As an expert relationship coach, I am frequently approached by women who have had enough of marriage advice that has not helped them save their marriages, and instead has placed them in a bigger muddle than they started out with.
By and large, these are the elements or kinds of people that you ought to steer clear from, so you can gain a breath of fresh air and a clearer perspective on your marriage and what it takes to make it work.
1) Friends in unhappy marriages.
The words used to describe your friend's marriage are the biggest indication of how much advice you should take and filter from her.
If she is a complainer, then the chances of her taking responsibility for her actions are very slim.
Also, if her husband is obviously unhappy or stressed, it is safe to say that mirroring your friend's actions will give you only similar results and nothing more.
It is only when you aim higher for yourself and your relationship, will you be able to fix it.
2) Inexperienced, yet enthusiastic "counselors".
There is one in every social setting: the person who loves to give advice on how life, love and marriage should be without a clue about how to go about achieving those kind of goals.
To offer a generalization for different situations does not provide solutions, nor does it move a person towards a resolution on how to do things differently.
These are the people who will present you with lots of fancy words and ways to describe your situation, all the time discouraging you subconsciously from even wanting to improve your state.
3) Relationship self help books.
Self help books are very helpful as long as you have the wisdom to know when to put it down and physically create some waves to save your marriage.
The only danger of self help books is getting so much into the depth of words on paper that you are unable to execute definite action points as a result.
There are some who eventually start to blame external factors for problems in their marriages because they conveniently took themselves out of the equation when reading these kinds of books.
If reading a book on relationships and marriage will move you to action, then you should consider it.
If it makes you slouch deeper into the couch as you brood, then toss it away immediately.
As necessary as it is to cover what helps in fixing a broken relationship, it is just as imperative to be aware of the elements that do not work.
For more insight on getting the marriage you seek, check the resource below.