1. Don’t settle for less just because it’s available. I think all of us have settled at least once for a relationship we knew wasn’t working. This could be even in friendships where your friends are toxic and only bring drama into your life. If you improve your self-love, you come to realize that no person is worth losing your happiness. You don’t have to be quick to person off as Cardi B would say but at least if you notice a bad pattern, you should be strong enough to say I deserve better.
2. Don’t try to force something to work despite red flags. Again I can raise my hand for partaking in this one as well. I’ve dating people who I knew had some qualities that I didn’t like as I was ignoring those red flags because overall, they were “nice guys”. Don’t fall in the trap of rationalizing people’s behavior. If they have bad habits and are not wiling to change, be strong enough to let them go.
3. Don’t allow someone to not prioritize your presence in their life while you have made them a priority in your life. Simply stated, you can’t force someone to love you let alone love you the right way. If someone thinks that texting you once in a while and never consistently making an effort to be in your presence, then nip that in the nub. I’ve dated a workaholic who was like this so due to his work schedule, we couldn’t plan things ahead like vacations etc. However, it came to a point where I realized if this person is not really prioritizing me right now when we’re young with no kids, then things will even be worse if we get married. So another tip would be to analyze somebody’s behavior now and put it in perspective of your future married life.
4. Don’t date someone who is only focused on the physical you unless that’s what you’re looking for as well. I think this is especially relevant in the summer season where people are just looking to have fun and not be tied down. If you ignore this rule what usually ends up happening is you falling for someone who is not emotionally available. Be true to yourself and know what you’re looking for so you don’t just accept whatever comes along.
5.  Don’t accept someone who doesn’t know how to love you through your love languages. There’s a questionnaire you can take to learn what your top love languages are (I will leave the link below). For example, my top love languages are “acts of service”, “receiving gifts” and “words of affirmation”. I usually make it a point now to share my love language information with the person I am with so they know what type of love really resonates with me. Vice versa, I also ask that they complete the questionnaire so I can know theirs as well. I will admit that despite sharing this information, some people still don’t step up to the plate because they are not romantic enough or are just not trying. So once you recognize that someone isn’t making the effort to love you the way you want to be loved, you should be courageous enough to walk away and look for something better. 🙂 ❤

Love language questionnaire link (Free) : http://www.5lovelanguages.com/profile/