Do you want to improve your relationships? Would you like your significant other to understand you better? Would you like to understand yourself better?

Write a user manual for yourself.

All the devices and software we use come with user manuals that teach us how to use them. Human relationships are far more complex, yet we dive into them without any instructions.

A relationship user manual can explain to others what a satisfying relationship for you looks like and how to achieve one—because we are all different, and so many relationship mistakes happen because we make assumptions or guess incorrectly what each other needs.

Relationship user manuals are used in a variety of contexts, including team collaboration, management, romantic relationships and even military leadership.

The My Relationship User Manual template, which you can download below, has been compiled after hours of research into different aspects of relationships and how others have created their own user manuals.

Use this tool to describe who you are, how you interact in relationships and what you are looking for in love and sex. 

The tool is divided into 5 sections:

• My Self
  Where you describe who you are, from your upbringing & beliefs to your priorities & personality.
• My Relationships
  Where you describe how you like to communicate, connect and handle conflict, and what stresses you out and how people should interact with you when this happens.
• My Love
  Where you describe what love & romance means to you, your needs around security & fidelity and your struggles & strengths.
• My Sexuality
  Where you describe what flirting & sex means to you, how sex ties into your emotions and what turns you on or turns you off.
• Resources
  Where you include articles, books, quotes and other notes that can help others understand and interact with you better.

Use the template as a tool merely to gain insight into yourself, or to share with others so they learn how to have a more successful relationship with you.

Finally, this template is just the first version of the tool. Please provide feedback on what you found useful and what you didn’t so it can continue to be improved.