How To Win Friends: 7 Ways To Help Make And Keep Friends

By Benjamin Marta

Making and keeping friends can be hard. There are so many people in the world, how do we know who to be friends with? Well, often certain people have a special connection—the ‘friend’ connection. We feel like they ‘get us’ and we have a lot of fun hanging out with them, but we’re just not sure how to start or keep the friendship going.

G.I.P founder Melinda Rae helps us better understand how to win friends in the G.I.P curriculum. She suggests seven different ways which will help us make new friends and keep the cool ones we have now.

• Through Good Communication

Communication is the foundation for a long lasting friendship because it keeps you both in the loop about each other’s feelings and any potential problems. If you’re having problems with your friend, no worries, talk it out. Communication is a great problem solver because it lets both you and your friend know what the problem is and how to fix it.

 

• Appropriate Eye Contact And Body Language

Ever feel like someone isn’t interested in you when you’re talking to them? Yeah, it’s a lousy feeling huh? This is one way to discover if a person is really a friend or has the possibility of being a friend. If the person you’re talking to is genuinely focused on you with good eye contact, chances are they’re good friendship material. If not, don’t worry, that’s OK, there are plenty of other people who would love to be your friend.

 

• Sharing And Support

Sharing and support go hand-in-hand with communication; without it your friendship is not likely to survive. Being a good friend means you’re always there to comfort and support your friend in both good times and bad. Who wants a friend that doesn’t have our back? Not me, that’s for sure! And next time your buddy is feeling down, be a good friend to them by sharing similar experiences and telling ‘em that you got their back too. They’ll appreciate you for it!

 

• Establish Strong Bonds

Being trusting and loyal is a surefire way to win friends. When your friend isn’t trustworthy or loyal then you know what? They aren’t a real friend! This is also something a friend of yours expects from you. If you make a mistake once or twice, they may forgive you, but if it becomes a habit, chances are you’ll go from saying, “this is my friend” to “that was my friend.”

 

• Common Topics Or Interest For Each Other

Finding friends who have similar interest means the friendship will be stronger because you like having fun in similar ways. So, If you like to dance try going to a fun dance class and see if you can find someone who you have that special ‘friend connection’ with. All you have to do is be real and be you, the rest will fall into place.

 

• Flexibility

Being flexible with time and interest is how to win friends. When you have a friend who likes something you’ve never tried before (like painting), be flexible and try it out. Who knows, you might like it too—making the friendship even more awesome. Also, try and be flexible with your friend’s time. Sometimes friends need a break and time to spend with other friends. This doesn’t mean they don’t like you, it just means they want to do something different, perhaps something you don’t really like doing. If you understand and respect their space, they’ll be able to see what a good friend you are.

 

• Acceptance And Understanding

Everyone is different and likes doing different things in different ways. A good friend will understand these differences and accept them. If you feel like a friend of yours is not accepting you for who you really are, you can tell them that that’s not how to win friends. Remember, you have tons of friends out there, some of them just haven’t met you yet, so get out there, have some fun, and let all your new friends know that you’re there. They’re waiting for you to say hi!