#8 Say “Good night” every night, regardless of how you feel
This tells your partner that, regardless of how upset you are with him or her, you still want to be in the relationship. It says that what you and your partner have is bigger than any single upsetting incident.

#9 Do a “weather” check during the day
Call your partner at home or at work to see how his or her day is going. This is a great way to adjust expectations so that you’re more in sync when you connect after work. For instance, if your partner is having a lousy day, it might be unreasonable to expect him or her to be enthusiastic about something good that happened to you.

#10 Be proud to be seen with your partner
Happy couples are pleased to be seen together and are often in some kind of affectionate contact - hand on hand or hand on shoulder or back. They are not showing off but rather just saying that they belong with each other.

The worst thing to do is to forget to introduce your partner when you bump into a friend or colleague when you're out about town. This sends the wrong signal to your partner that he is not your significant other and you are embarrassed to show him or her off to others.

Happy couples have different habits than unhappy couples.

A habit is a discrete behaviour that you do automatically and that takes little effort to maintain. All it takes is 21 days of daily repetition of a new behaviour so that it becomes a habit. So select one of the behaviours in the list above to work on proactively for 21 days to cultivate a habit that will make you happier as a couple.

And if you fall off the wagon, don’t despair, just apologise to your partner, ask their forgiveness and recommit yourself to getting back in the habit.

Part 1 << Part 2 <<