Being a Good Girlfriend Isn’t Hard – Here’s How to Do It

Relationships are complicated. Whether you’ve been dating for a month or together for years, you need to diligently put in the time and effort to have a successful, healthy relationship. Our guide aims to present the tools necessary to be a good girlfriend to your partner.

How to Be a Good Girlfriend: The Definitive Guide

Regardless of where you are in your relationship, you can always strive to be a better girlfriend, which doesn’t mean you’re failing or your partner doesn’t love you. Consider our following list of 21 ways you could be a better girlfriend.

Listen

Communication in a relationship is vital, and active listening is a big part of this communication process. If you wish to know how to be a better girlfriend, make sure that you pay attention when your significant other is telling you something. It helps to remember what was said some time ago, showing them that you carefully listen.

Show Interest in Their Interests

Your significant other probably has hobbies that you don’t find particularly appealing. After all, you’re two different people with different interests. But it is essential to show interest in the things that interest them, showing that you want to learn more about them and be a part of every aspect of their life.

Prove You Care

When you’re trying to figure out how to be the best girlfriend, don’t forget that the other person has feelings, too. Notice how they express their feelings and try to show yours the same way. Make sure to let them know you care with displays of physical affection and verbal expressions. Even though a partner may not demonstrate these as often as you’d like, you still need to prove that you care about them and your relationship.

Make Time

Spending quality time together is one of the most vital aspects of each relationship. So it’s crucial to make time for your partner, even if you’re busy. If you want to know how to be the good girlfriend, remember that she always has time for her special someone, no matter what.

Trust

Trust is the foundation of every relationship. If you don’t trust each other, you cannot plan for a shared future. Although trust goes both ways, you need to show your partner that you trust them. But even more importantly, don’t test them. If they realise that you’re trying them, they’ll likely lose trust in you.

Give Space

When thinking about how to be a good partner, it’s easy to forget about the other person and what they need from you. And sometimes, space is all they need. We all need our personal space or alone time now and then, so your partner must have enough time and space to focus on themselves or hang out with their best friend. If you pressure them into spending too much time together, you’ll come off as clingy.

Don’t Be Jealous

Jealousy is the death of love. It can shorten the relationship length and lead to a breakup. How to be a good girlfriend in a relationship includes getting rid of jealousy—a toxic emotion often causing erratic behaviour.

Compliment

Everyone wants to hear a compliment. So if you want your relationship to thrive, give your partner praise from time to time. Compliment them on their appearance and accomplishments. Don’t forget to acknowledge their hard work.

Be Affectionate

What also makes a good girlfriend is affection. Each individual has different ways of expressing love; some communicate it openly, while others subtly. Whichever type of person you are, let your partner know that you’re affectionate by using a pet name or sending a cute, lovey text.

Provide Support

Support is one of the building blocks of a healthy relationship. To be a good girlfriend, you need to support your significant other in their endeavours. If they know you’re supportive, they’ll see you as the best girlfriend ever.

Maintain Honesty

Honesty is the best policy, and being a good girlfriend means that you need to be honest. Never lie, and always tell them exactly how you feel. If you make a mistake, acknowledge it and say you’re sorry—they’re sure to appreciate it.

Be Ready to Compromise

Each couple needs to learn how to compromise if they want to succeed long-term. Regardless of your personality type, you need to be ready to compromise, demonstrating to your partner that you respect their wishes—willing to sacrifice for the sake of your relationship.

Appreciate Their Efforts

How to be a good enough girlfriend also includes appreciation. Each time your partner makes even the slightest effort towards your relationship (or anything), let them know that you appreciate it. This will not only make them feel good, but it will also encourage them to make more of an effort in the future.

Be Nice to Family & Friends

It’s only normal that your significant other has other important people in their life, including family and friends. When meeting them, you should be nice and allow your partner to see that you can fit in with those closest to them.

Give Thoughtful Gifts

If you have doubts as to how to be the perfect girlfriend, gift-giving is an excellent way to show that special someone you’re thinking of them. You don’t need to spend much money on expensive gifts to express your love; they can be small, inexpensive tokens of appreciation or handmade gifts made with much love.

Cook

When you pursue date ideas for a home environment, one of the best ones you’ll find is cooking a romantic dinner for your significant other. You’ll show them that you want to care for them by making a homemade meal. So if you’re wondering how to describe a good girlfriend, it’s the one that cooks for their partner.

Dress Up

After you’ve been together for a while, you probably don’t dress up much. It’s a good idea to get dressed up from time to time for a date night. We all care about appearances, and by taking the time to get ready for them, you’ll make them feel like the luckiest person in the world.

Make Them Feel Needed

One of the best ways how to be a good girlfriend to my boyfriend or my girlfriend is to make them feel needed. If they think that you cannot do without them, they’ll start feeling the same way about you. Of course, you shouldn’t take on the role of a codependent partner, but they should feel like an essential part of your life.

Ignore Minor Problems

Some issues will come up when you’re in a relationship, but if you want a calm, simple relationship, ignore the minor problems. Don’t become angry over everything; try to overlook that which is not much of a problem for you. But if you want to learn how to be a good girlfriend with examples, we can give a good one: don’t get angry when your partner doesn’t notice your new haircut.

Be Yourself

No matter what you do for your partner, don’t forget to be yourself. They initially liked you for who you were, so be that person they fell in love with. This doesn’t mean you’ll never change anything about your personality or appearance, but don’t try to change things purposely.

Accept Them for Who They Are

When thinking about how to be a perfect girlfriend, you must accept your partner for who they are. Nobody is perfect, but when you accept them with all their imperfections, they’ll know that you genuinely love them.

Key Takeaways

How to Be a Good Girlfriend in a Long Distance Relationship

Long-distance relationships can be challenging because they require more effort than relationships where physical distance isn’t an issue. But if you’re in a long-distance relationship, don’t be discouraged. There are many ways to make your long-distance relationship work. Consider the following tips on how to be a great long-distance girlfriend.

• Check-in regularly: Agree to check in every day—or whenever works for the both of you. Don’t forget about the importance of communication.
• Organise virtual dates: If you wish to know how to be a good girlfriend from a distance, organise virtual dates. You can still do many things together—cook dinner, play a board game, etc.
• Split travel expenses: Travelling back and forth can become a hassle. So offer to split the expenses to take the weight off of your partner’s shoulders.
• Don’t plan too much: You don’t need to plan all your visits. Simply go with the flow and enjoy each others’ company.
• Acquire extra patience: When thinking about how to be a good caring girlfriend, remember to have more patience than in your usual relationship.
• Don’t give up: Overcome all obstacles. Whatever you do, don’t give up on the relationship. It’ll be worth it in the end.

You can successfully work on your long-distance relationship and make the best of it until you can be reunited.

Remember: The Perfect Girlfriend Doesn’t Exist

How can I be a better girlfriend? This question may infer that a girlfriend needs to be perfect. But remember that there is no such thing as a perfect girlfriend. There are no perfect people or perfect relationships. So no one expects you to be perfect either.

Do your best to make the relationship work, and your hard work will be appreciated. Don’t pressure yourself about your flaws, and don’t strive for perfection. Just be who you are.

Conclusion

Our guide may read like a How to Be a Good Girlfriend for Dummies manual, but our recommendations are beneficial for anyone in a short- or long-term relationship. By following some (if not all) of our listed tips, rest assured, you’ll be the best girlfriend your partner has always dreamed of.