Friendship Resolutions for 2025

The holidays are a natural time for all of us to take stock of our lives: what’s going well? What’s challenged us? And what do we want to work on as we enter into a new year?

One of the things that I’ve prioritized over the past year are my friendships. Even as my life has gotten busier both personally and professionally, I’ve tried to be very intentional about carving out dedicated time with my close friends - and I’ve experienced the power of that commitment. I share more about the tools and practices that have worked for me in The Secret to Great Friendships, my new 10-part audio series on the Ritual app.

As you start to look ahead to 2025, you might ask yourself: what are your friendship goals for the new year? How do you want to invest in the important people in your life? 

Here are five Friendship Resolutions you might consider:

1. Be open to making new friends. Most friendships last about 7 years. Shedding friends is natural as our lives change, but adding friends to our lives becomes harder as we get older and become more set in our routines. This year, let’s work to expand our friendship pool by opening ourselves up to new relationships, which includes being clear about the qualities that we look for in friends and seeking out those who demonstrate those qualities. 

2. Share your true self with your friends. Being vulnerable is scary, but it’s key to building meaningful connections. Let’s practice sharing ourselves – perhaps in small bits at a time – with our friends. When we shield our friends from our true selves, we also limit the opportunity for closeness because putting on a facade prevents people from really knowing us. 

3. Be comfortable asking for and offering help. It may be hard to see or believe, but your friends do want to help you, they just might not know how. We often think people can read our minds, or are intentionally not doing something out of spite. This is far from true! We might not have given our friends the tools and information they need to be there for us. So let’s work to be specific in our asks, and reciprocate by asking our friends how we can show up for them in a meaningful way. 

4. Don’t hide from conflict when it emerges.  Having a difference of opinion, doesn’t mean that a friendship is bad or that it needs to end. Rather, it’s a sign that you need to talk through issues that are important to you, which is a healthy part of most friendships. Too often we shy away from conflict, act passive aggressively or misinterpret a disagreement as a sign a relationship is over. This is not true! Even if we don’t like conflict, let’s prioritize being direct with our friends about what is bothering us and how we can work through it together. 

5. Practice acceptance when life circumstances change. As we grow, our friends and lifestyles change. Perhaps we mellowed down. Perhaps our friend becomes religious after grieving the death of a parent. This happens over the course of friendships, and while it can be difficult to recalibrate friendships over time, it’s part of growing up and navigating friendships throughout life. 

I explore these themes and much more in The Secret to Great Friendships, my new audio series on the Ritual app. My hope is that it’ll help you to nurture your existing friendships and build new ones in 2025. Join me on Ritual and start listening for free.