Throughout the course of my life, I’ve lived in Dhaka, Bangladesh, New York City, Upstate New York, Connecticut, and California.
If there’s one thing I got REALLY good at — its to make new friends in new cities, new situations, and new industries. How? Here’s the one trick I use…
Firstly, let’s talk about why this is important. In a prior episode, we talked about how your network is your net worth. Meaning, the friends you make, the average of the 5 people you spend time with, and the 100 people you keep in close contact with — makes up your net worth.
But as we go through our 20s, whether it is going to a new school, or as we start new jobs, and ESPECIALLY in our 30s, it always becomes harder and harder to make new friends and break into social circles.
If you want to live a proactive life where you have control over your time… Building financial independence is extremely important… How many bank accounts do you have? How are you managing your money? What’re you doing to be more proactive in your life?
Making new friends SOUNDS easy. You just go up to new people, try new things, and say hi right?
The thing is even if you have a great time hanging out, it always becomes SO damn hard to continue to hang out, and to build a real connection or friendship. This becomes even MORE true as you go into your late 20s and through your 30s.
BUT… your network is your net worth, and there’s only so many Saturday nights you can spend at home watching Netflix. And if its particularly your business network, it becomes even more important to make new friendships and connections outside of meetings.
It finally came together for me when a friend taught me this one simple trick. I started hosting dinners. And for these dinners, I invented this game called Truth Vs. Bullshit (more on this in the later episode).
Sharing a meal, breaking bread, experiencing great and memorable food together is one of the best ways to forge new relationships.
Here’s my 3 simple steps for doing it.
- Step 1: Find a place where you can host a dinner for 6 people
- Step 2: Invite 3 people to a dinner that works for all of them
- Step 3: Ask those 3 people that they can bring a friend (not a plus one)
- Step 4: This way, you’ll get about 6 to 8 people together
- Step 5: As you get the dinner going, set an intention. Be up front! Tell them you think they’re all cool people and thought it’d be great to get everyone to meet and share a meal
…in the next episode, I’ll tell you about this game I invented called Truth or Bullshit that makes ANY of these dinner parties amazing and memorable.
This simple dinner trick has never let me down. It takes a bit of courage to get started — but once you do — it leads to making lifelong friends…
If you’re looking to take a more proactive approach to your life using strategies like this — be sure to SIGN UP for our Unstoppable Life Planning Guide by following the link below!