Seven tips to maintain good friendship

It is often said that no man is an island. Regardless of your career path and wealth, if you don’t have good friends, it is mostly going to be a lonely experience.

Friends are as important as family members because they tend to build one’s support system and are people that will always be there for you genuinely.

True friendships make life worth living,  so it’s important to maintain them.

Below are tips to help you maintain that worthy friendship:

• Communicate regularly

In any type of friendship, communication is very essential. It is understandable that your job might be tasking and demanding but you should try to make time to speak to your friends via voice call or text — always reach out regularly.

• Be reliable

Be a go-to friend; a friend they can always run to in turbulent times. True friends are the ones who are always there no matter the situation. You will have a long-lasting friendship if you’re someone people can always share their deepest pains and problems with without being judged.

• Be respectful

I understand you’re friends and age mates but you have to respect them still. You have to respect your friends, their emotions, and boundaries. Try to always respect their decisions, avoid being in their space when they don’t want you there.

• Be secretive

Be their confidant and secret keeper. You cannot maintain a relationship by spilling private information around. Being secretive helps build trust in the relationship.

• Forgive and forget

In all relationships, arguments are really inevitable. Since no one is perfect so you should always try to forgive and talk to your friends about their mistakes when they offend you.

However, repetition of the same mistakes by the same person intentionally might be a sign for you to leave the friendship.

• Be Supportive

Be your friend’s cheerleader. Everyone needs someone who will be their backbone and will always encourage them on their path to success. Being a supportive friend will help you build a good friendship because they will always be appreciative and indebted to you.

• Be open to corrections

You should know and accept no one is perfect, including you. It is therefore important that you always strive to be the better version of yourself.

Give and receive constructive criticism, unlearn and relearn, be open-minded and try to work on yourself from filtered pieces of advice. It will be easy to maintain a friendship if your friends are not afraid to tell you the truth.

Hold on to people that contribute positively to your life as they are difficult to come by.

However, maintaining friendship shouldn’t be a one-way thing. If the other party isn’t trying then the friendship isn’t worth keeping.