Unfriending, unfollowing, and removing a friend may seem like something that’s only limited to a social networking site, such as Facebook or Instagram. When your list of friends gets a little bit too long, it’s time to reduce your list and remove some of those so-called “friends”. If a friend keeps posting messages you’re not interested in, simply unfollow that person and you’ll no longer receive the posts in your newsfeed.

There are so many reasons why you would want to unfriend or unfollow your friends on a social networking site. However, did you consider that you might need to do this in real life as well? As the saying goes, you are the average of the company you keep.

It may be sad to think that some of your friends in life may not be contributing to your quest to become a better person. No, this is not about receiving alone. It’s also about you contributing to the improvement of your friends as well.

When a friendship is not pushing you forward, it may be dragging you down. So, it could be time to reduce your list of friends in real life.

Make a List of Your Friends
You may not have an actual list of your friends, but you should know them by heart. If you can’t remember a certain person, then it’s possible that he or she has already been downgraded from a friend to an acquaintance.

The first step in organizing your friends is to make a list and label each one according to how you think they affect your life. These could be:

1. Friends that have a negative impact on you.
2. Friends that are neutral, and don’t affect you positively or negatively.
3. Friends that have a positive effect in your life, whether in a giving or receiving manner.

Negative Friends
Let’s face it, many of us have friends that we know just don’t influence our lives in a positive way. These are the friends who may get us into trouble or they have a negative attitude. We may enjoy their company from time to time, but you know the friendship isn’t going anywhere. If you have friends that you would rather stay away from, then it’s best that you do just that.

Neutral Friends
Neither hot, nor cold, nor just right. These are friends who are there, but they also aren’t. In other words, they simply don’t affect you in any meaningful way. While it may seem harsh to downgrade this type of friendship, keep in mind that time is limited and you need to acquaint yourself with people that can have a positive impact in your life and push you forward, and vice versa.

The Best Friends to Have
Lastly, there are the best types of friends to have in your life. These are people who are positive, reliable, enrich your life, help you to grow and learn new things, and move forward.  These are friends you want to keep on your friends list.  By freeing yourself from the other two types of friends, you’re actually making more time to spend with the friends that can guide you towards better things in life.

Working with a coach is a good way to determine who to keep on your list of friends that have a positive impact on your life.