The Friendship Tour | Friendship, Community, Faith, How to Make Friends

51 | Here's One Thing That Could Be Ruining Your Friendships Before They Even Get Started

You want friends. You NEED friends. But you keep thinking about all the previous friendships that didn’t work out. Or, perhaps a bad relationship has shaken your confidence in yourself and in forming new relationships. Maybe you grew up in a toxic or unhealthy family and never really learned how to form healthy relationships. You might even be playing the same old unhealthy scenarios in your mind over and over and over again. Sounds like you might have baggage. And that baggage could be holding you back from establishing and maintaining healthy friendships.
 
If you want to hear more about how baggage might be ruining your friendships before they even get started, check out this full episode.
 
If you feel like baggage really, truly is the problem, and you need help dealing with it, please contact a qualified therapist or counselor in your area.
 
If you want to connect with an amazing group of women on a regular basis, join the Women, Friendship, and Community Facebook group.
 
Want to hear more episodes like this one? Check out the list below.
 
44 | Does Your Friend Need Mental Health Support? Here are 6 Ways You Can Help - featuring Dr. Kandece Skinner
 
32 | Feeling Left Out? You're Not Alone - featuring Lauren Gray
 
29 | Boundaries - What They Are, Why We Need Them, and How We Establish Them - featuring Ashley Cook

50 | Iron Sharpens Iron - How Our Friends Can Help Us Succeed in Life - featuring Michelle Dallas

“Birds of a feather flock together.” “Show me your friends, and I’ll show you your future.” We’ve all heard sayings that encourage us to be mindful of the company we keep - and for good reason! Our relationships, whether familial, romantic, or platonic, have the ability to influence our success, or lack thereof, in life.
 
Join Michelle Dallas and me for a conversation about iron sharpening iron. Listen in as we discuss pushing, encouraging, and motivating one another to be the best versions of ourselves. Sometimes, the push and encouragement is through spoken words. Other times, it’s not a push or a nudge at all - it’s just a matter of being awesome and letting that awesomeness rub off.
 
In the best of circumstances, our friends push us to be better, while still respecting all the things that make us unique as individuals.
 
After the episode, let’s keep the conversation going in the Women, Friendship, and Community Facebook group. I’d love to hear about a friend who encourages YOU to succeed in life.
 
Want to hear more from Michelle and other amazing women? Check out the episodes below.
 
31 | What Do You Do When a Friend Moves Away (other than cry, of course)? - featuring Michelle Dallas
 
43 | STOP KEEPING SCORE! Aim for Tranformational, Not Transactional Friendships - featuring Stewanna Dasari
 
37 | GIRL! You Trippin’! How a Friend’s Honesty Helped My Marriage - featuring Alicia MatthewsFinal thoughts...
1. If you love The Friendship Tour, please leave a review and share with a friend.
2. *BE A GOOD FRIEND!*

49 | 5 Warning Signs You Shouldn't Ignore When Making New Friends

Have you ever met someone who seemed nice, engaged with her a few times, then something happened that made you think, “NOPE! This friendship isn’t for me.” Perhaps that happened to you. You met, hung out, then nada - you never heard from her again. What happened???
 
We all have our relationship warning signs or red flags - the things that make us think the relationship just won’t work out. And other people have them, too. And, that’s okay! Those little warning signs are how we protect ourselves from relationships that just aren’t right for us - for whatever reason.
 
When you see the warning signs, what do you do? Do you try to power through and build a friendship anyway (not advised) or do you move on to someone who might be a better fit for you?
 
Everyone is different, and everyone has their own relationship warning signs. In this episode, I share five of the warning signs I just can’t ignore when making new friends. You may have a different list, but it IS important to give some thought to which behaviors and habits you will and will not tolerate in a relationship. Then, if you’re serious about making and keeping friends, consider if there’s anything YOU’RE doing that might be a turnoff to others.
 
Next Steps:
Listen to the episode.
If you like the episode, share it with a friend or on social media.
Leave a comment about the episode in the Women, Community, and Facebook group. Talking about friendship is a lot more fun when I get to hear YOUR thoughts, too.
 
Do you like this episode? Here are two more you might enjoy.
 
29 | Boundaries - What They Are, Why We Need Them, and How We Establish Them - featuring Ashley Cook
 
18 | CHEMISTRY! When it Comes to Relationships, You Either Have it or You Don’t - featuring Dr. Bryan Curtis

48 | 4 Ideas to Help Introverts Make Friends

I keep seeing the same joke about introverts on social media…”How do introverts make friends? They wait for extroverts to find them, like them, and adopt them.” Funny, but not funny.
 
If you’re an introvert who struggles with making friends, this episode is for you. In this episode, you’ll hear 4 ideas for making friends as an introvert. The first idea is the biggest one - change your mindset. Being an introvert is not a disadvantage or a problem. It’s just who you are. It’s what makes you YOU! So, embrace it!
 
If you want to hear the other 3 tips for making friends as an introvert, check out the full episode.
 
After the episode, share your thoughts in the Women, Friendship, and Community Facebook group.
 
Want More Episodes About Making New Friends? Check out any one of my episodes with a guest! We almost always share how we met and a favorite friendship moment. Don’t feel like scrolling through the episode list? No problem. See the list below for a few episodes about making friends.
 
34 | 5 Tips for Making New Friends
45 | 5 MORE Tips for Making Friends
30 | How to Start and Nurture a New Friend as an Adult - featuring Jenai Eustache11 | How to Make New Friends - Airport Edition - featuring Kinnari Patel*BE A GOOD FRIEND*

47 | If You Love Them, Tell Them

This episode is so simple. If you love them, tell them. Maybe they really need to hear it today. Maybe you really need to say it today. You may not get another chance. You might 1,000 more chances. Say it in ways big and small, and make sure they hear it. I love you. Tell them.

46 | What Are Deep Friendships, and How Are They Formed? - featuring Lisa Clinton

When life gets tough, who has your back? When you have good news to share, who do you call? When you need help with your kids or you're struggling with your health, who’s there for YOU? If you’re not sure how to answer these questions, this episode is for you.Many women, even those who appear to have multiple friends, find themselves coming up short when it comes to deep friendships - the kind of friendships that help you grow, feel supported, and feel less alone in life.In this episode, Lisa Clinton and I discuss what deep friendships are and how they’re formed. Tune in to hear Lisa recall where she met her lifelong friends, the simple way she broke the ice with a potential friend, her thoughts on where to meet positive, like-minded women, and her thoughts about how deep friendships are established.Next Steps:
Listen to the episode.
Leave a 5-star review in Apple Podcasts.
Share the podcast with a friend.
Want to Stay Connected? Join the Women, Friendship, and Community Facebook group! It’s a lot of fun!Want to hear more episodes like this one? See the related episodes below.1 | What is a True Friend? - featuring Lauren Jones Gray
2 | Authenticity: The Key to Deeper Friendships, Personal Freedom, and Peace - featuring Alexandria Fichera
9 | Faith-Building Friends - featuring Theresa Johnson

45 | 5 MORE Tips for Making New Friends

What do you do when you meet someone interesting, cool, or fun - someone who you’d like to be friends with? What are the next steps?
In episode 34, I shared 5 tips for making new friends. Here in episode 45, I’m sharing 5 MORE tips for making new friends. Why? Because friendship is so important! And, despite many of us having hundreds or thousands of social media friends or followers, many of us are still longing for deeper, more meaningful connections in real life.
This episode was adapted from an article I wrote for Just Between Us Magazine several years ago. You can find the full article here: https://justbetweenus.org/christian-relationship-advice/real-friendships/10-tips-for-making-new-friends/.
Want more episodes about making new friends?
11 | Making New Friends-Airport Edition - featuring Kinnari Patel 
30 | How to Start and Nurture a New Friendship as an Adult - featuring Jenai Eustache 
34 | 5 Tips for Making New Friends
Let's keep the conversation going! Join the Women, Friendship, and Community group on Facebook! We'll talk about the The Friendship Tour podcast episodes and all things friendship!
 
*BE A GOOD FRIEND!*

44 | Does Your Friend Need Mental Health Support? Here are 6 Ways You Can Help - featuring Dr. Kandece Skinner

Is your friend just not herself? Does her behavior, sudden distance, or physical appearance have you concerned? Maybe she needs mental health support.
 
Many of us have found ourselves in this situation - where we see that something is different and we genuinely want to help, but we just don’t know what to do. 
 
In this important episode, Dr. Kandece Skinner, a licensed educational psychologist, shares 6 ways you can help a friend who might be struggling. Dr. Skinner also shares 3 things NOT to do when you’re trying to help a friend, including:
 
Do not try to diagnose your friend.
Do not try to fix your friend.
Do not judge your friend.
 
If we live long enough and encounter enough people, we’ll likely need to put Dr. Skinner’s advice into practice at least once or twice. Or, perhaps a loving friend will use this information to help us, if needed.
 
RELATED EPISODES:
29 | Boundaries - What They Are, Why We Need Them, and How We Establish Them - featuring Ashley Cook
7 | We Were on a Break! How Two Friends Grew Apart…and Back Together (Part 1) - featuring Wendy Alleyne8 | We Were on a Break! How Two Friends Grew Apart...and Back Together (Part 2) - featuring Wendy Alleyne
 
OTHER NOTES:
We have a great group of women in the Women, Friendship, and Community Facebook group! Join the group to keep this important conversation going.
Don’t forget to leave a written review in Apple Podcasts!
 
*BE A GOOD FRIEND!*

43 | STOP KEEPING SCORE! Aim for Tranformational, Not Transactional Friendships - featuring Stewanna Dasari

Do you find yourself keeping score in friendship? It goes something like this… “I went to her kid’s birthday party, but she didn’t come to my kid's party!” “I scheduled the last brunch meetup, so it’s HER turn to plan something!” Or, perhaps you catch yourself saying, “After all I’ve done for her?!”
 
Are you laser focused on reciprocity in your relationship? If so, it sounds like you have a transactional friendship.
 
While it’s reasonable to expect our friends to celebrate important days and milestones with us and to give as much as we give, reciprocity shouldn’t really be the goal in friendship. Instead, let’s aim for transformational friendships.
 
Transformational friendships help us grow and evolve as individuals. In these relationships, we dig a bit deeper - beyond the give and take - to offer a bit more of ourselves. Perhaps we offer a skill that only we have, a favor that a friend really needs, a word of encouragement so a friend can keep going, maybe a prayer. Perhaps we lovingly offer constructive feedback or carefully worded advice - all designed to help a friend grow. Will we get what we offered back? Maybe, maybe not. Still, we do it out of love. 
 
Join Stewanna Dasari and me for a conversation about transformational vs. transactional relationships.
 
After the show, head to the Women, Friendship, and Community Facebook group to share your thoughts.
 
*BE A GOOD FRIEND!*
 
Would you like to hear more from Stewanna Dasari? Check out the episode below.
 
40 | Too Busy for Friends? 10 Tips to Help You Stay Connected When Life Gets Hectic - featuring Stewanna Dasari
 
Would you like to hear examples of transformational friendships? Listen to these episodes:
37 | GIRL! You Tripping! How a Friend’s Honesty Helped My Marriage - featuring Alicia Matthews
 
13 | Somebody Prayed for Me - And Those Prayers Got Through! - featuring Ashley Smith
 
9 | Faith-Building Friends - featuring Theresa Johnson
 
Let’s Be Friends!
 
Facebook Community: bit.ly/thefriendshiptourpodcast
Email: ccurtis@thefriendshiptourpodcast.com

42 | HAPPY GALENTINE'S DAY! Let's Have Some FUN! (P.S. - It's a GIVEAWAY!)

HAPPY GALENTINE'S DAY!!!
 
What is Galentine's Day? It's a day that's all about FRIENDSHIP! And, I want to celebrate friendship with all of you - friends near and far.
 
Listen to the full episode to learn how YOU can be part of The Friendship Tour's 2025 Galentine's Day celebration. But don't delay! The celebration ends on Thursday, February 20, 2025 at 11:59pm PST.
 
As always, be a good friend!
 
Let's stay in touch!
Facebook Community: bit.ly/thefriendshiptourpodcast
Email: ccurtis@thefriendshiptourpodcast.com