The secret to a successful relationship, whether you're the couple that agrees 99 percent of the time or the couple with seemingly nothing in common, is EMPATHY. Now you have the skills to brew some up in your relationship.

You develop empathy within a relationship by regularly listening to each other's thoughts and feelings.

Seeing the world from your partner's point of view helps to build closeness as well as respect

One sign is that you assume your partner has the same needs and boundaries as you do and that they experience life the same way as well.

• A relationship without empathy quickly hits a bump.
• A few weeks or months in, you discover your partner is not the person y...

A long term relationship has to be based on more than shared likes and mutual dislikes.

You and your partner may agree 99% of the time, but it's that 1% that can spell disaster if there's no empathy between you.

1. What activities does your partner enjoy? Are they good at what they do? Do they need to excel, or are they content just doing it?
2. What does your partner like about you? What do you think they find irritating?
3. What do you think you could say or do to enhance your partner's lif...

What you need to create empathy is to listen - REALLY LISTEN - to your partner when they speak.

Listening doesn't mean waiting for your turn to talk. It means :

• asking questions if you're unclear about something they have said,