Are you a lone wolf? It's time you found your pack.
I’m not an expert on the biology of wolves, but according to the International Wolf Center, wolves are highly social animals that live in packs. Somewhere along the line, we humans thought we’d create the terminology of a “lone wolf.” Further down our evolutionary path, we associated this with pride, or perhaps eccentricity, that intrigued others.
I know because I was a self-proclaimed “lone wolf,” for many of my entrepreneurial years.
I had friends, but not real friends, casual friends. In my mind, I didn’t need friends. My dad was a WW2 vet. He started as a marine and then made a career out of the army. His powerful life story taught me to be independent and capable.
Accomplish the mission.
But there were missions I didn’t accomplish well, or at all, because I ran alone.
Motivational speaker Jim Rohn famously said, “we are the average of the five people we spend the most time with.” We talk about romantic and business partners but rarely consider how important friends are because running with the right pack of friends can make or break your success.
I believe there’s truth to that. Now I know to be the badass 0.01%-er you want to be, you need to cultivate your pack. Because, like wolves, we are social animals, and if you want your business to have a higher impact, you will need strong relationships supporting your journey.
Great friends, or treasured friends, are substantive to the quality of your life. The Lions Pride’s Treasure Friend Worksheet is a tool that helps you define the qualities and characteristics of a great friend. It enables you to evaluate your friendships and take inventory of your current relationships.
So quit trying to please everyone and focus on the friends/relationships that matter.
FRIEND GROUPS:
Old Friends—These are friends you had in high school whom you haven’t talked to in 20 years. You don’t need to. You experienced an importatnt time together, and now that time has passed, but you look back on memories that make you smile.
Maintenance Friends—These are friends with whom you are on good terms and get check-ins, letting you know how they’re doing. These are the old traditional Christmas card, pictures of the idyllic life, the good part of life, friends. But you can’t call them up or drop in unannounced.
Growth Friends—Individuals who are accelerating your life, business, and self-growth. Boy oh boy, do I value these friends. They will challenge you daily to show up and do your best work. I have a handful of these.
Then, at the tip of the iceberg, are my Treasured Friends. I have 3. These are the friends you want. When you find them, keep them close. I share my life with them regularly, and they return the privilege. I can call them any time, and they will answer. It could be a 2 min check-in or a two-hour conversation.
These friends are the keepers of my secrets, who will stand at my graveside and speak to those attending about things that no one else knows. They’re the people I can call at 2 am (and I have), asking for a $50,000 loan, and I’ll get a check or a wire transfer the next day. I’ll ask for an hour of their time to whine and whimper, and they’ll run down the rabbit hole with me—but then bring me back up.
Friends are part of our Life Wheel GPS Exercise because navigating adult friendships take work. Yes, they can be complicated, but they are so worth it—nourish them like every other relationship you have.
Remember, what matters most in the end, is love, relationships, how you lived your life, and those who lived it with you.