How to Be a Great Best Friend

Want to be a great best friend but don’t know how and where to start? Do you make your best friend angry and want to prove that you would be a good friend if forgiven? Whatever the reason, this article will help you become a great friend.

Table of Contents

Respect yourself

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Be yourself . Being yourself around someone is one of the factors that make you a good friend. Be true to who you are and your best friend will accept it. Living a “fake” life can cause you to lose good friends, and it’s exhausting to pretend to be someone you’re not. Surround yourself with people who love you for who you really are, don’t try to be someone else just to get close to someone. ^{[1] X Research Source}

Don’t hide your feelings. If you feel uncomfortable or upset with your best friend, let them know. Maybe they will hurt a little, but if they let the friendship fall apart while the other person doesn’t know what they did wrong, they will hurt even more. Keep it cool and you’ll definitely be good friends.

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Be your own best friend first. You need to learn to respect yourself, if you can’t respect yourself, you won’t be able to respect others. Define important boundaries for yourself and respect them. Not only is this good for you, but it also helps you get used to respecting other people’s boundaries. Identify and stick to the ideas you consider important and find friends who also value those ideas. Associate with like-minded people will most likely hurt you and yourself.

Close relationships — whether love or friendship — teach us a lot about ourselves. Don’t be afraid to get to know yourself, if you don’t like yourself, it will be difficult for others to love you either.
Don’t be too hard on yourself. Sometimes we often set standards that are too high for ourselves, too high to be met. If you are a perfectionist, try to learn to forgive yourself.
Don’t be afraid to get hurt. We all have things that make us vulnerable, right? So don’t be afraid to let your best friend know what you’re vulnerable to. They won’t mind, if they do then maybe that friend is not the right person for you.
If your friend sincerely points out your mistakes and/or suggests things you need to change to build a better friendship, don’t be hasty or angry. They are just trying to make you a better person and you should feel lucky to have such like-minded friends. Plus, having fun improving yourself will also help you have stronger friendships.
- However, if your friend has a bad attitude when you make a mistake and criticizes you for it, gently let them know how you feel. If they still won’t stop criticizing, you shouldn’t be spending time with them either.

Build trust and loyalty

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Trust each other . You may find this difficult and it’s impossible to keep your best friend happy, but being a great best friend really isn’t. All you need to do is make sure you trust each other when it comes to the issues that really matter. Do not deceive or take advantage of your friend for your own benefit; You need to show that you are a trustworthy person. ^{[2] X Research Source}

Know that your best friend has other friends, too. Believe that you are really important to them and be happy that they have other social connections than you. Friendship should never have jealousy.
- To avoid being consumed by loneliness, you should play with a group of friends. That way, when one of them is busy or turns away from you, you still have the others by your side. Play with as many friends as you can, but you should only have a few really close friends to share all the secrets of life with.
Don’t keep it a secret. Be open with your best friend about your life and what you know about other people. Don’t bring up something when you don’t really want to talk about it. If your best friend absolutely wants to hear it, and you still don’t, you can say, “You’re my best friend; if I wanted to talk to anyone about this, it’s you. But really. I don’t want anyone to know about this yet, I promise you’ll be the first to know when I want to tell you, okay?” .
Know that there will be difficult times. Sometimes you need to give your best friend some space to think about things. A best friend is someone who will know when a little time and space alone would be good for the other person.

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Be a trustworthy person. If you are given a secret, try to keep it a secret. Never tell anyone, even if it’s someone you trust. Secret is secret.

You need to distinguish between harmless secrets and dangerous secrets. Dangerous secrets not only threaten the life of the sharer, but can also affect you. Even if your friend doesn’t want everyone to know about it, it’s best to tell your parents or a trusted adult. Remember, your friend may tell you because they’re tired of keeping it to themselves and that’s their way of quietly asking for help.
Keep promise. If you said you would do something, keep it. There is a proverb: When you speak, keep your words, don’t be like a butterfly that lands and then flies. Let your best friend know that, when you say something, you will definitely do it.
Don’t gossip about your best friend. You should not say anything to make others talk about your best friend. For example, if she has a crush on someone, if you tell others she will be very embarrassed. Unless your best friend agrees, don’t share her story with anyone. This will sometimes be difficult, but you should try for a lasting friendship.

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Loyal. Always stand by your friends when they need help, and respect the times when they need to fight alone. You need to always trust them and be willing to suffer with them. Going through ups and downs, disagreements but still trying to find a solution and always being friends is the best proof of loyalty in friendship.

Say “no” to your friend when necessary. An honest friend is a precious friend. Be polite when you think your friend is doing something wrong. In life, we don’t always have to be right, it’s important to learn to grow from our mistakes.
If you don’t learn to say “no” to your friend, you will destroy your friendship more than you build it. Not only will your friend become overly dependent, but you will feel stressed and frustrated all the time.

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When there is an argument, try to find a way to solve the problem so that everyone is happy. Don’t say hurtful words, whether in person or over text. Even if you apologize, you should understand that everything that has happened takes time to heal. Give your friend time to calm down and talk to you when ready.

Never ignore a problem and pretend it doesn’t exist. The contradictions will not go away on their own, one day they will arise again. It’s best to deal with the problem thoroughly before it becomes too big and complicated.
If the two of you need help with things, ask a parent or a trusted adult.

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Always help each other in difficult times. When your best friend needs help, go over and give them a hand, they will surely appreciate it. You never know when you will find yourself in a dilemma and need someone (a good friend?) to help you.

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Protect your best friend. Turning a blind eye to your friend being teased certainly doesn’t make you a good friend. If your best friend is being bullied seriously and you’re afraid you’ll get involved if you protect them, ask a teacher or a parent for help. If you can stand up for them without hurting yourself, then do so. Imagine how happy you would feel if you were bullied and someone stood up for you to get rid of all those who like to cause trouble?

If you or your friend frequently gets into trouble with another person, try to deal with the problem in a mature way. Don’t prank or embarrass the person, it will only make things worse. Let an adult know about it or simply ignore the aggressor. No one likes to be ignored by others and eventually that person will lose interest in teasing you.

Spend time together

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Make time for your friends. You can gather on the weekends, or sometimes plan to hang out, do homework together, and chat when you’re out of school. You don’t have to stick together all the time, but spend some quality time together building and strengthening your friendship. ^{[3] X Trusted Source Mayo Clinic Go to Source}

Know that you may have to sacrifice your own time and effort to spend time with your friend. Consider it the right thing to do, no matter how difficult it is.
Practice with others. Being a good friend to someone doesn’t mean you have to isolate yourself from others. Sometimes it’s great to spend time alone, you can still have fun without anyone else. But there are times when life is more fun if you enjoy it with everyone.

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Share laughter. Laughter is a great way to bring people closer together. Plus, as real friends, we can laugh together over the silliest, the smallest, the weirdest things, and that really doesn’t matter. Remember to take the time to enjoy the interesting things in life. ^{[4] X Trusted Source Greater Good Magazine Go to Source}

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Learn to listen. Perhaps no one likes a best friend who only talks and talks but never listens. If you are a talkative person, try to develop your listening skills. When your best friend says something, listen attentively and respond. Don’t interrupt or constantly act impatient when they’re talking to you. If they need your advice, listen attentively and give them the best advice you can. Doing so will help them respect and talk to you more. ^{[5] X Research Sources}

Be an active listener. Active listening is listening to understand what others mean. Sometimes this also means you can guess the speaker’s feelings or thoughts before they say it. If you’re an active listener, you might even know who your friend likes before they realize it.
Know when not to speak. There is a proverb that says: A wise man does not say much, but a wise man says a few things. Although exaggerating a little, it is partly true. Be comfortable around your best friend, don’t try to talk just to fill the silence.

Care for each other

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Take care of your best friend. If they are sad, find out why. Maybe they won’t tell you right away, but at another time. Even if they don’t tell you, don’t get mad: Understand that there are things that are better kept private, and trust that if they were in your position, they would be just as patient with you.

If it’s sad because of love, you can advise them not to worry because you are always there. Moreover, there are many people out there who are also waiting for the love of their life. Tell your best friend that one day they will surely find someone who truly loves them.
Always remember that you have nothing to lose by helping your best friend. Whether you can’t immediately make them feel better or don’t know what to advise them, when you’re having a hard time, they’ll be there for you.
If your best friend is away from home, send them a card or gift to let them know you still care about them. If a close friend is sick, you can call to check in. Show them that you appreciate their presence in your life by writing them your regards, concern, gratitude, sharing about your life and making time for them.

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Learn about family. Although it makes us feel uncomfortable and annoying at times, family still plays an important role in everyone’s life. Getting to know your best friend’s family shows that you appreciate their backgrounds and care about the people they hold dear.

Let’s live in reality

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Avoid expectations. If you expect too much of the role of close friends, you may be disappointed or discouraged. Best friends are the most valuable friends you have, but they cannot help or support you in all areas of your life. Don’t think that they will always be around or say what you want to hear. If you set your expectations too high, you will only get disappointed.

Take care of yourself. Like I said before, be your own best friend and take care of yourself. If you can take care of yourself, you’ll never have to rely on your best friend. If you never have to rely on them, you will never be disappointed.
Remember that no one is perfect – not even your best friend. Everyone has flaws and needs to work to overcome them. Do not criticize your friend’s shortcomings, but help them improve them and ask for their help to improve yourself. However, when pointing out other people’s flaws, you need to understand that they will be more or less hurt, so focus on the major flaws that affect your friendship and ignore/ignore. small defects.
- Sometimes, let them fix the problem on their own without help, unless you ask. The fact that you’re always saying they have to change this or that can make your best friend feel stressed, resentful, and feel so overwhelmed that they no longer want to cultivate the friendship.

Advice

Always keep your promise. Sometimes you can break promises because of emergencies, but you should only do so when facing a really urgent and force majeure situation.
Talk to your best friend about comfortable topics. While they’re talking, ask questions from time to time to show that you really care and are listening, be interested but don’t be too inquisitive.
Don’t try to make your best friend jealous, even to get their attention. Intentionally making them jealous can cause a further rift in the friendship.
If you can’t help your best friend when they need it, make it clear to them as soon as possible.
If you know your best friend is being abused, bullied or hurt, tell a teacher or a trusted adult.
Sometimes other people will make you uncomfortable, even close friends. At times like these, remember, that person is your best friend and stay calm. You can move away and avoid seeing them for a while when necessary, but don’t argue with them.
If they move, stay in touch regularly via email, text, social media, phone or video call. You can also write letters to each other. And if possible, schedule a time to get together.
Make friends with people who have a lot in common so that you can share a lot of things with them. Also, don’t be afraid to step outside your boundaries to make friends with people with different interests and mindsets!
Don’t be afraid to disagree with your best friend. True friendship won’t end just because of a little disagreement.
Joking from time to time is normal, but there must be limits. If you feel that your friend has been hurt, even if unintentionally, you should apologize. Also, let them vent sometimes, don’t dismiss their problems by joking when they talk about them seriously.

Steps