Here are 7 ways you can become a better friend

There are plenty of suggestions on how to become a "better" person. Whether it’s exercising more, reading more, or adjusting your attitude, there are many resources that can steer you in the right direction and most of us strive to better ourselves, every step of the journey.

Here are 7 ways you can become a better friend

However, there is one area for development that might be the key to making your life a whole lot better. Instead of just becoming a better person, how about we become better friends?

1. Communicate with others with honestly and with respect.

Be willing to express your own perspective and your feelings, but do so from a place of kindness and sensitivity to the feelings of others.

2. Always be a person of your word and stand behind the promises and intentions you make to others. Be the kind of friend that people can trust completely.

3. Most of us feel good about ourselves when others are able to trust us; many of us take pride in being perceived as trustworthy.

Make sure you share the positive feelings by being willing to trust others. Take a leap of faith and model for others how trust can be given and earned.

Here are 7 ways you can become a better friend

4. Show up for others, literally and figuratively, and do exactly what you say you will do.

Be willing to put yourself out for a friend knowing that there may be a time in the future when you need your friend to put themselves out for you.

5. Recognising that we a ll have a shortcoming or two and accepting that as part of being human is a significant aspect of enduring loyalty.

Don’t give up on friends who falter or who might not be as readily present in your life as you would like. By being loyal to your friends, you are building a strong support network. We don’t always know when we might find ourselves free-falling through life and having a group of friends who are there to break your fall usually is much more likely to happen if you've done the same for them.

Here's all the ways that you can become a better friend

6. Practice and master the much-valued gift of empathy for others. Be willing to put yourself in another’s shoes.

Imagine the world from the position of another and you will soon learn the value of this skill in building relationships built on a sense of shared understanding.

7. Learn to be present with a friend and to listen without feeling the need to interject just because there’s a pause in the conversation.

We grow through learning and if we don't listen to others, we cannot grow as people or as friends