently.
However impossible or ridiculous the goals may sound, don’t laugh. Instead, encourage your partner, motivate them, and support them in achieving these dreams.
6. Resolve Your Issues in a More Mature Way
There is no perfect marriage. You, no doubt, have had some ‘fights’ with your partner. While regular fights and misunderstandings in a marriage are bound to happen, you can improve how you solve these issues.
Why don’t you set a goal this year to handle your issues more maturely than you did the previous year? The faster and more maturely you settle your misunderstandings, the more trustworthy your marriage relationship will be established.
7. Do Something New Every Month
If you wish to prevent your marriage life from getting into a rut, set a goal to go the extra mile and make your relationship even more exciting.
Melodie Tucker, CPC (www.linkedin.com) comments, “Take a walk and hold hands (nature calms), couple-cook (food fight!), exercise together (tennis or dancing maybe?) or just collect a “Daily Joke” to share. It doesn’t have to be expensive, but if you make the commitment and effort to laugh together as often as possible, it can sweeten your connection and cement your relationship for life.”
8. Share Each of Your Plans
What dreams do you have for the future? What plans does your spouse have? Do you wish to further your education, or does your partner intend to have kids soon? In 2021, make it your goal to share your goals.
Also, when you share your goals, make sure that you are both on the same page. By doing so, you will grow closer to each other and avoid conflicts that could strain your marriage.
9. Love Each Other More and More Daily
Defining unconditional love, Stephen G. Post, PhD, president of the Institute for Research on Unlimited Love, says, “When the happiness and security of another are as real and meaningful to us as our own, we love that person unconditionally.”
Yes, every relationship should set the goal to grow their love for each other. Set a goal to share a love that never fades, always support each other’s decisions, and trust each other more.
10. Start Setting a Budget
The number one reason for most marriage breakups and discords is disagreements about money. You and your spouse no doubt earn different amounts of income. More so, you both have different money-spending habits.
To avoid such common arguments related to money, make it your goal this year to have regular discussions with your spouse about money. Set a budget and agree on making money, spending it, and even saving it for future use.
11. Talk About Anything and Everything
It is one thing to have regular conversations with your spouse, and it is another thing to be able to talk about everything and anything. ‘Anything and everything’ includes even tough conversations and challenging issues.
To talk about everything with your spouse, you can start by setting a goal to nurture your friendship. When your darling becomes your best friend, you will feel comfortable discussing anything and everything with them, even the most challenging subjects.
12. Improve Your Relationship with Your In-laws
Having a cordial relationship with in-laws is very important in marriage; it will prevent many issues and conflicts. However, blending two different families is not as easy as it sounds. It is no wonder, then, that you should set this as your marriage goal this year.
For instance, agree with your spouse that you will always try to see things from your in-law’s perspective. Remember to put your relationship first and support each other without making your partner feel like your relatives are always the priority.
13. Discuss Household Habits
When you get married, you and your partner don’t just become lovers; they also are roommates. Therefore, you will undoubtedly have roommate issues. For instance, while one person may be a neat freak, the other spouse may be a helpless slob.
To avoid any tension about household habits, regularly discuss household chores with your spouse. Angie and Eric Whitehead a couple who have been married for 21 years, say, “We decided to figure out the day-to-day tasks the other hates to do and then swap them. If your spouse does the chore that makes you a complete pile of misery, you’ll appreciate it (and him!) even more.”
14. Improve Your Health
Every new year people set resolutions, such as losing weight, jogging daily, and eating more healthily. If you are the sort that loves setting new year’s resolutions, why don’t you include your spouse instead of setting them alone this year?
For instance, set a similar time to jog together. Agree on what foods you will both eat more or cut on. The point is: when setting health goals, make sure that you and your partner are on the same page.
15. Serve One Another
Another marriage goal you can set for 2021 is to make your partner’s life much more comfortable. Marriage is a compromise. Therefore, please don’t give your partner a mere 50% and expect them to give you 50%; this will only be a loss.
Make it your goal this year to give your partner 100%. Giving 100% of yourself means that you won’t expect anything in return. Submit to your spouse and do everything you can to lighten their responsibilities.
16. Do something special for him
I will try to show him that I am grateful for him, by being more attentive and showing him affection. I will take time to cook his favourite meal on a night when we don’t have any plans.
I’ll also make sure to give him a big hug when he walks through the door after a long day at work. It’s important for me to keep my appearance up too, so I’ll make sure to shower every morning and do my hair every week.
On Sundays, I’ll make it a point of putting together our outfits for the next week in advance so that it’s less stressful when the week starts coming down on us.
Plus, it will be really nice because we won’t need to worry about what we’re wearing during the hectic mornings!
17. Set an Emergency Plan
No one can predict the future. However, with a good plan, you can always be prepared for unexpected events. Therefore, you can set an emergency plan with your spouse as your marriage goal this year.
For instance, think about what you would do if there were a fire, earthquake, tsunami, or flood. What supplies would you need? Buy a go-bag and fill it with all the necessary supplies you would need.
Undertaking this activity with your partner will not only make you ready for any unexpected occurrences, but it will also draw you closer to each other.
18. Build trust
A few marriage goals worth striving for in the New Year are building trust, maintaining physical intimacy, and keeping a flexible schedule. Building trust is important to any long-term relationship, but it’s especially vital to a marriage.
After all, when you’ve spent so much time together over the years and shared so many ups and downs with each other, it can be difficult to know what your partner is really thinking or feeling at any given moment.
Not only does this affect how you interact on a day-to-day basis (i.e., if you’re wondering whether or not your spouse is mad at you), but it also affects how you share your feelings and thoughts with each other in a way that feels safe.
19. Try different things together
– Make time for date night and create some long-term marriage goals.
– Try to have at least one new experience together this year like something that you haven’t done before.
– Discuss ideas on how to make your marriage stronger and happier.
– Work on the things that you can do better as a couple instead of the things that are causing tension in your marriage.
– Focus on making memories together and stop focusing so much on the little things in life.
– Put more effort into communicating with each other about what’s important to you both as a couple.
– Spend less time arguing about minor issues and more time doing activities that bring you closer as a couple.
20. Listen to each other more than you talk
Every marriage is different, but it’s important to make time for each other. One way you can do this is by taking turns listening to each other more than talking.
Instead of one person always being the listener and one person always being the talker, you should switch roles every day or so.
It will give you both a chance to speak your mind without feeling like you’re talking over each other, and it will also help build a stronger relationship because you’ll be able to better understand what your partner is thinking and feeling.
21. Tell your spouse how much they mean to you, every day
To my spouse, you are the person I love most in this world and it is because of you that I am able to be so happy.
Thank you for being there when I need someone to talk to, thank you for being patient with me when we disagree on something and thank you for being my rock during hard times. You have made me a better person and made me feel loved.
Thank you for all of your love, patience, understanding and support. I appreciate everything about our marriage relationship goals because it gives us both what we want out of life- companionship and happiness.
I hope that 2023 will be a year where our marriage will continue strong and that we can accomplish all of our relationship goals together with each other as a couple.
Conclusion
Do you wish to give your marriage life, meaning, and direction? If so, then normalize setting marriage goals as a couple. Setting these goals will allow you to spend more time together and even establish good patterns that will go on for the rest of your life.
So, if you wonder what marriage goals to set with your partner this year, the above 17 discussed goals are a start. Make it your goal to converse daily. Become the best companions who can talk about anything and everything.
Share each other’s plans and support one another. Also, set a budget and always resolve your problems more maturely. Keep your relationship fun by doing something new every month. Most importantly, give your partner 100% and let your unconditional love grow more and more each passing day.
Remember, your marriage is not like any other person’s. When you have your own marriage goals, you give your relationship the authenticity and uniqueness it deserves. So take advantage of this new year and start setting your marriage goals today!
What other couple’s goals have you set with your spouse this year? Let me know in your comments.
Also, don’t forget to check out these related articles on making your relationship a success.
How to Have a Successful Monogamous Relationship (7 Pro Tips)
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