By Mary Cipriani, LMFT (mcipriani@sdicouples.com)

Have you made New Year's resolutions for 2022? A lot of us make resolutions for ourselves but what about our relationships? Being intentional regarding good habits for ourselves and our relationships is a good practice to have.

Here are three habits to develop that could bring success to your relationships:

(1) Be intentional about spending time with one another each week. This includes eating meals together, working out together, and spending quality time together. When my son was growing up, every Thursday we had a "meatball madness" dinner and watched the popular TV show Survivor, we called it a date night. This time spent,whether with our spouse, kids, or as a family, helps us to connect and recalibrate together.

(2) Be active. Doing activities together, connects us, keeps us on track with working out and makes it easier to do. I remember when one of my kids was grumpy I would ask to go on a walk together, all of a sudden she became happier and more communicative. My husband and I considered working out together as a date, even if it was early morning. I will always show up when someone else is planning to go work out with me and I end up feeling energized and a great feeling to do it together.

(3) Spend time getting to know each other better. One good tool is the Gottman Card Decks which is a free app for your phones. Do a half or full deck of questions each week and learn things about your spouse that you might not have ever known. This would be a great way to create rituals of connection, experience shared meaning, and have fun at the same time.

Establishing healthy habits is not always easy to do on our own and we can lose motivation. Committing to doing these habits together will not only bring you a renewal of connection, but will give you support and keep you on track with staying active.