10 Ways To Become Your Best Friend
Whether you’re going through a hard time or life is just really good and you want to keep the momentum going, it’s important to be your own best friend. We all know that our friends are there for us when we need them but how often do we think about how important it is to be there for ourselves? I mean, if we can’t trust ourselves with our own feelings then who can we trust? It takes practice to learn how to love yourself consistently but here are some tips on how:
1. Forgive yourself for your mistakes.
Let’s talk about forgiveness.
Forgiveness is a process, and it takes time to be able to do it effectively. You can’t change the past, but you can learn from it, and forgiveness helps you move forward in life by giving yourself an opportunity to grow from what happened in the past. Forgiveness is also a gift—one that you give yourself—and one that can help reduce feelings of guilt and shame about having made mistakes in the first place!
2. Give yourself unconditional support.
Unconditional support means being open and available for your friend to talk about their feelings, telling them the truth (even if it’s hard), and being there for them no matter what they might be experiencing or going through. It also means being there even when they don’t realize that they need you at that moment in time or even see any benefit in having your support at all! Be there for your friend, be there for yourself.
3. Encourage yourself like you would encourage your best friend.
When we’re feeling down, our first instinct is to be hard on ourselves and focus on the negative. We tell ourselves that we shouldn’t feel the way we do or that this problem will never get better or that we’re too dumb to do anything right. But imagine if you were talking to someone else in this way: it wouldn’t be very helpful, right? You’d probably tell them not to put themselves down, not to give up so easily, and that everything will work out somehow. Why would you act differently with yourself than you would with anyone else?
You are worth the same amount of love and care as everyone else around you—and sometimes even more! So why wouldn’t you treat yourself just as well as others? Give yourself credit for accomplishing even the smallest things in life; remind yourself of how far you’ve come when things are tough; be patient with yourself when learning something new; celebrate each day’s accomplishments however small they may seem at first glance; and always show compassion towards those who need it most – including but not limited to: Yourself!
4. Have boundaries and stick to them.
Setting boundaries is an important part of self-care. You need to know how much you can handle and how much is too much, so you can take care of your mind and body in the best way possible.
Setting boundaries for yourself helps you to take care of yourself better. It allows you to create a safe environment where no one can hurt or upset you, and it gives people permission not to do things that would make you unhappy or uncomfortable.
There are many ways that we set boundaries: physical, emotional and mental space; time management; relationship agreements with others (like friends or family); financial control over our own money; etc. Everyone has different things that they need to feel comfortable in their lives, so there’s no right way to set boundaries! The key here is knowing what works best for YOU as an individual person who lives YOUR life day-to-day…
5. Have a growth mindset and not a fixed mindset
A growth mindset is all about seeing your potential and not letting the fear of failure hold you back. With a growth mindset, you know that failure is just an opportunity for learning, so you’re willing to try new things and take risks to do what matters most. You don’t look at something as a setback—you see it as an opportunity to grow from the experience.
A fixed mindset, on the other hand, can be one of the biggest obstacles to your happiness and success in life. Those with this type of mindset believe that their abilities are innate rather than learned—that if they aren’t naturally good at something (like math), then there’s no point in trying since they’ll never get better at it anyway! This leads them into situations where they won’t challenge themselves because they’re afraid of failing or looking foolish—so instead they keep doing what’s comfortable even though it isn’t serving them well at all!
6. Call out what is true and not what is easy
Call out the truth, no matter how hard it is. Even if it’s a little bit painful to do so, the outcome will be far more rewarding in the long run if you call out the truth when you need to rather than stick with a lie that makes everyone feel better but doesn’t actually solve anything.
A good example of this would be when my friends were all having an amazing time at a party, but I wasn’t feeling well and wanted to leave early as soon as possible (I had an important appointment that day). As soon as I told them this, they started putting pressure on me to stay longer because they said we should all spend time together since we hadn’t seen each other in awhile anyway. My initial reaction was just “Yeah alright whatever let’s go for another hour or two.” But then something hit me: why should I go back? The truth was that I wasn’t feeling well enough for another party which would make me feel even worse later on because alcohol isn’t always good for someone like me who has anxiety issues related to social situations like these where there are lots of people around who aren’t familiar faces (and can even make matters worse sometimes). So instead of going along with what seemed easiest at first glance – staying at this party – I stood firm by saying no thanks guys! You guys have fun without me tonight.
7. Sit with yourself in silence, reflection, and solitude
Silence is the answer to the question of how to solve a problem.
You need to be able to sit with yourself in silence and reflection before you can solve any problem. You also need time alone so that you can listen for answers, so take some!
8. Avoid those who do not have your best interest at heart.
As you can see, number 8 is all about the people in your life and how they affect you. If someone doesn’t want what’s best for you, then it might be time to remove them from your life. This may sound harsh but if someone does not care about how they impact your life or if they will only bring negativity into it then why keep them around?
9. Surround yourself with people who uplift you and not bring you down.
While it’s important to be able to laugh at yourself and enjoy the company of others, it’s also crucial to surround yourself with those who make you feel better about yourself when they’re around, and not bring you down. The idea here is that if someone isn’t supportive of your goals or doesn’t want to see you succeed, then their negative energy can affect your own motivation in a negative way. You deserve better than that!
10. Love yourself enough to know that it’s time to let go when it’s time to let go and heal when it’s time to heal
Letting go is important, but it’s not the same as giving up. Letting go is not forgetting. Letting go isn’t forgiving either, though that may come later.
Letting go means releasing something or someone from your life that no longer serves you and your best interests. Sometimes this can be hard to do when we’ve invested so much time, energy and love into something or someone else, but it’s important to remember that everything comes with an expiration date—including relationships—and sometimes we have to let those relationships end in order for our own self-worth and happiness to continue on its path of growth.
The Take-away
- Being your own best friend is important.
- Self-love is a choice, not a feeling.
- Loving yourself unconditionally does not mean you are self-centered or selfish.
- It’s not about being perfect, but respecting and valuing yourself regardless of the situation you find yourself in from time to time.
Being your own best friend can be difficult when things get tough as they do in life and relationships sometimes don’t work out as we plan them to be or hope for them to be, but if we learn to love ourselves unconditionally it will make all the difference.
You deserve to be your best friend and you can do it! Take action today and start being your own best friend by forgiving yourself, encouraging yourself and surrounding yourself with people who openly and proudly love and support you.
