Alex _V  

Do you want to deepen the friendships in your life? Do you have a lot of acquaintances whom you would like to be able to turn into best friends? If you have begun to realize the value of great friendships and want to build stronger ones there are a few small things which you can do today to make all of the difference. If you knew what they were, how much richer and more enjoyable would your life be? If you are interested in finding out, here are three tips on how to make best friends out of acquaintances:

- Ask yourself which of these people would help you to be a better person.

Let's be honest, no friendship is ever going to be completely selfless. The people whom you choose to be your best friends are the people who are going to have the strongest influence on you. Therefore, you may as well choose people whom will make you a better person. When it comes to that, look for the people whom you consider to be equally ambitious, considerate and compassionate. Why?

Because far too often we choose our best friends based on complimentary weaknesses rather than common strengths. This means that one person is mentoring or even rescuing the other. While it is true that we need these kinds of people in our life it is also possible to weaken yourself in attempts to strengthen people who are weak. Sometimes their weaknesses are not things which they want to change. Why? Because they are using them to attract the attention of stronger people.

While having mentors and being a mentor is great, when it comes to best friends choose someone who will be a peer so that you can equally challenge one another to be better people.

- Second, make spending time with the person a priority.

When it comes to valuing other people, the best thing which you can give them is your time. Sure, you can spend money on them but that is not the same thing. Time is precious and most people guard it very closely . Time is also finite, you only have so much and then it is gone. There is little you can go to get more of it in your life, other than take care of yourself and make sure that you live longer. Because of this, time is a precious gift which when given to another is one of the greatest demonstrations of your appreciation for them.

The best way to do this is to set up a REGULAR time which you can meet with them one on one. It can be something small at first; perhaps once a week or even a month. Making it regular will give them something to look forward to while giving you a chance to build trust by continually keeping your commitment to them. Over time, this will make a mere acquaintance to a best friend.

- Believe in them.

Nothing in the world is more valuable than this. Ask anyone who has been moderately successful if someone believed in them even when they had nearly lost hope. Every one of them will be able to tell you at least one person. In most cases, they will attribute a great deal of their success to the power of the hope that person gave them. When it comes to hope, few of us can do anything without it. In fact, hope is what motivates people to take action. To make best friends you must learn to extend trust to people and to believe in their dreams.

Doing these things will make a world of difference in your relationships and will empower you to make best friends out of the mere acquaintances.