I think working on issues may be one sided. I can work on my issues. My husband and I have become better at communicating but he hasn't gotten better at compromise. It's still his way in many regards. Of course all partners are different. I think work is only temporary if all issues can't be worked on by both partners.
The other issues become the elephant in the room. Staying depends on how many elephants you can ignore because one can only fix themselves if they want to.