Are you in a healthy relationship?

I had an epiphany about personal development and the importance of healthy relationships. I was thinking to myself about ways in which I could make my own personal development journey and the personal development journies of others a lot more effective and result-yielding, then it hit me like an annoying little kid throwing snowballs at my face on a brutally cold Winter day.

The single most thing that makes our personal development vigorous are healthy relationships. A person cannot get very far in life on the totem pole of becoming a better person continuously every day (or as I like to put it, kicking ass every day) if your relationships are negative or even stagnant. We need a way in which we can express ourselves with the personal development techniques that we learn, and that way is by catalyzing healthy relationships with the 10 characteristics of a healthy relationship that I am going to outline.

Healthy relationships that allow you to grow spiritually, financially, and so on are important because you need a playground in which you can put what you have learned about personal development into actual practice. Having knowledge without applying it in your life begets no fruits whatsoever. Napoleon Hill stated it best when he wrote in Think and Grow Rich, “The secret is in the application, not in the knowledge itself.” Therefore I can conclude from Mr. Hill’s words that a smart person is one who applies his or her knowledge and begets power, wealth, and the advancement of humanity.

I now present you with the 10 characteristics of a healthy relationship:

1. Happiness — Healthy relationships are happy relationships. Humor, jokes, and silliness are commonplace in healthy relationships. Humor is good because it triggers laughter and laughter is good because it has been proven to have worthwhile health benefits. Life is not about being serious. Life is ultimately about growing as a person and growing as a person calls for happiness. Growing as a person and happiness are one in the same just as the other characteristics I am going to reveal to you about healthy relationships.
2. Responsibility — Good people of healthy relationships are responsible people who do not throw all of their problems upon another in the relationship. Responsibility is a tremendous factor in every kind of relationship because if there is no responsibility in one member of the relationship, the other person will grow tired of the relationship, plain and simple. Being responsible lets your business partnership, staff, marriage, squad, etc. thrive, while a lack of responsibility causes your relationships to go sour. Being a responsible person breeds success in all types of relationships!
3. Positive Outlook — Each person in a healthy relationship should always be positive. No matter how adverse circumstances become, each person of a relationship must understand that unfavorable circumstances are transient and with the right attitude and action, horrid, undesirable circumstances can be obliterated. Whining and bitching are not having a positive outlook in life and healthy relationships do not condone those things. Having a positive outlook is also not looking back on unfortunate events of the past. Success does not breed happiness. Happiness breeds success.
4. Insults Are Nonexistent – In healthy relationships that are headed for success, insults are nonexistent. Insulting someone only shows your lack of satisfaction for problems or unmet needs or desires in your own life, so there is absolutely no need to insult others when you could be doing something to better yourself by tending to your own business. You should never insult those within any type of relationship you are a part of. If the relationship would be better if it were no longer, then terminate your participation in the relationship, but do not insult anyone because I am sure you know of many positive and liberating ways to use that energy.
5. Teamwork — The bread and butter of all healthy relationships are teamwork. Teamwork is actually the whole point of a healthy relationship being formed in the first place when you think about it. Keep in mind also that using one another is not teamwork, but working in genuine consistency with one another to achieve a common goal is teamwork. Healthy relationships require each member to be a team player.
6. Loyalty – Healthy relationships require members who are absolutely loyal to one another. If one member of a relationship goes behind the other’s back, then that relationship is not genuine and not built upon a solid foundation of trust and unity and it will eventually collapse, and if it does not collapse, it will see many distraught days. Relationships that are going to be healthy relationships are the ones were its members are loyal to one another.
7. Kindness — Healthy relationships are built upon kindness. A relationship without kindness is a relationship that is prone to hard feelings and difficult times. People look forward to kindness in their lives. A relationship with kindness is golden. If you are not normally a kind person, then try being super kind to people who you interact with and just watch the positive changes in your life happen. I remember when I was in English 2 (or sophomore English) in high school and a very nice woman taught the class. My English 2 class was actually my favorite class in high school just because of the teacher’s personality (well, that, and my knack for writing of course). Kindness touches people!
8. True To Feelings — It is wise and helpful to stay true to your feelings in all relationships. Burying your feelings may cause unintended negative outlashes against a person in a relationship in which you are a part of. Staying true to how you feel, being open with others about how you feel, and finding a solution to your negative emotions is the key to having a healthy relationship.
9. Definite Purpose – Not having a definite purpose is usually the downfall of any one person. If you do not have a definite purpose for your life, then you may get caught up in activities that are not on the “up and up.” If you have an extremely specific purpose for your life, then you are already aboard the train of success. Having a purpose for your life and a plan to back it up will instantly improve your life. Only losers of life do not have a purpose in life and losers are the people who cause relationships to go sour.
10. Motivation — In healthy relationships, everyone is a motivator. You should motivate a person who is a part of a relationship that you are in. Too often do people back down in the face of adverse circumstances, but having a motivator can make all the difference. Having a motivator can sometimes be the difference between a success story and a sob story.

Now that you know the 10 characteristics of a healthy relationship. I hope you take these 10 characteristics of a healthy relationship and implement them in your current relationships. Knowledge without application is dead!