10 Ways to Reduce Excessive Conflict In Your Relationships

All relationships face conflicts. No two people are in complete agreement on every topic. So why is important to limit conflict in important personal relationships?

Conflict is an essential part of relationships. Conflict will inevitably happen due to different backgrounds, different personalities and even different perspectives on situations that the two people go through together. Conflict can help two people learn new things, learn about each other and even grow closer together.

However, conflict can be detrimental and negative, if not handled properly. Therefore, it is important to reduce conflict in relationships as much as possible so that relationships can maintain their positive relationships.

What are the causes of conflicts?

Conflicts could happen at unexpected times in relationships or with certain situations. There may be other reasons why conflicts occur in relationships such as disagreements about money matters, bad relationships with others, different opinions on politics and more. Sometimes conflict arises when one person has harmed or wronged another.

How do we avoid conflicts?

Let's talk about 10 techniques to avoid excessive conflict in your important relationships.

1) Be reasonable-the first thing being reasonable should be towards yourself. You need not take matters too personal because there is no point taking things personally especially if one person isn't willing change his/her views or opinions to suit yours. It is okay to have opinions that may not correlate with others but you should bear in mind the other person as a human being too.

2) Accept the inevitable - accepting an unavoidable situation does not mean you are resigning yourself to it. Conflict can be resolved, relationships can go on, people can learn from it and relationships can grow stronger after a conflict has been addressed and confronted.

3) Listen-good listening skills is very essential in relationships especially when one is speaking to another person either directly or indirectly. To effectively listen without bias, take note of every action your partner makes while communicating with them such as body language, tone of voice and proper response to their communication when he/she speaks. It also helps if you wrote down points during conversations so that you can recall what your partner said and have a record of things that he/she has mentioned or brought up.

4) Be open-another important part of relationships is being as open as possible to the other person. It helps in communicating well with each other if both parties in a relationship are open to speaking about problems, concerns or any issue that could cause conflict between them. Make sure no communication is one sided. You need to give equal feedback to your partner and it will help strengthen relationships if not bring out new ideas and opinions on situations.

5) Objectivity-it also helps being objective when dealing with relationships because we often tend to see issues more emotionally than objectively, which may lead us into wrong conclusions at times. Being objective helps relationships in the sense that relationships can be defined by facts and not feelings. Of course, we shouldn't ignore our emotions altogether but being objective helps reduce conflict in relationships because it removes emotion from the issues at hand.

6) Choose your battles-conflict should never exist for no reason, as they say "prevention is better than cure". If there are things you don't agree with or like about an important relationship of yours then it does not mean that there has to be a conflict every time something comes up on the matter. Pick your battles wisely but always try to find something positive out of them nonetheless even if you have different opinions or different requests/demands on the issue itself.

7) Don't give up- relationships are always a work in progress. It would be nothing if relationships weren't constantly evolving and growing better because as human beings we have the ability to change our opinions, perceptions and attitudes towards relationships as time goes by. Never give up on relationships possible so that relationships can maintain their positive relationships.

8) Determine what's the main issue-sometimes conflicts in relationships don't stem from one particular problem itself but rather than bringing up other matters that may not be relevant to the conflict at hand. It is more or less common for things/issues to get out of hands because of this reason therefore it helps if you ask your partner specifically about the main issue before anything else just so you know exactly what's going on between both parties before starting any resolution.

9) Be creative- relationships often grow stale after a while, no matter how much you try to keep them fresh and alive. While it may be difficult at times, relationships can get boring so imagine if both parties involved in the conflict are constantly being creative on ways or solutions to confront the main issue that could cause animosity between partners. Creative solutions always help relationships in the long run because relationships don't have to go stale and die just because one encounters things he/she doesn't like about their partner or has different opinions from his/her counterpart.

10) The art of compromise - "you win some, you lose some" is actually true when it comes to relationships and dealing with conflicts between two people. No relationships should end that way because relationships are based on your individual perceptions of things such as relationships and not how the other person perceives them. The art of compromise is necessary in relationships if one wants to avoid conflicts between him/herself and his/her partner. It helps relationships grow stronger because relationships never last long due to having issues always arise in it or two people disagreeing with each other just for the sake of doing so.

Relationships can be difficult to navigate, but relationships are worth the effort. The tips we've shared will help you get through some of the different stages in relationships and reduce conflict along the way. If your relationship is seeming stale or needs a boost, try implementing these suggestions for more peace at home. Which one have you tried? Let us know!