I feel blessed to have the most amazing friends.

When I have felt unable to pursue my goals, they cheered me on; when I have strayed and become distracted, they aligned me and put me back on the right path. I love that the relationship I have built with my friends have allowed them to be firm, yet loving and this has given me the right environment to thrive. Sadly, this is not the experience of many I know. In fact it seems a lot of us have had our fingers burnt by so-called friends and have become sceptical of building friendship – please don’t.

There is strength in great friendships and when I was asked to be part of a panel to discuss friendship a few months back, I realised just how important the subject is and the importance of having great friends.

One key thing stood out as I pondered this topic a lot more is that by being a great friend, you can begin to inspire people to be great friends to you too. Imagine seeing a reflection of yourself in a mirror and judge yourself as a friend. What do you see in yourself? What are you reflecting? Have you been a great friend to those in your world? Can you inspire your friends to be better by the choices you make? It is true that people mirror back to us what they see and the way to help your friends become better is to choose to become better yourself.

I wrote this acronym to suggest ideas on how to be a great friend and I hope as you read, you hear my heart, act differently with those you know and become a better friend. Enjoy!

• Fun – be guaranteed to make him/her laugh. 
• Respect – be respectful of his/her beliefs and values
• Intercede – pray for him/her and hear God give you specific instructions to help him/her
• Encourage – be the one that champions him/her to be the best version of themselves
• Nurture – be there to support when down and protect
• Dependable – be the one he/she can count on

Have you been a good friend? Could you be a better friend? Why not make today the day you begin to strengthen the friendships you've got and benefit from lifelong impact

Click here to register now for June’s workshop. Our guest speakers are all set and so am I to ensure you have a truly awesome and life changing experience.