6 Keys to Showing Your Husband Respect

Let’s face it: Who doesn’t want to be adored? Men especially crave that potent combination of respect and admiration; it’s just the way they’re wired. And when your husband feels your adoration, he’ll want to be around you and please you more.

Even if you don’t feel like adoring your husband, try some of these six ways below and see if your adoration doesn’t inspire him to adore you a little bit more too.

1. Adore Him as He is

Don’t wait to adore him until he’s nicer, makes more money or is more affectionate with you. The key is to love him as he is right now. Even if he’s not 100 percent adorable, accept him as he is and adore him.

2. Adore Him for What He Accomplishes

Sure, you may love and appreciate your husband, but he won’t know unless you tell him. So tell him in specifics: “It’s amazing the way you handle all of your responsibilities. How do you do it?” “You really are such a great dad. Our kids just love you.” “You did an awesome job fixing the garage door. I didn’t even know you knew how to do that!”

3. Adore Him by Listening

The next time you’re around a husband and wife, listen. Does she finish his sentences? Does she interrupt him while he’s telling a story? Does she give him order after order before he can even get a word in? Men process communication differently. It usually takes them more time to formulate their thoughts and get them out. When they do, they take more pauses and speak more slowly. So adore him by listening to him instead of interrupting.

4. Adore Him by Putting Him First

When your kids need you, they need you. You can’t tell your 3-year-old to wait while you give your husband a back massage. But you can make the effort to let your husband know he’s still a priority. For example, one husband I know told his wife about an upcoming business trip he had in New England. He was excited to take her because he knew how much she loved that area. But instead of zeroing in on her husband’s intent, she started thinking of things they could do if they brought the kids on the trip. He later told her he was crushed.

5. Adore Him by Not Giving Advice

When your husband opens up to you about challenges he’s having with his business, with his co-workers or with anything else, try not to jump in and give advice. You know how we do; we jump in with a solution just to help. Unfortunately, what you intend as advice, he hears as “She doesn’t think I can handle it.”

6. Adore Him So Others Can See It and Hear It

A compliment given at home is one thing; a compliment given in front of others is magnified big time. So the next time you’re out with your husband with friends or family, or even when you’re at the hardware store together, let him hear you complimenting him to others. He’ll try even harder to live up to your adoration of him.