By Nick Samuel
If you want to be known as the charming person or something that has a lot of friends then there is one big thing that you will have to know. It is actually more than knowing, it is something you must do all the time and it is something that you can't fake.
Acceptance is one of the biggest things that you can change to make and keep new friends and it is generally overlooked. Everyone wants to be accepted, in fact, it's fair to say that everyone craves acceptance. Even if the person is thought of as a loner, there are usually one or two people that he will want to be accepted by. A person enjoys when they can be relaxed around someone who accepts them for who they are.
People are never comfortable around a person that is a fault finder or is always critical. They also tend to avoid people who try to force them to change into something that they do not want to be.
When you are hanging out with your friends, then just let them be who they are. If they have a funky quirk or something weird about themselves, then don't get them to try to change it. Setting up standards for people will not help you get new friends. Let them have a little leeway in how they act. In fact, if you can learn to love their idiosyncrasies than might even have a friend for life and it won't drive you crazy. You might even laugh about it.
It can be surprising but by accepting people for who they are will actually help them change if they want to. You can never change a person by forcing them, but if you show them acceptance then they will want to do it for you. Just think about how many wild guys you have known who have been tamed by their wives. It's not because the wife forced them it was because the wife supported him and he wanted to change because of this.
Being accepting of people can go a long way not only in your personal life, but it can also have huge ramifications for your working life also. Since you don't get to choose the people with whom you work with, it is better to learn how to accept them for who they are. Notice though, that I didn't say you had to hang out with them, but you will make your life at work much better when you accept them for who they are.
