Being your own best friend takes courage. It means standing up for yourself, speaking your mind and protecting your boundaries-- not easy, I know! Sometimes it seems safer to go with the flow and agree with the crowd. Then you might avoid fights or negative judgement from others. Having the bravery to stay strong against these forces is tough. For me, I’m fortunate that my husband Andrew is my rock, both emotionally and spiritually, through everything. Obviously, that bond makes courage a lot easier. But no matter what, we need to be our own best friend.
Keep our boundaries strong
When we don’t have boundaries, we open the door for people to cross them. Boundaries are our personal rules that guide how we want to be treated. If we don’t make these boundaries clear or we’re too shy to uphold them, we can risk being put into uncomfortable situations.
Maybe one of your boundaries is that you don’t tolerate yelling or you don’t want to take that bikini selfie. Be brave enough to stand by your boundaries. Even if it means losing a friend or boyfriend, you’ll grow more confident in the long run because you respect your values.
In my past, I found that one of my big boundaries was people challenging my religious beliefs. During my gymnastics career, I had started building a strong sense of faith when learning that winning isn’t everything. And while it’s okay to disagree with these beliefs, I will not be criticized for them.
When we become our own best friend, we are less likely to tolerate disrespectful behavior. Since we care about ourselves, we will defend our happiness through all the negativity.
Don’t trust so easily
When we’re lonely, it’s tempting to trust people easily. You want to feel connected to someone, telling secrets can feel safe.
But in reality, this type of closeness is created with time. You need time to know if a person is worthy of your trust. Otherwise, you might be vulnerable to exposing your delicate secrets with an untrustworthy person. How do you know if you’re safe?
By having a strong relationship with yourself, you’ll become more confident about choosing who and when to trust. And if you can only trust yourself, believe that you’re capable of making the right choice on your own. Eventually, you’ll find someone who’s worth hearing your deepest stories.
Stay true to yourself The world is filled with haters. When dealing with them, we have a choice: we can believe the negativity or love ourselves more. By being your own best friend, you can guard yourself against haters by asking yourself: should I really care about this person’s opinion of me? If you respect your own advice, you’ll know the truth deep down.
When you love yourself, you treat yourself better. You’ll be able to make mature decisions about whose opinions really matter. As I always tell my girls at gymnastics camp, you must stay true to yourself. So what if they think you’re weird or boring or too spiritual? Everyday, you must get out of bed with this healthy, self-empowering mindset.
Always be your own best friend. Capable of protecting yourself from anything that troubles you, you’ll become happier and more independent. Finally, you’ll become more careful about the types of people you let into your beautiful life.