1. Love makes a difference

“It’s your unlimited power to care and to love that can make the biggest difference in the quality of your life.” – Tony Robbins

It’s true that love extends your life, lifts depression and has plenty of other health benefits. But the most important benefit of all is the feeling of total fulfillment it can create. “The secret to living is giving,” says Tony – giving love, giving time and giving empathy to those around you.

2. Love fulfills our deepest needs

“Love is the oxygen of life; it’s what we all want and need most.” – Tony Robbins

The need to be loved and feel understood is a fundamental need, as vital to life as air or water. Love can fulfill many of the 6 human needs, including both certainty and uncertainty, significance, contribution and, of course, human connection.

3. Love is the greatest partnership

“Life’s not about me; it’s about we.” – Tony Robbins

Part of love’s power comes not from your relationship making you feel significant, but from the contribution you make to your partner. Caring for others is just as essential to living a fulfilling life as being cared for, and a healthy relationship can help you fill both those needs.

4. Love is about being vulnerable

“When we love completely we feel alive, but when we lose love, the pain is so great that most people settle on connection, the crumbs of love.” – Tony Robbins

Relationship quotes often focus on the “high” of falling in love, but losing love can be just as dramatic. In the 5 Disciplines of Love, the second is courage and vulnerability. Don’t let a loss of love in your past prevent you from being vulnerable – that vulnerability will bring you closer together.

5. Every problem is an opportunity

“Every problem is a gift – without problems we would not grow.” – Tony Robbins

Growth is another of the 6 human needs, and it applies to relationships as well as to your personal life. Seeing the problems in your relationship as opportunities for growth helps you change your perspective and focus your energy toward solutions.

6. Relationships must grow

“You’ve got to find a way to constantly improve the amount of joy, passion and nourishment that’s happening within you and for the person you’re in a relationship with.” – Tony Robbins

Don’t wait for problems to occur before you focus on growing your relationship. Keeping the passion alive is a conscious decision, and it takes commitment. It also takes introspection. Look within yourself, then create a shared vision with your partner.

7. Relationships are about giving

“The only way a relationship will last is if you see your relationship as a place that you go to give, and not a place that you go to take.” – Tony Robbins

It’s easy to celebrate your relationship with love quotes, but it’s much more difficult to fix a broken bond. The most important thing to remember is that creating fulfilling relationships is as much about giving as it is about getting. Changing your perspective is essential to regaining trust and love.

8. Always put your partner first

“The number one rule is: my lover comes first. If you’re in love, you put their feelings and needs before your own.” – Tony Robbins

When you’re in the thick of relationship problems, it’s easy to play the blame game. But you must stop punishing your partner and start putting them first if you hope to reconnect. Rather than complaining about things your partner does, ask yourself how to better support them.

9. Your differences make you stronger

“What makes a relationship work is things in common, what makes it passionate is that things are very different.” – Tony Robbins

Like anything in life, relationships are all about balance. Human attraction is driven by polarity – different and complementary energies – that each person must accept in order to find true connection. Those in happy relationships appreciate and embrace their partner’s differences.

10. Never lose the butterflies

“Do what you did in the beginning of a relationship and there won’t be an end.” – Tony Robbins

This is the single most important advice to keep your relationship thriving. In the beginning, relationships are free-spirited, accepting and exciting – both people are in a beautiful state. As it progresses, it takes a conscious effort to remain in that state, but it’s worth it.

11. Relationships are everything

“The quality of your life is the quality of your relationships.” – Tony Robbins

Your relationships reflect back on you like a mirror. Want to know your beliefs, your motivations and how you think of yourself? Just look at your relationships. Build relationships based on mutual trust, respect and compassion, and you’ll get those things back in abundance.

12. Share your love, however you can

“Remember: courage, unused, diminishes. Commitment, unexercised, wanes. Love, unshared, dissipates.” – Tony Robbins

Maybe you haven’t found romantic love – yet. Don’t let that stop you from living with purpose, giving to others and sharing your love however you can. When you approach the world with love and gratitude, it opens up to you in ways you never thought possible. When you don’t, you can become closed off and unfulfilled.