Becoming a friend to yourself

We all try to take care of our friends and give them support when needed. But the power of a true friendship lies through an ability to be a good friend to yourself. Here we share with you some tips on how to make sure you are treating yourself friendly enough.

Get a closer connection by asking yourself questions

There are lots of self-care guides, apps, and tools that will teach you to be a “better you”. The concept sounds a little misleading because we know the definition of the word “better”, i.e. something being improved. But who are “you” exactly? Some people would refer “you” to their name, age, social or marital status. All will be correct, but we intend to dig deeper.

In order to get better acquainted with your true life passions, favorite memories, and emotions you need to communicate with yourself the way you would question an old friend or a partner.

As for being on a date, meeting a friend, or just an interesting person we tend to be curious about their life. That’s how we should reflect our curiosity toward our personality as well.

Luckily, VOS gives you an option to answer one question a day so you can discover new questions and get closer to the real “you”.

Spend some quality time by yourself

Nowadays a lot of activities are considered to be for 2+ participants. Some would never consider going out for movies alone or to their favorite band concert. It’s awkward, they say, but according to the studies on loneliness, going out alone isn't just ok, it's actually healthy.

The Rest Test conducted an online survey and the results showed that the majority of activities people defined as most restful are things that are done alone, by themselves.

“Cultivating this sense of being alone and making the choice to be alone can help you to develop who you are, your sense of self, and what your true interests are,” Dr. Grice said in the latest New York Times article on this topic.

Get to meet your inner child

The inner child in psychology is referred to as an ego state, which expresses all the purity, naiveness, dreams, and true passions in us that are buried since childhood. By getting to know our inner child we get closer to what we really are now.

Try to take time and remember what you were like a child, what made you laugh, what were your dreams and beliefs, what disappointed you, and what made you really happy.

Tip* If you want to succeed in this exercise specialists recommend to go through pictures from childhood if you happen to own any. Notice what facial expressions you used to have, what activities or people brought you joy.

Download the VOS app if you haven’t already so you can provide yourself with more tools on how to be a better friend.

Check out our Facebook and Instagram profile, where we discus s a lot of cool topics and host online events on self-reflection provided by mental health specialists.