8 Ways To Help Your Friends Be More Confident

Hey, so we're all about empowering each other these days, right? RIGHT! Friendship should always be about lifting each other up, not tearing each other down. And you should make it your job to make your friends feel confident, and to never knowingly do things to purposefully make them feel insecure. I've had friends like that latter, who go to great lengths to make harmful asides and backhanded compliments that are designed to second guess yourself. These friends are called "toxic" for a reason, and no one should aspire to be that kind of friend.

So help boost your friend's confidence today! Not that there's anything wrong with your friends feeling insecure every now and then — it's going to happen, no matter how supportive of a friend you are — but the aim should be to make all people happy and confident. We should aspire to have vibrant, confident friends, and to draw out these qualities in the people we love, because generally when people have self confidence they are a lot more open to their own happiness. And when we love someone, all we should want is for them to be happy. Here are some ways you can help your friends to feel more confident:

1. Quit Being Competitive With Your Friends

Being competitive with friends can bring out an ugly side in everyone. Whether it's personally or professionally, there's enough to go around for everyone. You should always be happy when your friend is successful, no matter what. Ditch the competitive attitude and it will do wonders for both your friend's confidence and yours.

2. Help Out Where You Can

Help reads as encouragement. If your friend is looking for a job and you have an in with one he/she might be good for, make a recommendation. If you know someone that might be a good match, set them up. It shows that you think they're good enough to give your endorsement.

3. Tell Them You Believe In Them In Private

I mean, don't be a weirdo about it and don't overdo it. But tell your friends they're special when you can and when it's appropriate. Tell them they look beautiful when you're going out. Tell them you're proud of them when they succeed at work. And tell them you love them as much as possible.

4. Shout Your Belief In Them In Public

Support your friend in any way you can. If your friend does something really amazing at work, whether it's hard work they've poured into an article, or an ad campaign, or a hard fought case, don't be afraid to congratulate them on social media. We all endorse our own achievements publicly, so we should endorse those of the people we love too.

5. Always Have Their Back

Look, sometimes your friend is going to be wrong, and there are times when you should tell them they're wrong and times when you should just shut up and be there for them anyway. People need to make their own mistakes. Meanwhile, in friendship we should always have each other's back.

6. Be Honest

Don't coddle your friend. Promoting confidence isn't about protecting your friend or lying them to them or wrapping them in cotton wool. It's about offering honest opinions (many of these being "You're amazing!), and constructive, healthy criticism where it's needed. Show your friend that you trust them to hear the truth and that you believe in them enough to give them advice on what they can improve on — because you know how amazing they can be!

7. Lose The Back Handed Compliments

Just give compliments. You don't need the snarky innuendo. It looks ugly on you and it makes your friends feel bad.

8. Have Confidence In Yourself

Confidence is like a sneeze. When someone is doing it near you, you want to do it too.

Images: Comedy Central; Giphy (4)