If you're anything like me at the beginning of a new year, we often consider things that we'd like to do better or differently than the prior year. We may contemplate taking better care of our bodies, working out, altering food intake, traveling more or less, cutting back on social media or alcohol consumption. All of these are great things to consider, and I'd like to also invite you to consider that the new year is a perfect time to invest in your most important relationship. This could be your spouse, a parent, or even a friend.

I’ve come up with 5 questions to help you evaluate the condition of that most important relationship and may help give you some direction on where it needs improvement.

1. What would you like to see changed, grow or improve in your most important relationship this year?
2. On a scale from one to 10, what is the level of connection?
3. Is your most important person or partner feeling seen, safe and heard in the relationship?
4. Are you feeling safe, seen and heard?
5. What phase would you say your relationship is in right now as far as closeness, conflict, or withdrawal? If in conflict, is it healthy conflict or destructive conflict where no one wins and someone is left hurting without repair?

Consider scheduling a time with your most important person to talk about some of these questions or the desire to reconnect, grow, or possibly heal that relationship.

If you’re still not sure how to have a conversation like this or still not sure how to grow and emotionally connect, Breaking Free Solutions is here for you. We are ready to join you on your growth journey, meeting you exactly where you're at in life, providing simple but effective tools to help you better connect with yourself and the one you, and if needed, to break out of the negative cycles that block your growth and destroy connection.

Make an investment in your relationships this new year. You won’t regret it!

Happy New Year!