How to Break Up with Your Friends

Book excerpt: Create space for meaningful connections and set healthy boundaries with this much-needed guide to modern-day friendship. Friends hold an especially valuable role for women—few relationships have such power to fuel us and inspire our joy. Yet even though we pride ourselves on our large networks, we tend to be afraid of rocking the boat and asking for what we really need. As a result, we end up accepting mediocrity in ourselves and our friendships far too often. But does it really have to be this way? In How to Break Up with Your Friends, celebrated life mentor Erin Falconer provides a refreshing guide to modern-day friendships—along with deeper principles, assessments, and practices for nurturing them. “This book is about so much more than going through your contact list with a machete,” writes Erin. “Yes, you’ll learn how to detox yourself from friendships that no longer nourish you, but you’ll also explore the astounding importance of modern friendships and how to be a truly great friend yourself.” With clear-eyed guidance and a good dose of humor, Erin will help you: Take stock of those currently in your life so you can see exactly how you and your friends are serving each otherUnderstand how your earliest friendships impact your current relationshipsExplore the importance of having healthy friendships—including the many ways we’re influenced by our friend groupsKnow the main types of friendships we form, the roles they play in our lives, and how to deepen the most essential onesRecognize the signs you’re in a toxic friendship and stop fearing constructive confrontationRupture and repair—be ready when a valuable friendship hits the rocksLearn how to make new friends as an adultHave the courageous conversations needed when it’s time to “break up” with others With a wealth of revelations and tools—including the Six Pillars of Friendship, the Friendship Diagnosis, and sample scripts to help facilitate the hard conversations—How to Break Up with Your Friends is the relationship book you didn’t know you needed.