Friends can help lift your mood, boost your health and get you through the dog days of winter. Here are a few ways to nurture your friendships or make new ones
Make plans and stick to them, no excuses or cancellations, unless it’s genuine.
Answer the phone and speak to friends, even when you’re tired or don’t have time.
Talk to people you don’t know very well, or at all, you may find there’s more common ground than you think.
Take the more social option. Shop for your food in person, have your coffee inside the café, take off your headphones, smile at people, and share meals with your family.
If you’re not feeling it, fake it. In one study when students were told to act extroverted for one week and introverted another week, they showed a big boost in mood while acting extrovert and a strong decline in mood while living as an introvert.
The friendly habits, above, are taken from our feature ‘Friends for Life’ by Rebecca Frank in our February issue.
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