A good friend notices victories you almost forgot to celebrate.

Some of what you accomplish passes without ceremony because you are already onto the next thing. A friend who registers it, who says the specific true thing about what it took, gives you something you cannot give yourself. Being witnessed is a real need, and most people have very few people doing it. That noticing is one of the more valuable things a friendship produces.

Be that friend on purpose. When someone you know finishes something hard, name the specific difficulty rather than offering a generic congratulation. It takes a sentence and people remember it for years.