Joy feelings magazine September 2019 Issue | Page 19

takes is saying three of those phrases once a day for one week before
you feel the effects!
Have strong friendships outside of your relationship
Your whole life shouldn’t be only about each other. As soon as you start
to rely on your partner to provide you with everything you want and
need in life, you’re bound to crash and burn. Jon Kleinberg, a computer
scientist at Cornell University, and Lars Backstrom, a senior engineer at
Facebook, conducted a study showing that the weakest relationships
are the ones where both parties share the same number of mutual
friends. So go make new pals on your own!
Spend six more hours together a week
Studies show that couples who clock in an extra six hours of together
time every week, compared to the average relationship, are more likely
to make it to the finish line. You might be thinking, Um, that’s, like, a
whole night of sleep. Not so fast. You don’t have to pull an all-nighter
to improve your relationship. It just takes small gestures every day to
keep the romance going.
Don’t rush into anything
At Emory University, researchers found that the longer a couple dates
before getting hitched, the more likely they are to stay together forever.
It pays to take your time, really get to know each other, and don’t put