May 21, 2014

3 Unique Tricks To Make You The Best Partner Possible

If you found your way to this article that means that you are automatically a phenomenal person.

Seriously.

What kind of person takes time out of their day to try and become an even better boyfriend/husband/partner to their significant other? An awesome person, that’s who.

By following one or all of the following three unique steps I guarantee that you will be a better partner than you were for all of the days in your life leading up to this one.

So try one of these on for size. Your partner will thank you.

Here are three unique tricks to make you into the best partner possible.

1. Become An Expert Listener

By far the two most common complaints that I hear from my female clients are that their partners don’t take the lead often enough, and that they don’t feel like their partners truly listen to them.

The first step in becoming an expert listener is eliminating all other distractions (TV, cell phone, etc.) in your environment and facing them directly. By angling yourself at them and giving them your complete eye contact and attention, it’s so much easier to hear what they want to share with you.

The second step in becoming an expert listener is in understanding what kind of feedback most women are looking for while speaking with their partners.

Men are prone to conversing in two modes: challenging and problem solving. In man world, guys frequently use communication as a means of saying “I’m thinking this thing because it’s a problem… help me solve it”. So when guys hear their partners talking about their days with them, they assume that she must also want her problems solved.

But she isn’t looking for you to solve her problems (most of the time). She’s looking for you to validate and encourage her emotional reality.

The final tip that I will include in this section is that if she happens to tell you about certain things that are coming up for her in her life (like, for example, a hair cut) then mentally catalogue it and write it in your calendar as soon as possible. That way, even if she only gets an inch cut off (which you likely wouldn’t have noticed) you’ll remember to comment on it because your calendar reminded you of the special day.

“Why yes I did get my hair cut! Well aren’t you an attentive and detail-oriented guy!”

2. Become A Random Acts Of Kindness-Ninja

If you’ve been following my website for a while you’ll know that I’m a huge fan of random acts of kindness within the context of your relationship. That is to say, injecting little romantic gestures into your relationship at unexpected intervals can work wonders for greasing the wheels of your overall mutual relationship satisfaction.

Celebrating her birthday or holidays with sweet gestures is one thing, but doing them when she doesn’t expect them? That stuff is golden. Half of the fun is the fact that it’s a complete surprise.

Want some simple tips and ideas?

– Throw her towel in the dryer when she’s in the shower and hand it to her when she’s done so that she has a hot towel to dry off with.

– Stock your fridge with a sampling of her favourite drinks

– Cook her her favourite meal

– Write up a list of 50 things that you love about her and leave it for her somewhere she wouldn’t expect it

– Take her out to an unexpected event that you think she might like (concert, improv, theatre, ballet, etc.)

Whatever the random act of kindness is, make sure that you calibrate it to your partner for maximum effect.

3. Add Value To Her Life, And The Lives Of Those She Loves

A mature, emotionally evolved man is aware of himself, his immediate environment, and his community at large.

Take this mindset into becoming the ultimate partner by consciously looking for ways to add value to the life of your partner, and those that she holds dearest to her.

It’s one thing if you score some brownie points close to home by making your partner a romantic dinner out of nowhere, but it’s a whole other level of “Wow, you really didn’t have to” if you offer to babysit her new niece, or fix her parents’ lighting fixtures.

If the emotional reality of your partners extended network (best friends, family members, etc.) matters to your partner, then it matters to you.

Show you care by not just adding value selectively to her life, but to those of the people she cares about and get ready for a whirlwind of gratitude (don’t do it simply for the approval/validation, but rather because you genuinely like making her happier and more stress free).

Try it out, and see how it makes you feel. My bet… you’ll want to keep doing it just to feel like a deeply generous contributor of value to the world. Her happiness will just be an added bonus.

Want To Be The Ultimate Relationship Partner?

If there’s one thing that I’ve learned from fifteen years of monogamy it’s this… you can stand out from the crowd so easily with just a little bit of intentional energy focused towards your relationship.

But it isn’t satisfying on an internal level to just barely squeeze by the competition… you want to run laps around them!

So go onwards. Love deeply. Love with your full heart. And love with intention.

Dedicated to your success,

Jordan

Jordan Gray
About Jordan Gray

Jordan Gray has been a sex and relationship coach for over 18 years, with his work reaching over 250 million people worldwide. His writing has been featured in Vogue, GQ, The New York Times, Cosmopolitan, Women’s Health, and countless other publications around the world. When he’s not working with 1-on-1 coaching clients or writing a new article, he’s most likely to be found reading a book, working out with his trainer, or spending time with his wife and son on the East Coast of the United States.

Blog

Related

See All
Jordan’s Love List (Books, Music, Food, Sex Toys, & More)
Dec 3, 2015
Jordan Gray
Jordan’s Love List (Books, Music, Food, Sex Toys, & More)
I frequently get asked for recommendations about some fairly random things. And there's never been any neat, simple place to publicize those responses to people. So this year I’m starting a new tradition. Once per year, I’m going to release my new list of favourites. Favourite what, you ask? Favourite...
Continue Reading
The 3 Biggest Obstacles Impeding Men's Development Today
Jun 15, 2020
Jordan Gray
The 3 Biggest Obstacles Impeding Men’s Development Today
If you’re a modern man, you’ve probably noticed how hard it can be to make real progress on your most significant goals. Do you feel like nothing is changing in your life, despite having good intentions? Or like you’re just crawling along in first gear, and not feeling enough traction or aliveness? Or...
Continue Reading
How To Respond When Someone Tells You They’re Feeling Suicidal
Jan 3, 2020
Jordan Gray
How To Respond When Someone Tells You They’re Feeling Suicidal
The topics of mental health and depression didn’t rise into mainstream conversation until a few years ago. While it’s better late than never, this sadly means the majority of us were never openly educated on how to support someone who is struggling and contemplating suicide. Many people were trained...
Continue Reading
4 Things I Learned In 4 Years Of Running My Online Business
Jan 20, 2017
Jordan Gray
4 Things I Learned In 4 Years Of Running My Online Business
January 26th, 2017 is this website’s fourth birthday. Four whole years! If this website was a person it would be walking, talking, and beginning to form its own opinions about the world. It would also pee itself every now and then. I could take this analogy in a lot of different directions, so I’m going...
Continue Reading
The Top 10 Best Articles Of 2016
Dec 26, 2016
Jordan Gray
The Top 10 Best Articles Of 2016
2016 was a massive year of growth for me. Many big wins and many big challenges. On the wins side... I helped more people this past year than I had cumulatively helped in my previous six years of coaching combined, I cultivated a deep sense of community for the first time in my adult life, I lived...
Continue Reading
The 60 Day Radical Self-Care Challenge
Jul 24, 2016
Jordan Gray
The 60 Day Radical Self-Care Challenge
Self-care is often seen as a self-indulgent luxury reserved for people with a high sense of self-importance, and that’s a problem. It's cool to be soooo busy. The societal narrative goes that it's impressive to not have enough time to rest, play, or sleep well. The word 'selfish' has been demonized. The...
Continue Reading