We all know someone (or have been someone) who disappears off the face of the Earth after they get a new love interest, only to come crawling back around when the relationship ends. Spending every waking second with your new guy is an awful start to a new relationship, and it’s a quick way to lose friends. However, hanging out with your friends isn’t the only thing you shouldn’t quit just because there’s a new man in your life. Here are some others:
- Your job. You can’t rely on a significant other to take care of you for the rest of your life. Even if you end up with a guy who’s willing to support you, that doesn’t necessarily mean that it’s a good thing for the two of you. He may end up resenting you, and if you want to leave, not having a job makes it very difficult to do.
- Talking to your family. They’re your family — treasure them! If a guy can’t stand how close you are to your family, or if he doesn’t want anything to do with them, he’s probably not worth talking to. After all, if you get dumped, it’s your family who will take you back in.
- Working on your life goals. Any guy who tries to convince you to stop working towards achieving a lifelong dream isn’t going to be a good pick for you. Your goals and dreams are what make life worth living. If you keep putting them on hold every time you end up in a relationship, you’re going to be 60 years old and regretting every moment you didn’t spend on making your dreams come true.
- Putting yourself first. You are still numero uno. If you find yourself regularly sacrificing your well-being for the good of others, you’re probably headed down the wrong relationship path. Love isn’t martyrdom.
- Hanging out with friends. If you have to, bring your boyfriend along for the trip. There’s nothing wrong with having a social life outside your boyfriend. Anyone who tells you otherwise probably isn’t in a healthy relationship – or has serious relationship issues that they need to fix. Call your friends, OK?
- Voicing your opinion, even if it conflicts with what your boyfriend believes. Most guys don’t want to deal with a girl who is basically a puppet to whoever dates them. It’s not healthy to mute your own beliefs to please a person, anyway.
- Taking care of your body. Aside from the fact that most guys go into a relationship hoping that the girl they’re with won’t let themselves go, it’s also healthy for you to hit the gym once in a while. You only have one body. You might as well take care of it, you know!
- Having standards. If he’s not treating you well, you need to end it. It doesn’t matter whether you’ve been together for two days or two decades. You need to maintain some serious standards when it comes to what you will and will not accept. When he makes a serious transgression, you will need to make the right choice and kick him out.
- Learning. Learning leads to growth. Growth and evolving is good. You should never quit learning after you get a new boyfriend, friend, or job.
- Questioning things. Taking things that set off your alarm bells at face value is never a good idea. If you feel something is wrong, you may want to question what’s really going on in your relationship or your life. Either way, getting a second, non-judgmental opinion may shed some new perspective on your relationship.
- Enjoying your solitude. Being alone can be very beneficial sometimes. You just can’t curl up with a book during a date, after all.
- Enjoying your favorite food. Any guy who can’t let you have this little life benefit clearly doesn’t deserve you anyway.
- Having confidence in yourself. In a healthy relationship, your guy would want to bolster your confidence and would do so regularly. You shouldn’t lose confidence in yourself when you’re in a relationship. After all, you were good enough to make him fall in love with you, right?
- Enjoying your hobbies. Hobbies enrich one’s life. You shouldn’t have to drop them just because you got a love interest in your life.
- Pampering yourself. Let’s face it, that boy can’t do all the pampering, right? Go out and buy yourself something nice. Keep loving yourself.
