In order for a relationship to strive and thrive, both partners need to set clear goals for its success. The majority of couples enter relationships with a vague idea of what they want to achieve. They have difficulty identifying their long-term or even short-term goals. With a new year, it's time to sit down with your partner and establish healthy relationship goals that can be agreed upon by both people in the relationship.

Take an evening to sit down with pen and paper and answer a few key questions to make sure that you set your relationship goals so they continue to grow with love. Start by answering the following questions:

• What do we need to do to communicate with one another on a daily basis?
  
• How do we maintain our mutual intimacy in the relationship?
  
• How long do we intend our relationship to last? Do we plan to get married?
  
• How do we show respect for each other in this relationship?
  
• How do we support each other and foster mutual growth?
  
• How can we delegate the maintenance tasks so that neither partner feels that they are doing more than their fare share?
  
• What will we do to keep the fun in our relationship?
  
• How will we approach problems in our relationship?
  
• How will we deal with differences of opinion and solve problems?
  
• How should we handle fights and bring them to a healthy resolution?
  
• How do we maintain our individuality and arrange our schedules so that we can pursue our unique, individual interests and still spend quality time together?
  
• How should we promote each other's physical health?
  
• How should we handle jealousy, a sense of competition or any resentment toward one another?
  
• How committed are we to setting up time to keep our relationship on track?
  
  Rebecca Brody is a life empowerment coach in New York City. Her area of expertise is in relationship coaching. She is a graduate of Vassar and Ipec and has trained with the Relationship Coaching Institute. She is ICF certified and has been studying social interaction, relationships and coupling for over a decade. To work with coach Brody, contact Brody@theluvcoach.com or go to www.theluvcoach.com