Avoid Giving Harsh Advice

People we like to call our friends will come and go. Most friendships fade away as people grow and are forced to deal with the issues of life. Many times friends are gained through trials and tribulations. Friends will always go to one another for advice. At times a person seeking advice will take it in a negative way because it is not what they want to hear. To avoid this from happening to you, we will take a look at the proper way to give advice to your friends.

Some friends are a lot more sensitive than others. This means that the one friend may be having the same issues as another, but just because you can give blunt advice to one friend does not mean that your other friend will receive it the same way. They may feel that you are attacking them by being so straightforward. True friends avoid only telling a person what they want to hear. We all want to be able to be truthful with our friends without hurting their feelings. There is definitely a way to be truthful without being harsh. The best way to advise anyone is to put yourself in that person's shoes before you give them any of your input.

Being a straightforward person myself, I always start off by saying, "You're my good friend and I love you, but I don't agree." Being truthful will always get you respect at the end of the day.

Some of us are very protective of our friends and may play the role of their protector in some form or fashion. This is not good when it comes to giving advice for many reasons. The main reason is that everyone makes mistakes, and friends who are overprotective have a tendency to accept nothing but perfection from those friends they have given advice to. We must never forget that no one is perfect and even if a person does have the answers, it does not mean that they know how to use them. Be as supportive as possible regardless of which decision that friend chooses. Good advice only has the best interests of the person being advised at the forefront.

When you tell a friend not to do something but they do it anyway, don't give them a hard time. You can let them know the reason's why they shouldn't have done it or should have done it, and hope they don't make the same mistake twice. If they happen to do it again, say nothing else! Let the consequences teach them. Sometimes we have to learn by living. That's just the way it is!