Identify your close friends.
If you want to improve your existing friendships, first determine which ones you want to improve. Your relationships with your friends should take a lot of time and energy, so make sure you are improving relationships with true friends, not just those casual acquaintances. Choose which relationships you want to improve, and then work to strengthen your bond with them. Most will agree that it's better to have a few close friends than a list of acquaintances.

Make time for your friends.
One of the best ways to improve your existing friendships is to make time for them. If you consistently forget to call your friends back, if you always skip out on get-togethers, or if you never remember a birthday (even though they remember yours), you'll soon find that you have no friends. Make time for your friends by recognizing them as a priority in your life. Set aside time on a weekend or evening to call your close friends and check in with them or chat with them. See if you can schedule a lunch date or girls' night out once every month or two (or more) with your friends as well.

Remember important dates.
Think how good you feel when someone remembers your birthday or another important date in your life. Part of being a good friend is remembering and acknowledging milestones in someone's life. So if it's your friend's birthday, send an email or a card wishing them a happy birthday and asking them how they are doing. This can help to improve your friendships by letting them know you care about them and are thinking about them and opening the door for starting a conversation or correspondence.

If you are bad with dates, consider keeping a calendar. Write down the dates of friend's birthdays, and then send them a card. You may also want to keep a few extra birthday or thinking of you cards around the house for such occasions.

Be a friend.
You can also improve your existing friendships by being a friend yourself. This means being willing to listen and being available when a friend needs to talk or wants to stop by and chat. By being a friend to your existing friends instead of waiting for them to come to you, you can improve and strengthen the bond you already have.

Learn how to listen.
One of the great things about having good friends is knowing you can go to someone when you need to talk. Part of being a good friend is knowing how to listen. You can improve your listening skills-and your friendships-by refraining from interrupting or finishing the other person's sentences, actually listening to them when they talk instead of letting your mind wander (this is hard and takes practice!), looking at the person when they are speaking, and asking appropriate questions at the right time.

Your friends are an important part of your life, and these tips will help you to improve the existing friendships you have.