A common mistake that those in relationships make is that they believe that their partner does or should have a complete and thorough understanding of who they are.  We hold our partners accountable for knowing what we want from life, what we need from them, and we trust that they understand our goals.  After all, we’ve touched upon these topics in our talks before; they should know these things by now!

No matter how much you may love another person and regardless of how “in sync” you think you may be, one thing’s for certain: your partner isn’t “you”, and no matter how close a couple may be, your partner will never be able to completely understand you 100% of the time.  This realization is key for those who know how to avoid drama in relationships, and they are able to navigate relationships much more smoothly by doing these three things:

1. They Are Open to Addressing Concerns

Many of those in relationships mistakenly believe that in order to avoid any “relationship drama”, they need to keep any negative feelings or concerns to themselves.  this actually has an adverse affect on relationships, often blowing up down the line and becoming a far greater problem then it ever needed to be.

If you want to know how to avoid drama in relationships, you need to be comfortable in expressing any concerns you may have in an open and communicative manner. This means:

• Speaking calmly
• Being accepting of your partner’s ideas or concerns
• Maintaining eye contact
• Communicating without judgement

2. They Share Their Needs

A lot of couples say that they feel neglected and unfulfilled in their relationships, which can lead to the dreaded relationship drama.  Knowing how to avoid drama in relationships means knowing how to express your needs. All too often we believe that our partners should “know” or “understand” what we need, when in reality they have no idea how they can help, or that there’s even a problem at all.

Take the time to sit down with your partner and talk about what you need to feel happy and fulfilled in the relationship or in life in general. It’s not always easy, but not taking the time to share what your needs will lead to resentment and can cause permanent and irreparable damage to your relationship.

3. They Create “Win-Win” Compromises

There’s a misconception out there that “compromising” with your partner means “losing” something, when this is actually the opposite. Compromise in a relationship should mean feeling good in the gains of the compromise and not feeling as if you’re sacrificing or losing something that is important to you. To know how to avoid drama in relationships is how to create “win-win” negotiation situations, which means blending the goals and wants of yourself and your partner and brainstorming together to come up with a reasonable solution that leaves both parties satisfied.