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10 Things You Need To Do To Be A Better Friend

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Things To Do To Be A Better Friend

Deep friendship is a very valuable thing. I hope you are blessed with some best friends who stick by you. Learn to be a better friend to your friends and keep the cycle of love and friendship going strong!

1. Be honest. A real friend is honest. Don’t keep silent when the truth needs to be spoken. Don’t lie when an honest answer is needed.

2. Push them to grow. A good friend is someone who brings out the best in you and challenges you to be a better person. 

3. Be “there” Be the friend that walks in when everyone else walks out.

4. Be who you are. Be vulnerable. Show yourself. Don’t be what you think your friend wants. Be who you truly are.

5. Don’t wait to be asked. A good friend will do what needs to be done without waiting to be asked. See the need and take care of it!

6. Laugh and Cry with them. When they are laughing, laugh. When they are crying, cry. Experience their emotion with them. 

7. Forgive easily. No one is perfect. Eventually we all make mistakes. Be quick to forgive and don’t hold grudges.

8. Be loyal. A true friend will stick by someone through the good and the bad. Don’t be quick to drop a friendship. Be loyal to them and your friendship.

9. Be accepting. A good friend doesn’t try to make you be someone you are not. They accept you for all your faults and your talents. 

10. Cheer for them and encourage them. Be the biggest cheerleader for your friends! Encourage them to be their best and be happy for them when they succeed.

How else could you be a better friend?

Heather Reese
the authorHeather Reese
Heather Delaney Reese is the storyteller and photographer behind the lifestyle and family travel blog, It's a Lovely Life®! For the past decade, she has vacationed over 150 days a year with her family. She is a vegan, and loves being by the water, spending time with her children, husband, 2 Shih Tzus and Cat.

41 Comments

  • This list is spot on and I love that you put honesty first. I think that goes for all relationships, though. Being honest is key!

  • This is such a great reminder. When I have those, “Huh- I wonder what they are up to” moments- I am trying to get better about calling. Of course I could just Facebook stalk them- but real friends follow through with a call or coffee date.

  • Only #1 is needed. The others should be optional, because without the honesty nothing else is important.

  • I love “Be who you are” this is so true! Don’t pretend to be someone you are not, it is best to be the you , you were meant to be.

  • Great tips! Be who you are, being vulnerable is a fabulous tip that is so hard to live out. I’m learning a lot about this right now.

  • This list is perfect! I have been guilty of not being there because I was caught up in a trap of business- and it made me feel horrible!

  • Again you have the prefect list! I wish some of my so called friends would read this!

  • I need to work on being more accepting instead of trying to change people. Thanks for the tips!

  • I think your list pretty much covers everything. Life gets so busy and it’s so important to remember to make time and reach out to friends. Just to catch up and let them know you’re there and you care.

  • I love this 😉 I definitely need to be a much better friends, I’ve definitely let life take over! Really going to use these ideas as a reminder on how I can rekindle and do better moving forward!

  • Such a great list. Sometimes being honest is SO hard, especially when you know it could hurt someone.

  • This is a nice list that will help people to be better friends to ourselves, girlfriends and our spouses.

  • These are all great tips for being a great friend. It really is hard finding great friends. I have had the same friends most of my life

  • I have a friend who said to me once when I was being irrational (many years ago 😉 ), ‘It doesn’t matter if you’re wrong or right, I’m just on your side.’ hahaha I love that girl!

  • I think you hit every key point there is. I like the honesty bit too. My best friend doesn’t sugar coat anything, and I really appreciate that about her. She’ll give it to you straight so you can get your issues fixed without pussyfooting around.

  • I love this list. Loyalty in friendship is so important. Forgiveness and acceptance are huge too.

  • marvelous. especially be honest. i don’t want them to tell me i’m right when i’m wrong. i want them to tell me i’m wrong and help me forgive myself when i screw up

  • This is a good reminder! It seems like being a good friend is simple, but really, we all have work to do. It’s easy to get caught up in our own personal messes and successes.

  • These are great! I have had two very close friends for over 15 years for many of these reasons.

  • Honesty is definitely the best policy. I don’t stay friends with anyone long who I catch lying to me often.

  • Yes yes yes! I’m so blessed to have a few close friends who are all of these… I pray I’m all of these to them as well.

  • I totally could use this list! I don’t have a lot of really deep friends because I forget to take the time to see how they’re doing.

  • great reminders of how to push ourselves and our friends. Thank you for the reminder.

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