5 Ways To Create A Great Environment For Building Trust In A Relationship

Trust is a huge part of any relationship—romantic or not. Without it, you can’t communicate openly, you can’t be honest with someone, you can’t allow each other freedom and autonomy… there are so many parts of a relationship that require trust. If you don’t have trust in your relationship, it’s not going to last very long. And even if it does last, it probably won’t be a happy, healthy relationship.

Trust doesn’t happen overnight. Like all good things, it takes time to build, and requires both people to be committed to building it.

# Define your boundaries

We’re all different, which means we will all have different boundaries when it comes to all matters of a relationship. Defining what these boundaries are early on, and making sure your partner is clear about them will give them the opportunity to know you better, and to respect them.

Boundaries can be related to how much alone time you need, or even what you’re comfortable with in your sex life.

# Be vulnerable

In order for trust to grow, it requires a certain amount of opening yourself up and letting your guard down. There’s a risk of getting hurt or being let down, but in order to get closer to someone and let them prove their worthy of our love and trust, we must put ourselves out there.

This might mean you share your biggest fears or dreams with them, you let them see you without makeup on, or you tell them how you really feel about them.

# Respect each other

The thing about the people we love the most is, because we spend so much more time with them than anyone else, they often end up seeing us when we’re at our worst. We can lash out, blame them, or say something we really don’t mean in the heat of the moment. But do this too many times, and respect can begin to fade fast.

You won’t always be perfect, but you must remember to treat your partner with dignity and respect at all times. If you do something that belittles them or violates that respect, it will become difficult for them to trust you.

# Speak the truth, and listen to each other without judgment

Being able to speak openly and honestly in a relationship is incredibly important. The more we’re able to have conversations where we say how we really feel, the more we’ll trust each other because we feel listened to and understood when we’re in a vulnerable place.

This means that you both promise that you’ll come from a place of only love, regardless of what is said. That means not raising your voice, cutting in, or shutting someone down.

# Keep your promises

This applies to the little things—like picking milk up from the store on your way home; just as much as the big things—like booking that dream trip you said you’d take your partner on for ages.

Every time you break a promise you make, you let your partner down, and they can start to distrust what you say. Every time you keep a promise, it goes a long way to building trust.