Do you fight to win the argument or to win the relationship? Researchers Gottman and Levenson could predict divorce with 90% accuracy based not on whether couples fought, but how. Successful couples maintained a 5-to-1 ratio of positive to negative interactions. Billy's wake-up call came when he brought "prosecutor mode" into his living room and argued Suzy to tears over something trivial just to score a point. He had to ask himself: do I want to be right, or happily married? Next time the heat rises, take a twenty-minute pause. Protect the relationship first. Solve the problem second.