Friendship is a great gift and anyone who is lucky enough to have quality friends should be thankful.
The people you move with, that is your friends, can either make you or mar you. It is therefore important that we are patient enough to look out for certain qualities before making a person our friend.
You can’t live in isolation, so it is important you have quality friends in your circle of influence. And to do this, below are qualities to look out for in an individual before you choose them as your friend.
1. Honesty
7 qualities to look out for when choosing a friend Honesty is the best policy. Before you go ahead in choosing a friend, you need to ensure that they are honest individuals, not liars.
Trust and honesty are cornerstones in any healthy and successful relationship.
You should not be with a friend who can’t tell you the truth always. You need to be with friends who will give their honest opinions about issues not minding your reaction.
Choose friends who are honest, as their honesty will save you a great deal.
2. Support
You should choose a friend who can stand by you in tough times, not just friends who will be with you during fun times.
It is quite easy to find friends who are ready to spend, wine and dine with you but it is scarce to find friends who will be there with you through thick and thin.
So, you need to be intentional about having friends who will be a solid support system to you.
3. Reciprocal energy
Friendship is give-and-take. It is not a one-sided relationship. So, before you choose a friend, make sure the individual is willing to give towards the relationship just as you are willing to.
Don’t choose a friend who is only ready to take from you without reciprocating.
When a relationship is one-sided, you end up feeling resentful and angry. It’s not healthy. Choose a friend with whom you feel a balanced energy.
4. Similar values
A sheep that walks with a dog will surely eat faeces. Your friend should be an individual with similar values as you.
While diversity is great in many ways, when it comes to your general values and beliefs, it’s best to keep core friendships with like-minded people.
While you can respect others’ opinions and differences, choosing friends that hold similar values to yours will keep you from compromising or being negatively influenced by those that don’t uphold your values and the standards that you govern your life by.
5. Common goals
Another quality to look out for in a friend is a similarity in goals. Your friends should be your purpose and success partner and not otherwise.
When you have friends with common goals, you can push each other. You can work on your goals together and encourage each other in reaching them.
So, choose friends that you share common goals with.
6. Source of motivation and encouragement
There are some friends that when you move with them you lose every will and determination to become a better version of yourself.
They don’t intend on improving their own lives and will discourage their friends from doing so.
Choose friends that will spur you into greatness and encourage you in your darkest moments.
7. Not jealous nor envious
Lastly, you need to be with friends that are always happy for you and celebrate your success no matter how small.
You don’t want to be with a friend who never wants to see you succeed or gets angry whenever you achieve a feat.
You should be with friends that celebrate you, not just tolerate you. True friends celebrate every milestone, accomplishment and success story with you.
They are genuinely happy to see you succeed and are the first to say “congratulations!” Friends like this can be rare so when you find them, keep them close!
For those of us with friends already, it is important you know if you have good friends or not.
True friends still exist and always remember that you will only attract good friends when you are one yourself.
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