How To Make Friends Worth Keeping is a book written by a guy from Sydney, Australia, Alex Vaselevski, an overachiever who is so successful at the things he does because he puts his all into it, to the point, sadly, of sacrificing a part of his life – his personal relationships. Now he is applying the strategies he used in building his successful career into building friendship and personal relationships and is sharing it to the world through this amazing e-book.
This book is intended for everyone, especially those who are serious about building relationships because the book presents practical steps that make perfect sense and are bound to work as expected. He warns the reader early in the book, however, about the need to conquer the fear that might keep one from making the move to implement the suggested methods. The suggested ‘how to make friends’ steps sometimes sound like hard work. Building and maintaining friendships turns out to be much like the way an efficient business establishment is handled. You make a business plan, chart out a schedule for calls, activities, etc. You even make a database of records for each friend! Stop and check yourself right there. The level of your surprise or disbelief at the preceding statements is also the level at which you take the value of friendship and relationships for granted. Note, the author says: “Nothing is trivial when it comes to friendship”. If you have experience, or is familiar, or even just have an inkling about business procedures, you will realize that what is elaborated in the book will definitely give assured returns in terms of loyal friendships and strong lasting relationships.
If you still think that friendship and relationships are not that big a deal, consider the following statements as a wake-up call. “If you look at the deathbed research, no one ever talks about money or work or possessions or accomplishments. Instead, it is all about relationships, families, friendships and the times which they have shared with those whom they treasure the most. Don’t miss out. Value people by valuing the things which seem limitless and trivial.” And if I may add, the discussion of accomplishments, possessions and accumulated wealth left behind only causes jealousy, envy and arguments as to who gets which, further causing division and strife in relationships.
The book elaborates on the concepts that allow you to make friends worth keeping. Not only that, it goes into details and even gives specific steps to take to implement the ideas presented. It teaches you the different types of people, how to detect a person’s type and how to handle each type. It also gives tips on recognizing the kind of people to stay away from. You can consider it as a how-to-make-friends coach that will guide you through the phases of initiating, establishing, maintaining, mending, deepening and keeping friendships and relationships for life. If you find the art of conversation challenging, you will also be coached in detail on each stage of a conversation ( i.e opening, body, closing) and the value of listening. You will literally become a master conversationalist eventually if you practice the methods as instructed and an expert on how to make friends worth keeping.
All in all, I consider the book, How To Make Friends Worth Keeping, as a must-have in my library.