Supporting Your Friends' Goals
Miss EmpowHer strives to promote female empowerment and supporting women. One way we do so is through the Women Supporting Women program, which is a fundraising initiative that aims to support women’s groups and organizations of all kinds. On a more personal level, we believe in strong female friendship and support among women of all shapes and shades! We love to see women sharing in one another’s successes, and so we’ve put together some advice on how to best encourage the women in your life by supporting their personal and professional goals.
Healthy friendships are those where you hold one another accountable, lift one another up, and encourage one another to be your best selves. One complicated aspect of supporting friends is giving them feedback. Sometimes it seems as though the best kind of support is unconditional cheerleading and praise. But in the long-run, sometimes the most beneficial feedback you can give a friend is growth-focused. This doesn't mean criticizing a friend, but offering positive advice when appropriate, and or just listening and providing your personal insight to what they have to say about their goals and journeys to reaching them. Even if you don’t know much about the area they are trying to improve in, thoughtful listening is a great tool for supporting and encouraging a friend.
While the paths towards reaching our goals often involve ups and downs, it is also important not to let your friends give up on their goals. Being a strong, engaged listener throughout their process can help you later remind them why they set their goals in the first place. Sometimes rough patches can deeply affect our emotions, and a friend is a great place to get some perspective. You can help a friend think through the harder parts of their journey as someone less emotionally and personally involved in their process.
Lastly, it is critical that you celebrate your friends’ successes without jealousy and comparison. Keep in mind that while you should be supporting one another in achieving your goals, you and your friends are different people with different paths, and their achievements do not make yours less valid. Being there for your friends during their biggest successes is just as important as helping them through their low points. Celebrate your friends the way you want to be celebrated during your biggest achievements!
Being a positive presence in your friends’ lives will improve your own well being and sense of self-worth as well. Be the friend you know your besties deserve, and they will do the same for you!