What things have you done or skills you have learned that made a big difference in your ability to make new friends or your ability to keep friends/be a good friend?

5 comments

1. Don’t be afraid to ask people to go do stuff! Be the first to invite a new friend/acquaintance to join you to do an activity you both like. People in general like being invited to things but hate to be the one to set up the meet up/hang out. And if you have a great time, invite that person to hang out again! This is something I’ve realized in my late 20s that has really helped me make friends. I had to work on being okay with being the friend who plans things at first and then (if they turn into a good friend) they will also start inviting you to different things too! ALSO, to make a strong friendship you need at least three core things: Vulnerability, Humor, and Time. I’ve found that if one of these things is missing the friendship tends to be surface level. Hope this helps!:)

2. I have reoccurring reminders in my calendar to reach out to my friends. This way I’m preventing not ending up speaking for months because life got in the way. Lately I’ve been struggling with putting in effort to stay in touch due to mental health and I’ve been open towards my friends about this.

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5. If in conversation they say “this is between me and you”, it stays between us. That way if it comes out, I absolutely knew it wasn’t me. And I know I can keep my word. It is the biggest trust builder while being in a work environment for myself. Coworkers turn into Friends that I consider family. You know a good friend when you know they don’t gossip. Big life lesson learned very early in life.