The 15 Building Blocks of Relationships

Based on my experience and research, I have compiled a list of the 15 Building Blocks of Relationships. They are the specific and required elements that comprise healthy and fulfilling relationships. I present them in alphabetical order and not in any hierarchical order, because only you can determine the order of importance for the building blocks in any given relationship.

That is, the relevancy, importance, and impact of each building block will vary from one relationship to the next, depending on your answers to these three questions:

  1. What you are willing to contribute to the relationship?
  2. What you are hoping to gain from the relationship?
  3. What changes, if needed, are you willing to make?

The 15 Building Blocks in a Relationship are:

  1. Accommodation (adaptation, adjustment, compromise, and concession)
  2. Appreciation (thankfulness, gratitude, acknowledgment, recognition, regard, and esteem)
  3. Commitment (engagement, involvement, pledges, vows, bonds, and agreements)
  4. Communication (imparting thoughts, feelings, ideas, disclosing, sharing, and revealing)
  5. Discord (expressing anger, frustration, and other negative feelings in non-destructive ways)
  6. Empathy (vicarious experiencing of thoughts, feelings, emotions, and attitudes; understanding by putting oneself in another’s position)
  7. Expectations (anticipating, high probabilities, and looking forward to certain things happening)
  8. Forgiveness (absolution, reconcilement, and contrition)
  9. Honesty (integrity, honor, and truthfulness; an absence of deceit and fraud)
  10. Kindness (compassion, tenderness, helpfulness, consideration, and patience)
  11. Predictability (anticipating in advance with some surety of what to expect and what is going to happen)
  12. Respect (esteem, being held in high regard, and thought highly of; listened to carefully and thoughtfully)
  13. Space (having the physical and emotional latitude to do things, to be with other people, and to pursue interests alone)
  14. Trustworthiness (truthfulness, reliability, and dependability; counting on someone and banking on them; believing they’ve got your back)
  15. Values (holding ethics, standards, principles, moral codes, and ideologies that are honorable)