As much as we’d all love for it to be true, relationships aren’t like fairy tales. They take more work than people realize, especially when one or both of you make one of the most common relationship mistakes. Most relationship mistakes have fixes, though, which is a good thing. Because last I checked, there was no manual for a partner who feels misunderstood or a partner who crosses on of your boundaries. It’s a lot of trial and error. A lot of screwing up and forgiving.As a former Domestic Violence Victim Advocate and Planned Parenthood Certified Responsible Sexuality Educator, a big chink of my work was helping couples overcome massive problems. What I learned from this work was that almost all of the giant, seemingly insurmountable problems started off as little problems.

These little problems went unchecked, until they snowballed into something so big, there was almost no recovering.But you’re smart. You know that knowledge is power. And now that you know these common relationship mistakes and how to fix them, you can avoid the rocky road that leads to resentment and anger. You can be on the side of love and positive growth.Not setting up boundaries is probably the biggest, most common problem I saw in relationships. If we don’t teach each other how we want to be treated, they won’t know. Boundaries are essential to keeping the peace and being respectful in a relationship.