Summary of Guidelines for Communication Between Friends

Summary of guidelines for communication between friends:

Friendships are not always easy. We need to put effort into building and maintaining them. Communication, whether it is verbal or nonverbal is the glue for every friendship. It is very important to learn how the best communicator for your friends. These detailed guiding principles will satisfy communication between friends and help grow.

Engage in Dual Perspective:

When engaging in duel perspective we need to understand both of our own and our friends perspective through thoughts, and feelings. We need to put ourselves in the other person's shoes and try to understand and make sense of what they are trying to communicate whether it's verbal or nonverbal. By becoming an active listener we can learn and understand how to become a better friend and avoid any misunderstanding.

Communicate Honestly:

All friendships are based on trust! Therefore honest communication is the essence for any good friendship. We should always be honest with ourselves and with others no matter the case. Even when it's not always what our friends want to hear. If we are not truly honest and hold back what we really think or feel, it won't be beneficial for anyone in the long run. Ex: if a friend is seek advice with a situation, they want you to agree with them (although you don't), it might be easier telling them what they want to hear. This is dishonest and in the end you're not being a true friend if you cannot give your sincere opinion.

Grow from Differences:

Majority of a person's close friends are similar in personality to them, this make friendship more easy with so much in common but this leads some people to be closed minded about having other friends. We need to be more open minded about become friends with different people outside of our comfort zones, if not we will miss out on great opportunities for friendships. It can also be somewhat boring to surround ourselves with the same type of friends. Obviously, it is important to have things in common with others but it's in the differences that friends have, where they can challenge one another. We cannot judge someone on what's different about them, but admire their individuality and appreciate them for who they are.

Don't Sweat the Small Stuff:

When we are practicing communication between friendships, this guideline is very important to always keep in mind. We should stress over the little things but appreciate the bigger picture. This is related with friendships, no one is perfect, so we need to look beyond the little annoying habits of our friends and be grateful for the friendship. If one become too picky and closed minded with friends, they will end up without any friends in the end.