1. It will change your self-image.

2. It will improve your friendship at least somewhat.

3. It will slowly change your social circle.

4. You should be the friend you wish you had.

If you’re reading this at all, chances are you have a lot of “friends” that don’t really support you when you succeed. Either that, or, the truth is you have a lot of jealousy and aren’t really happy to watch someone close to you do better than you. Either way, here are four reasons you should cheer on your friends, even if at first you have to fake it.

Reason number one: your self-image. Celebrating others distances you from envy, removes toxicity, and makes you less self-absorbed. This will happen even if you are faking it, because our brains try to rationalize the emotions we express, regardless of their source.

But celebrating others will also change your motivations. It will encourage you to do things that are worthy of your own celebrations! So you will end up with a higher opinion of yourself, as a result of doing things you find worthwhile. In the long run, you will see your self-treatment mirrors your treatment of others.

Second, cheering on your friends encourages them to reciprocate and cheer you on in return. But even if they don’t, your supportive actions will still reduce pointless conflict. Even the most selfish people don’t want to lose their supporters.

And besides, your current friends now will not be your friends forever.

The third reason you should support and celebrate is that other people will notice. I am someone who genuinely supports my friends. And guess what? In every social circle I’m a part of, I know exactly who cheers on their friends and who acts jealous. Those of us who avoid envy eventually gravitate towards each other.

Want a more genuine social circle? Want better friends? Be a better friend.

And that leads to the final reason. Ethically, you should be the friend you wish you had. Building integrity is like building physical endurance. It requires moderate pain to build muscles through exercise, and it requires emotional discomfort to build character and will-power. But integrity is its own reward. Why?

When something really bad happens, it is a source of incredible strength for me to know that I am at peace with my own values.

So there you have it. Even if your friends don’t support you, cheer them on anyway. Make this single change and you will see that, as if by magic, your circle of friends will change (one way or the other).