20 Types Of People To Surround Yourself With For Strong Relationships And Friendships

Your happiness isn't fully dependent on the friends or lovers you have, but having solid friendships and relationships is a huge factor when it comes to living a blissful life. Surrounding yourself with the best possible people to date and befriend will make a huge difference in your quality of life. 

When you spend too much time being bombarded by negative energy from others, it will undoubtedly have a negative impact on you. If your significant other or your best friend is constantly complaining about how terrible they think their life is, you might start thinking about all of the things you're unhappy about in your own life. If the people closest to you are always gossiping and bashing others whenever they talk to you, it'll be easy enough for that behavior to rub off on you — whether you like it or not. 

As soon as you start taking your happiness and fulfillment seriously, you'll start paying attention to the people you're spending the bulk of your time with. Their energy will directly affect yours in most cases. These are the best types of people to spend quality time with if you want healthy and strong relationships and friendships.

It's paramount to surround yourself with people who love to see you win. It would be unfortunate to deal with friends and lovers who felt intimidated by you whenever you started doing well in life. Instead of celebrating your wins with you, they might make petty remarks to make you doubt yourself or whatever you're stoked about pursuing. Sharing an exciting update about a new job, an upcoming first date, a pregnancy announcement, a budding business plan, or something else should be a fun and thrilling conversation. If the people closest to you don't care to see you win, they won't share those sentiments of enthusiasm with you. This is something that will likely leave you feeling pretty bummed out. 

You can tell that your loved ones want to see you win based on their reactions whenever you share something personal with them. The same rule applies when you open up about any of your hardships. If it seems like they enjoy seeing you struggle, that's a huge red flag. If it's easier for them to support you when you're going through something terrible, they probably aren't the best people to keep in your life. Being there for you when you're winning is just as important as being there for you when you feel like your life is falling apart.

There's nothing worse than that feeling of betrayal after you discover someone you care about has lied to you. Being lied to makes you feel completely deceived and double-crossed. Even if the person who messed up apologizes to you, sometimes the damage is irreversible. For these reasons, it makes sense to simply surround yourself with honest people who can actually be trusted. 

You can gauge whether or not someone is trustworthy based on their track record with you. Are they the type of person who repeats everything you say behind your back? When they tell you they're going to do something for you, do they actually follow through? Do you hear them frequently gossiping about people you mutually know when it's just the two of you? These are signs of a dishonest person who can't be trusted at their core. 

You're putting yourself at risk by hanging out with a person who isn't very honest, because odds are, eventually they'll lie to you about something that actually matters. You can save yourself the heartache by cutting off people who are comfortable with casual lies, even occasionally. If you're trying to test this theory out with someone who's brand new in your life, it will take some patience. Only time will be able to tell when it comes to something as serious as honesty.

Good friends and lovers should be able to naturally make you laugh with their silly jokes and playful anecdotes. It's important to have friendships and relationships with people you can get serious with, but at the end of the day, laughter is always going to be the best medicine. The more time you spend laughing, the happier you'll be compared to others who never even crack a smile. If the people you spend time with know how to strike a solid balance between being serious in moments when it matters and being playful in moments that deserve a little more lightheartedness, then you are in a great position. 

Friendships and relationships that don't involve any laughter tend to be incredibly boring and unfulfilling. Having a shared sense of humor with the people you care about is beyond vital when it comes to cultivating long-lasting relationships. If you both find the same things funny and you're able to make each other laugh all the time, your bond will only continue growing stronger. There's a time and place for everything, and playful banter certainly belongs in an environment between two people who love each other's energy.

As tempting as pity parties might be, they aren't healthy for you or your mental well-being. That being said, you probably shouldn't surround yourself with people who let you dwell in pity parties whenever something goes wrong in life. Things go wrong all the time, but the way we react is what really makes a difference. The most thoughtful friends and lovers will pull you out of your pity parties without letting you bask in negativity for too long. People who encourage you to keep complaining and living with a "woe is me" mentality aren't really your friends. 

It's great if they let you vent for a little while in order to get everything off your chest, but they shouldn't be comfortable watching your pity party last for days and days. Getting out of a pity party will ultimately be your own personal choice to make, but surrounding yourself with friends who support your decision to leave the pity party is the smartest thing to do. There's no reason to take on a defeatist mindset when things aren't going your way. Good friends and lovers will push you to be a little more optimistic through various life transitions.

Everyone goes through hard times. The reality is that life isn't perfect, and it comes with tons of highs and lows as the years go on. When you're going through some of your low moments, you need to have people in your life who are encouraging and supportive of you. Losing your job, going through a breakup, or dealing with the death of a loved one are some of the most heartbreaking scenarios you could be faced with. 

If you don't have a solid support system of people who can encourage you through your pain, you'll end up feeling lonely and isolated. When you feel isolated during moments of hardship, it can lead to depression and anxiety. On the contrary, whenever you're going through happy moments in life, having encouragement and support is pivotal. If you're in the middle of completing college classes or starting a business, you're going to need some super encouraging and supportive people surrounding you to back you up as you push yourself toward success.

Even though it might not seem like it on the surface, you could have a friend who's secretly preying on your downfall. Friends and lovers who secretly prey on your downfall probably won't admit such a disturbing thing out loud, but they'll still enjoy seeing you fail at your various ventures. It's a tad bit tricky to decipher who actually has your best interests at heart, but it all comes down to paying attention to different reactions from the people closest to you whenever you're going through something. 

If you're currently in the middle of a serious struggle, people who actually love you will do their best to help you make it through. Those who are secretly preying on your downfall will show tons of curiosity to learn more of the details of your failure, but they probably won't bring any solutions or ideas to the table. Instead of feeding their selfish curiosity, it's better to leave them in the dark when you are going through something negative. If you believe they might be sending negative vibrations your way, you should always follow your gut instinct.

Becoming friends with people who are already living lives you want to emulate is a big deal if you want to continue leveling up and improving your own life. An old saying says that you should never be the smartest person in the room. The same rule should apply while you're selecting your closest friends and lovers. 

If your ultimate dream is to become a successful artist, it makes sense for you to start hanging out with people who paint portraits, snap photographs, and create gorgeous sculptures. If your goal in life is to get married someday, you might want to start spending quality time with people who have already walked down the aisle. If you're excited about the prospect of being a business owner, surrounding yourself with other people who have successfully launched their own businesses will help you grow in all of the ways necessary. Imitation is the highest form of flattery. 

If you're not easily crossing paths with people you want to emulate in real life, you can follow these types of people on social media, such as TikTok or YouTube, to get helpful tips and tricks from them. When you surround yourself with people living terrible lives you wouldn't want to emulate, you're getting in your own way and blocking easier pathways to becoming more successful.

It's smart to hang out with people who accept you without judgment. Meeting accepting people who aren't judgmental is a lot easier to do than you might think. It's not normal to constantly be berated by your friends or lovers about this, that, and the next. If you've been dating someone or hanging out with a friend who consistently judges you for what you eat, what you wear, the music you listen to, and more, you might've started believing that these behaviors were completely normal. 

People who genuinely love you will accept you exactly as you are without poking or prodding and trying to convince you to change. It's important to love and accept yourself exactly as you are, which means the people you choose to spend quality time with should be on the same page as you. The good news about judgmental people is that it's quite difficult for them to hide their true colors for an extended period of time. Soon enough, you'll be able to sniff these types out.

It's incredibly detrimental to be in a relationship or friendship with someone who is constantly comparing themself to you. People who have a deeply competitive nature aren't inherently bad, but you should pay attention to when their competitive desires pop out most frequently. Whenever you're playing board games together, it's totally fine for them to get a little passionate about winning. If you ever challenge each other to a race in the swimming pool, it wouldn't be out of control for them to take the race super seriously. This becomes more of an issue when the people you care about are constantly comparing themselves to you in different areas of life. 

This could be a close friend who's always comparing your body weights in order to make themselves feel better about where they're at. This could be a romantic partner who's always comparing your salaries in order to shame you into earning more money than them or critique you for not earning enough. This could be a family member who's always comparing the size of your living spaces out of their own sense of insecurity. Whatever this might look like, it needs to be nipped in the bud.

Dating people and befriending people who care about the benefits of self-growth and personal development will only improve your life. It will be frustrating for you to start a journey of self-growth and personal development while dealing with people who are content to bask in mediocrity. This can become an especially significant problem if you're dating someone who doesn't care about progressing in life. At some point, you're going to outgrow your partner because they won't be able to keep up with you. 

As you learn more about self-growth and personal development, your mind will continue to expand. You'll be absorbing gems of knowledge each and every day that will help you excel in different aspects of your life, including relationships, friendships, finances, health, and more. If the person you're dating simply doesn't care to learn about any of those things, you'll quickly realize that the two of you no longer have anything in common. The same rule applies to any deeply connected friendships you might have.

It's beyond frustrating to date someone or be friends with someone who isn't fully authentic. When you deal with a person like this, it seems like you're always receiving a fake representation of who they really are. An example of this would be knowing that the person you care about is going through a hard time, but they refuse to open up to you about it. Whenever you ask them what's wrong in an attempt to talk them through it and cheer them up, they simply respond with, "Nothing, I'm fine." 

It's very difficult to deal with people like this because they come across as closed books that don't want to be opened. There's nothing wrong with having surface-level connections with people in your life, such as business colleagues and distant acquaintances. But if you want to develop a deeper connection with someone you really care about, it's important to be fully authentic. It's not fair to you to expose your vulnerabilities and show your true colors to someone who isn't willing to do the same.

When you surround yourself with determined people who refuse to be lazy or lethargic, it puts you on track to being a more successful person in your own life. The more time you spend with lazy people who love laying around without progressing, the more likely their negative energy will rub off on you. Spending time with people who are ready to jump into action to make necessary changes as they see fit is an absolute must. If you're the type of person who considers yourself to be totally ambitious, it will slow you down to be stuck waiting on lazy people who simply can't keep up. 

Having focus and determination is better than being apathetic about what's to come in the future. A lot of people don't feel pressed to concern themselves with what's to come in the future because they would rather give in to their simple pleasures of the moment. Determined people are willing to sacrifice their momentary pleasures in order to live healthy and fulfilling lives. These are some of the best types of people to be around in your day-to-day life.

Spending time with intelligent people who you can learn from will improve your life drastically. There are people out there who know tons about subjects you've never even heard of! Approaching new friendships and relationships with an open mind and being willing to learn new things from people who have endless gems of knowledge shows your emotional maturity and ability to grow. 

One of the best things about surrounding yourself with intelligent people is that you can equally provide just as much cognizance and awareness about things you personally care about in return. Healthy exchanges of information are great foundations for long-lasting friendships and relationships. You might know everything there is to know about beauty and fashion. Your new best friend might know everything there is to know about fitness and nutrition. Since the two of you each have interesting information to bring to the table, you can share all the things you know with each other as your friendship continues to blossom.

Some people are prone to rely on constant negativity and pessimism as a defense mechanism. They prefer to expect the worst out of all situations because it will hurt less when things go sour. These are not the types of people you want to surround yourself with! High-vibrational folks who expect the best out of life are the best friends and lovers to find. There's something magical about being optimistic. It's true that anything you care about can potentially turn out badly, but what's the point in waiting around in agony for things to go wrong when you can expect them to go right instead? 

Shifting negative energy into positive energy isn't exactly the easiest thing to do for everyone, but it's still worth a try. It becomes an even easier feat to accomplish when the people you've surrounded yourself with are naturally highly vibrational in all aspects of life. Instead of expecting a relationship to fail, a car accident to occur, or the eggs in your fridge to rot prematurely, you'll start flipping all of those thoughts upside-down and expecting good things to take place instead.

The friends and lovers you have in life should always compliment you and build you up. This doesn't mean they have to constantly make comments about your outward and physical appearance. They can build you up from the inside by commenting on your personality, candid openness, resilience, work ethic, and so much more. It's also pretty fabulous for the people closest to you to pay you compliments about the way you look every once in a while, too. 

Being in relationships and friendships with people who don't understand the importance of building up their loved ones with complimentary words will leave you feeling undervalued and unappreciated. It only takes a few seconds to say something nice, which is why you shouldn't feel like you're asking too much to expect kind words and compliments from the people closest to you. If the person you're dating never tells you that you're beautiful, or your best friend never makes a note of your sense of humor, you might want to reconsider the people you're spending the bulk of your time with.

Having shared interests with the people you're closest to is pivotal to having long-lasting relationships and friendships. It's really difficult to cultivate a long-lasting friendship with someone who absolutely hates all of the things you enjoy. And imagine dating a romantic partner who finds your hobbies to be repulsive. None of this makes sense, so it's in your best interest to surround yourself with people who actually care about some of the same things you care about. 

You don't have to see eye-to-eye about every single thing with your friends and lovers, but having a few baselines in common would be ideal. For example, your partner might not enjoy watching reality TV with you, but you can still enjoy eating out at restaurants together and taking mountain ski trips every winter. Your best friend might not enjoy going on shopping sprees with you, but you can still enjoy cooking delicious recipes together and experimenting with DIY craft tutorials whenever you're hanging out. Having nothing in common with people you want to spend time with will lead to loads of frustration as you try to narrow down which activities to do together.

Ideal friends and lovers in your life will know how to soothe your worries. Instead of staring at you blankly while you cry, people who really care about you will do their best to calm you down. Instead of slowly backing away from you while you're having an emotional meltdown, they'll try to make you feel better when you're going through something difficult. This is also an important factor when it comes to the desire to gain peace of mind in any rocky friendship or relationship. 

If you're dating someone and you're feeling uneasy about a close-knit connection they have with a coworker, it's up to them to give you the reassurance you need to make you feel better about the situation. A partner who doesn't care about soothing your worries will tell you the connection they have with their coworker is no big deal and that you're jumping to conclusions. Even if there's nothing going on between your partner and their coworker, it's still your partner's job to soothe your worries without making you feel bad.

Hanging out with people who understand the importance of manners and etiquette can greatly improve your life. It's pretty embarrassing to go out to dinner with someone who snaps aggressively at the waitress, eats spaghetti with their fingers, or picks their teeth with their nails in front of everyone. When you're spending time with people who have a basic understanding of manners and etiquette, you'll never be in a situation where you feel like you're being embarrassed. Manners and etiquette go way beyond public events and dinners, though. 

It's also a sign of good manners to show up on time for plans you schedule with a friend or a lover. If someone has you waiting more than 20 minutes beyond your agreed-upon time (without a valid excuse), they clearly don't respect you. If someone makes plans with you and then cancels at the very last minute, that's another sign of a lack of respect. Texting etiquette is another important thing to consider in friendships and relationships. There's no need to expect instant responses, but solid friends and lovers will never leave you hanging with unanswered texts for an extended period of time.

One of the best things you can do is surround yourself with confident people who are sure of themselves. When you date and befriend people who are weak and unable to stand up for their own personal morals and values, you're putting yourself in a very risky predicament. Confident people will hold true to their word with integrity, speak highly of you when you aren't in the room, refrain from petty gossiping, and be there for you when you're in need. 

They also wouldn't even think of comparing themselves to you when it comes to different wins, failures, and successes you each might experience. When you're dealing with friends and lovers who lack confidence, they could possibly fall into any of those categories. A lack of confidence typically equates to an insecure human being. When you're dealing with people who are way too insecure, sometimes it becomes somewhat of a full-time job for you to build them up beyond what's normal and healthy. Friends and lovers are always supposed to be there for each other, but it should never feel burdensome.

Once you've surrounded yourself with people who make you feel seen, heard, and validated, it will be difficult for you to ever go back to living a life where this wasn't your reality. Being friends with people who don't properly acknowledge you can feel very painful. Being in a relationship with someone who doesn't recognize how special you are can feel very isolating. As soon as you develop a friendship or romantic relationship with someone who genuinely knows how to validate you, it makes you feel like a whole new person from the inside out. 

You should never feel like you're begging someone for validation, but some people are emotionally immature and unable to provide something as vital as that. Fortunately, there are definitely people out there who understand how necessary it is to validate their loved ones. These are the types of people who won't shut you down whenever you're opening up about something that bothers you. They won't spin your feelings back on you by trying to shift the blame off of themselves. Once you create a friendship or relationship with someone who makes you feel validated, it's up to you to continually return the sentiment.