10 Tips on how to become a better friend
Feel as though you’ve been a rubbish friend lately? In this article, Beauty and Tips offers up 10 tips on how to become a better friend.
Friends are everything. Friends are there for us when we need them. They’re the people we have the most fun with in life, the ones we text at 2am (as opposed to texting our boyfriend!). They’re the people who often know us better than we know ourselves.
So why do we let our friends down from time to time by being a bit rubbish? It happens. Sometimes life just gets in the way. Sometimes you get busy and lose track of what your priorities should be. It doesn’t mean that you’re a bad person. It just perhaps means that you need to spend some time re-evaluating your life and what friendship really means to you. Let’s take a look at 10 tips on how to become a better friend.
Be Honest And Upfront
A lot of us tell our friends little white lies because we don’t want to hurt their feelings. When they invite us to the cinema and we don’t really want to go, we delay giving them a firm “No.” We keep them hanging on because we don’t want to let them down.
“I might come.”
But what inevitably happens is that we let them down eventually – and they get annoyed because we let them down at the last minute. Be assertive with your friends at all times. They’ll appreciate it. Being assertive isn’t the same as being bossy. It just means that you’re clear about what you will do and what you won’t do right from the start. And once you’re clear about this, everyone is on the same page and no one can get upset when you suddenly decide to cancel plans that you were never 100% sure of in the first place.
So a good tip on how to become a better friend is to be honest and upfront. Give clear answers. Don’t hesitate.
Forgive
People commit errors. They get things wrong. They do things they probably shouldn’t have. It’s all part and parcel of being human. Be mad, be angry, be whatever. Eventually, forgive your friend and move on.
Take Responsibility
It’s horrible when we hurt someone’s feelings, but it happens. We can’t please everyone all the time, and we can’t always be the best version of ourselves. Sometime – without wanting to – we will hurt someone. What’s more important is how you react to hurting a friend. Are you going to blame them? Are you going to say they were partly at fault? Are you going to try and pretend that nothing happened? Or are you going to take responsibility, admit your mistake and apologise? Some of us have a hard time apologising for our errors. But if you want to be a better friend, swallowing your pride, owning up and taking responsibility is something you have to get used to.
Be There
Another tip on how to become a better friend is to be there for your frind. It doesn’t always mean rushing out of bed at 3am to console someone in person. But it means answering the phone when someone really needs you. It means offering words of advice and comfort, and reassuring your friend that you will always be there for them.
Make Good On Your Promises
There is nothing worse than a lousy friend who makes promises – and then breaks them. We like dependable people who stick to their word. It makes us a good friend.
If you constantly break your promises, it suggests that you never really mean what you say in the first place. And that can make people lose their trust in you. So a good tip on how to become a better friend is to only make promises you know you can keep. And even if it looks like you can’t keep it, make darn sure you can. Your friend is counting on you.
Show Up
How much do you really care for this friendship? Do you care so much that you always show up? Or are you the one who is always making excuses?
“I can’t be there because … but have a great time!”
Have Empathy
A lot of the time, we’re guilty of projecting ourselves onto other people. Whenever they come to us with an issue, we jump in and offer them advice based on our own experiences. But sometimes they don’t want advice. They just want us to listen. And when we give them advice that we are that works because it “worked for us,” we are projecting. It’s much better to be empathetic to your friends. Listen to them and try to understand them and their situation. Without empathy, it’s hard for any friendship to blossom.
Don’t Be So Quick To Judge
This is another important tip on how to become a better friend. Look, your friends will make mistakes just like you did and will continue to do. We’re all human beings struggling to get to grips with the human condition. It’s important that you’re not quick to judge your friends based on their actions. Instead, take some time to understand matters from their point of view, talk to them about things, and see what they have to say. Give them a chance to explain, and understand that their situation and way of responding to something won’t always be the same as yours. But it doesn’t make them a bad person.
Be Happy For Your Friends
Our friends will go through changes and they’ll grow. They’re drifting through life on their own personal journey, one which is different to ours. Sure, they’ve walked with us this far. But to really grow, a person must furrow their own path eventually if they’re to truly learn anything about themselves.
If a friend starts to change, becomes distant or even successful, don’t be resentful or jealous. Accept their change and be as happy about it as they are. Friends don’t owe it to us to always stay the same. Eventually, they may even stop coming out for cocktails with us as they pursue their own dreams. Let them go their own way, support them and be happy for them.
Trust Them
Our final tip on how to become a better friend is to trust your friends like you would a boyfriend or a girlfriend. Let them know that you trust them. Once you let trust into your heart, you will become a better friend.
Do you have other tips on how to become a better friend?
Stay happy!
from Beauty And Tips Magazine
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