“I’m always meeting new people, and my list of friends seems to change quite a bit.”
John Cleese, Actor
Pros and Cons of Changing your Circle of Friends
Many people currently consider changing their circle of friends due to various reasons.
However, changing your circle of friends is often not an easy thing to do.
In fact, while there are some advantages to changing your friends, there are also some problems related to it.
In this article, the pros and cons of changing your circle of friends are examined.
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Contents
Advantages of Changing your Friends
- Changing your circle of friends can make you more successful
- May make you more ambitious
- You can get rid of toxic friends
- Some of your “friends” just try to bring you down
- You can make many new experiences
- Changing your circle of friends can get you out of your comfort zone
- May show you new ways of life
- Changing friends can make you grow in character
- We as humans need some change from time to time
- Necessary if you have to move due to various reasons
- You can spend your time with people you like more
- Can really make your life better
Changing your circle of friends can make you more successful
One key advantage of changing your circle of friends is that it can make you much more successful.
In fact, your friends have a really big influence on your overall success in life since you will often adopt certain characteristics from your friends in the long run.
Hence, if you are currently unhappy with your overall success in life, chances are that this is also due to the people you currently hang out with.
Thus, you should really ask yourself where you want to be a few years from now and whether your friends support your goals or not. In case they don’t support you, it may be time for a change.
May make you more ambitious
Changing your circle of friends can also make you much more ambitious.
If you currently hang out with people who are unemployed or just have no drive at all, chances are that you will also waste your time with rather unimportant stuff instead of taking efforts to reach your goals in life.
In fact, if you change your circle of friends and start to spend your time with people who have ambitious goals in life, chances are that you will also become more ambitious.
Consequently, if you really want to increase your overall motivation level and currently hang out with people who don’t have this kind of drive, chances are that it is time to say goodbye and to move on.
You can get rid of toxic friends
Another benefit of changing your circle of friends is that you can also get rid of toxic friends.
In fact, toxic friends can be a real problem for your overall development.
In fact, those people are often quite miserable and misery loves company.
This means that if you continue to spend time with toxic friends, chances are that they will also impose their negative attitude towards life on you.
Hence, if you have many toxic friends around you, it is definitely time for a change.
Some of your “friends” just try to bring you down
Similar to toxic friends, some of your friends may also try to bring you down.
They may often not even realize it, but some people are just not satisfied with their lives at all and try to hold others back in life as well.
Therefore, if you feel like your “friends” try to bring you down on a continuous basis, this might be a sign for you to change your circle of friends and to look out for friends who really value you for who you are.
You can make many new experiences
Changing your circle of friends can also give you the opportunity to make many new experiences.
In fact, if you get stuck in your current circle of friends for a long time and don’t make additional friendships, chances are that you will simply not make too many new experiences.
Over time, you will know each other quite well and there will not be too many new things to figure out.
Moreover, you will often do similar activities together and it will rarely be the case that you try out new activities.
Hence, if you want to make many new experiences, chances are that changing your circle of friends will be the way to go for you.
Of course, you don’t have completely cut the connection to your old friends.
You can just spend less time with them and spend more time with other people instead.
Changing your circle of friends can get you out of your comfort zone
Another upside of changing your friends is that you can also get out of your comfort zone.
While we often like it nice and cozy, getting out of our comfort zones can help us to make many new experiences and only if we get out of our comfort zone, we can really develop.
Changing your circle of friends can give you this opportunity since you will be forced to get in touch with new people in order to find new friends.
May show you new ways of life
In general, in case you choose to change your circle of friends, chances are that you will also be able to experience many new ways of life.
In fact, our mainstream education often teaches us that there is only one right way to go in life and that every other lifestyle should be considered as kind of dodgy.
However, this is not true at all and only by trying out new lifestyles, you can really figure out how you want to live the rest of your life to its fullest.
Changing friends can make you grow in character
Changing your circle of friends can also really help you grow in character.
In fact, leaving old friends behind is not easy.
However, it is sometimes necessary and chances are that you will become a much stronger character due to those experiences.
We as humans need some change from time to time
In general, we as humans are not meant to live our lives according to the standard boring routine that most people live.
Instead, we need plenty of time to figure out what we really want to do and we also need some level of change from time to time so that we don’t get bored.
Hence, changing your circle of friends can also help you in this regard since you will get to know many new characters over time.
Necessary if you have to move due to various reasons
In some cases, you may also have no choice but to change your circle of friends.
For instance, if you have to move due to a new job opportunity or due to various other reasons, you will often have to leave your old friends behind and start a new chapter in your life.
You can spend your time with people you like more
In fact, changing your circle of friends can also help you to spend more time with people you really like.
Especially if you are not happy with your current circle of friends at all and if they have a bad influence on you, chances are that it will be time to move on and to spend your precious lifetime with people that really value your companionship.
Can really make your life better
Overall, changing your circle of friends can really make your life better in case you currently hang out with the wrong people. It may be hard at first.
However, over time, you will soon realize that hanging out with the wrong people doesn’t make any sense and that it will just hold you back in life.
Hence, many times, also your inner voice will simply tell you that it is time to move on in such a case and it can be clever to listen to this voice from time to time.
Disadvantages of Getting Rid of Old Friends
- You have to find new friends
- You will miss your old friends
- Changing your circle of friends can be stressful
- Your old friends may not understand your decision
- May lead to serious emotional conflicts
- Many people are not strong enough to walk away
- It is difficult to give up friends you know for a long time
- You may feel lonely
- You may get socially isolated
- May be hard if your partner is connected to your old circle of friends
You have to find new friends
Although changing your circle of friends can be quite beneficial for you, there are also some problems with leaving your old friends behind.
In fact, you have to find new friends and this can be quite time-consuming.
Moreover, it is often not easy to find people with the same interests and values and it may take you quite a lot of time and effort to search and find those people you really want to hang out with.
You will miss your old friends
Especially at the beginning, changing your friends can be hard since you will miss them quite a lot.
In fact, we as humans are designed to get addicted to each other and when you suddenly remove your connection to your old friends, chances are that it will not be easy for you to let your old life go.
Changing your circle of friends can be stressful
Another downside of changing your circle of friends is that it can be quite stressful.
In fact, finding new friends can be quite time-consuming and if you currently work in a demanding job for long hours every day, chances are that you will be quite stressed by making this additional time commitment to searching for new friends.
Your old friends may not understand your decision
In many cases, your old circle of friends will also not understand your decision at all.
Quite often, those people will try to make you stay and may not be happy at all when you finally decide to leave.
May lead to serious emotional conflicts
Another disadvantage of changing your circle of friends is that it can also lead to serious emotional conflicts.
In fact, many people are not sure whether it is time to leave their old circle of friends behind.
In turn, this insecurity can lead to sleepless nights and even to mental problems.
Many people are not strong enough to walk away
Many people are just not mentally strong enough to walk away from their old circle of friends.
Even though their old friends may treat them quite poorly, they are simply not emotionally ready to change their lives for the better.
It is difficult to give up friends you know for a long time
Another problem with changing your circle of friends is that it can also be quite difficult to give up friendships that lasted for a quite long time.
You invested plenty of time and effort in the past and may feel committed to maintaining these relationships.
However, remember that you will never get this time back and that it only counts what is best for you from now on.
You may feel lonely
If you leave your friends behind, you may also feel quite lonely.
Especially at the beginning when you will not have other friends around you, this can be quite tough.
However, over time, you will meet many new people and the feeling of loneliness will go away.
You may get socially isolated
In case you leave your old circle of friends and do not find new friends, you may also suffer from serious social isolation.
This can lead to all sorts of mental problems and you should at least keep a minimum level of social contacts in order to stay sane in the long run.
May be hard if your partner is connected to your old circle of friends
Especially if your current partner is also connected with many of your old friends, it can be quite hard to cut the cord since your partner may still want to hang out with your old friends.
Top 10 Changing Your Friends Pros & Cons – Summary List
| Changing Your Friends Pros | Changing Your Friends Cons |
|---|---|
| Changing your friends can make you happy | Changing your friends is emotionally challenging |
| Can make you more ambitious | You have to find new friends |
| Changing your friends can improve your success | Changing your friends can make you lonely |
| May improve your overall quality of life | Can lead to mental problems |
| Can help you get rid of toxic friends | Changing friends may worsen your situation |
| You may get a different perspective on life | You may regret it later on |
| You can get to know different lifestyles | You may get socially isolated |
| You can make new experiences | Many people may not be strong enough |
| Changing your friends can improve confidence | Convenience may make you stay |
| Can get you out of your comfort zone | You may miss your old friends |
Should You Change Your Circle Of Friends?
As we have seen before, there are several advantages and disadvantages to changing your friends.
In the end, you have to decide for yourself whether you want to stay with your old circle of friends or if it is time for a change instead.
Sources
https://personalexcellence.co/blog/new-friends/
https://www.wikihow.com/Make-Friends
About the author
My name is Andreas and my mission is to educate people of all ages about our environmental problems and how everyone can make a contribution to mitigate these issues.
As I went to university and got my Master’s degree in Economics, I did plenty of research in the field of Development Economics.
After finishing university, I traveled around the world. From this time on, I wanted to make a contribution to ensure a livable future for the next generations in every part of our beautiful planet.
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