This guide will discuss how to improve your marriage. Being married is a lot of work and when in trouble can negatively affect every aspect of your life. This guide will review how to improve your marriage in a simple step-by-step methodology.

Relationships are in a constant state of change. As a result of this constant change, it is difficult for people to give reliable marriage advice. Worse, it is difficult for those having marriage problems to apply advice that has been given. Relationship councilors, psychologists and other experts review a relationship and then teach the couple strategies to help them solve problems as they arise.

Many people want to believe that there is a simple magic solution that can be quickly applied to solve complicated marriage problems. All relationships, including those between two people who are married are in a constant state of change.

1. Listen to your partner.
2. Guess what he/she wants and ask if that guess was correct.
3. Communicate. Talk about anything.
4. Don't take your partner for granted.
5. Do something nice for no reason every week
6. Improve your sex life by talking about it.

Chances are, if you're reading this article, you're already married. However, just in case you aren't, or if you're in a position where you're trying to give advice to those who aren't, there are several things you can do to improve your marriage before it even starts.

1. Talk openly about your goals, dreams and aspirations
2. Develop a budget. Review this guide about how to make a budget and develop one that works on percentages so that as your salary changes, you don't have to recreate your budget.
3. Use a bulletin board to tack up images and notes about things that you want. It could be a vacation, a new car, or a home in the country. Making these things physical and showing them to the other person while cataloging them is an effective method of communication.
4. If you're having any trouble communicating with your partner before you get married, now is the time to receive professional councilors. Councilors can teach a couple how to work together and lay out strategies that can teach you how to solve small problems that turn into large problems in the future.

Romancestruck.com has the following 5 tips for a happy, healthy marriage:http://www.romancestuck.com/marriage-advice.htm

1. Never assume.
2. Compliment more than you criticize.
3. For each time you vent about your husband/wife to your friends, tell three positive stories.
4. Remember that it is ok to do things differently (e.g. there is more than one way to peel a potato or fold the laundry).
5. Always make time for the two of you.

Many family councilors and psychologists will tell you that communication is the key to every human relationship. Marriage is one of the most complex, dynamic and rewarding relationships that one will be involved in.

Terry Northcutt, the Director of Marriage Enrichment Programs at Family Dynamics Institute in Tennessee outlines 5 reasons why communication is important.http://www.familydynamics.net/Communication.htm

1. Good communication in marriage is respectful.
2. Good communication in marriage is quantitative.
3. Good communication in marriage is a two-way street.
4. Good communication in marriage probes for more insight.
5. Good communication in marriage is honest.

While these may sound slightly erroneous, I encourage you to read Northcutt's article titled Why Communication in Marriage is Key to find out more.

The last element to a successful marriage is intimacy.

Sex and intimacy are different and sometimes separate things for many people. It's important to realize that while sex can sometimes seem distant with your partner, it always means something.

Maintaining a healthy and active sex life is a key indicator to the health of a relationship.