Podcast #124: Cultivate Friendship to Create a Well-Rounded Life

Prosperous Pet Business Podcast

Today’s episode is an interview Alex Alexander recently did with me on her podcast, Friendship IRL. Originally, our idea was to talk about how to make business friends, but our conversation quickly became so much more. We focused especially on intentional everyday actions we need to take to build the kinds of connections we want in our lives.

You have probably read articles that point to friendship as one of the top contributors to happiness. And yet, especially for busy business owners, friendship usually gets pushed to the bottom of a To Do list, if it even goes on the list at all!

Friendship, social connection, community, – these are all important contributors to a sense of well-being. There will be ups and downs as we navigate friendship, especially if we are rusty when it comes to cultivating friendships – and that’s okay! Taking even one small action a day toward friendship and connection can lead to feelings of contentment, positive self-regard and fulfillment. And those feelings help us begin to create a well-rounded life that is worth living!

So, listen in and discover how you can begin to take important friendship actions now – even as a very busy business owner.

Thanks to our sponsors:

Pet Sitters Associates: PSA is a highly-respected insurance company providing insurance for pet business owners. Use promo code PODCAST at checkout to get $15 off your annual insurance premium: www.PetSitLLC.com

PetBusinessCourses.com: Pet Business Courses provide anytime access courses including How to Start a Pet Sitting Business in 7 Days, Catapult 4-Week Pet Business Program, Facebook Marketing for Pet Business Owners and more. Apply what you’re hearing on the podcast by learning from these online courses that help you start and grow your pet business right now.

In this podcast episode you’ll hear about:

The lack of feedback you may get digitally vs. in person, and how technology allows us to control what we show our friends – which often doesn’t contain anything vulnerable.
The energy expenditure required when it comes to spending time with friends, especially if you’re out of practice – plus, my story about showing up for my friend who was dying (some of you may recall that from prior episodes or if you are Facebook friends with me).
The limiting beliefs in friendship that can create a barrier to connection, including the misguided belief that you can only have a certain number of friends; that investing in friendship is a struggle; that you’re too old to make friends, etc.
Using “feng shui” to manifest friendships by making space in your schedules – like how I used feng shui t to manifest my husband by making space in my home for him before I even met him!
Inviting people into our existing life experiences, like making and eating dinner, wrapping presents or getting our oil changed, and the friendships I made through my business group.
How, if we believe we are a contributing friend, we will naturally start to pick up the phone, call people, and take other actions which sustain friendships.