Something we all struggle with – keeping friendships alive while chasing the business dream. I’ve watched too many rock-solid friendships fade into LinkedIn connections, not because of drama or falling out, but because I got caught up in the “I’m too busy” trap. It sucks and, when I look back, I don’t love it.
Here’s the thing about building a business – it’s all-consuming. You’re grinding, thinking you’ll catch up with friends “when things calm down.” Spoiler alert: things never calm down. I looked up one day with a problem and realized, I had no one to call. Not because I didn’t have friends, but because I’d let those connections gather dust while I was “crushing it” at work.
Ouch. Here I was, supposedly successful, but missing the people who’d celebrated my wins and picked me up after my face-plants. The same folks who’d been there through my college phase, my early NYC days, and even those regrettable clothing decisions.
So I made myself a non-negotiable rule: every Friday, I reach out to one old friend. Not a LinkedIn message or a generic “we should catch up” text. Real connection – calls, coffee, whatever it takes. And I mean actually blocking the time off in my calendar, treating it with the same importance as a board meeting.
Want to know the wild part? Every single person I reached out to was stoked to hear from me. No awkward “who’s this?” moments or cold shoulders. These conversations picked up like we’d never missed a beat, except now we had years of stories to swap. This has been an amazing shift.
But here’s what really blew my mind: these reconnections started paying dividends I never expected. While I was heads-down in my tech bubble, my friends had been out living completely different lives, solving different problems, and gaining perspectives I’d never considered. Their insights started helping me crack problems in my business that had nothing to do with their expertise. Sometimes the best business advice comes from someone who has absolutely no stake in your industry.
Plus – and this is huge – having these friendships back in my life gave me the guts to take bigger swings in my business. There’s something about knowing you’ve got people in your corner who knew you before you had a fancy title that makes you braver. They’re the ones who’ll tell you the truth when you need to hear it, not just what you want to hear.
Look, I get it. You’re slammed. Your calendar looks like a game of Tetris. But no amount of business success feels as good as having people in your life who genuinely care about you. These are the people who’ll be there whether your next product launch is a home run or a strikeout.
Stop waiting for the “perfect time” to reconnect with old friends. That time doesn’t exist. Pick up your phone right now and reach out to someone you’ve been meaning to call. At the end of the day, success means nothing if you don’t have people to share it with – people who remember you when your only office was your parents’ garage.
