Today I'm Growing
Hey I’m Anna and I’m here to help you grow into the best version of yourself. Physically, mentally and in all areas of life. Growth is powerful because it makes us feel stronger, more confident, healthier, and happier. I want to find out all the tips, tricks, habits, and routines - everything we need to know to GROW. I want to do this together with you in this podcast.
New episodes the first Tuesday of each month.
Today I'm Growing
How to Make Friends and Why Friendships Are Important
Hey Team! Welcome back to my podcast Today I'm Growing. I'm so excited to have you here!
In this episode, I’m talking about friendships and how they’ve shaped my life—from childhood memories to how hard it can be to make new friends as an adult. I’ll share my own story of how I let friendships fade and what I’m doing now to focus on the people who truly matter.
I’ll also chat about recognizing real friendships, dealing with awkward social situations, and stepping out of your comfort zone to meet new people.
Big hug, Anna xx 🌸
Hey team, welcome back to my podcast Today. I'm growing. I'm so excited to have you here this morning. I woke up, I looked out of the window and I saw it's going to be a rainy day, a rainy, cold, super chilly day. Let's get cozy. That's what I thought. Let's get cozy, let's record another podcast episode, and that's why I'm here today, and I'm actually really excited to talk about something with you that's been really present lately, really present in my life, and I think it's because, for the first time since years, since a really really long time, I feel like friendships, which is the topic of today's podcast episode. It's something that's really present in my life.
Speaker 1:That had not been the case for years, because I always had been in a really extreme phase. As an example, when I started my business, I went really extreme. All I was focusing on was my business. I really went into this tunnel. I really was just working. I didn't look to the left, I didn't look to the right, I went all in, which was also helpful, of course, because I was able to grow an amazing business.
Speaker 1:But I think there's also another way. There's a more fulfilling and a more balanced way. Also, if you are that kind of extreme and you go all in into one area of your life. Yes, it can be beneficial and maybe sometimes that is for a period of time. Maybe that is something that you have to do. You have to focus on one thing and go all in. But long term, it is a really lonely place. So, when I had been in this extreme phase and I was just working, it was really lonely. It was just me. It was just me and my laptop and my cameras and my phones and I was filming every day. And, yes, I was able to also build something online and we're going to talk about this later. I was able to build an online community, so I felt really connected there. But I do think, next to having friends online or an online community online, it's also super important to have something offline and to build really really strong and deep relationships, to make and build really really amazing and strong and deep friendships. But, yeah, for the first time, I feel like friendships are important to me.
Speaker 1:Also, when I had been in my extreme I just want to add this on to my extreme work era I also had the extreme fitness era, where all I was focusing on was my fitness journey and transforming my whole body and, first of all, like getting this super skinny body and then getting this super strong body. I didn't look to the left, I didn't look to the right, I didn't want to build friendships because there was no time and there was also no energy, and because I know a lot of you are also in this old fitness mindset or are in this. I don't want to say old because it's my old fitness mindset, but it's also really present today. A lot of us are really extreme. A lot of us have really focused on only one thing and they forget to find this balance and they forget that life is more than just one thing. I want to keep mentioning that because it's so important to me that we all here listening to this podcast episode me talking about this podcast episode that we find more and more balance in life because it's the way to feel healthier and happier. So today that's also the reason why I want to talk about it I feel more balanced.
Speaker 1:I feel like not just because it sounds good and not just because I don't know people talk about it and they say you have to have good friendships. I think you can also. If you have really good friends around you. You can feel that it does something with you emotionally, but also mentally, so it's really important for your mental health as well. It's so amazing to have a support system around you, to have people around you that you know they will always be there for you. But on the other hand, also I love to make these kinds of memories with my friends, to go on adventures with my friends. Since I do that, which is now since a couple of months, this it feels so good. I have stories to tell again. I have amazing stories that I will think about for the rest of my life. And, yes, I am also that girl who says go on solo dates, do a lot of things on your own, be alone, because by doing things alone and by spending time on your own, you can learn so much about life. You can learn so much about yourself. But at the same time, I'm also thinking yeah, it's the balance. It's the balance about spending time on your own and being your own best friend, but then also having the friendships on the other side, which are also really, really important. It's all about balance. This is what I will say many, many times, not just in this podcast episode, but across all podcast episodes of my podcast here.
Speaker 1:I want to start this episode with friendships, or let's call it the evolution of friendships, and I want to start with the kind of friendships I had when I was really little, when I was a child. Then I want to move on to school the kind of friendships we all had when we were in school. And then I want to talk about friendships now, in adult life, and to me, I think this is actually the hardest part to talk about, because I think the older I get, the harder it gets to make friends. Let's start with being a child. How easy was it to actually make friends? I feel like it was not a problem at all. I also think it was so organic and so natural, like it just happened. You were a child and you met other children and then you were playing and then you were friends. Easy, boom, done. Like at least that's how it felt for me. I wasn't overthinking it, I wasn't categorizing good friends versus bad friends. They all were just friends.
Speaker 1:I want to tell you about my childhood quickly, because maybe that's also relevant for my friendships now. So first of all, I want to understand, together with you, like the friendships that I had as a child. Do they have an impact now in my life? And when I was a child? Actually, I grew up as an only child, so I am an only child. I don't have any siblings, no brothers, no sisters. I grew up in a really small village on the countryside. I was really, really lucky. I think that growing up as an only child, I never felt really lonely because we had so many neighbors, so many children around our neighborhood which had been at the same age, so it always felt like I have a lot of siblings. Actually they were all my age. I remember there were two other girls and three no, not true, actually five other boys that I just spent time with and it was a lot of fun. We did a lot of fun things together. We made a lot of amazing memories and when I think back now, I actually had a really amazing childhood. I'm so grateful for it.
Speaker 1:Also thanks to my mom that I want to quickly talk about, because my mom, till that day, is really one of my best friends. Still, my mom is such an important part when it comes to my friendship, like she really feels like a best friend to me. I can talk about anything with her. I can share anything with her. I talk about sex with her, I talk about dramatic things with her, I talk about business things for her, even though she's not really interested in that, like she's not at all interested into my success when it comes to the business. She's more caring about my health or how I feel. As an example, if I would call her and I would be like, hey, mom, I made so much money with this deal, she wouldn't be impressed. But if I would say, hey, mom, I'm so happy, I feel truly healthy right now and I got my period back, she would be like, yes, anna, that is amazing, that is so cool and that's also when I talk about it. It's also something I'm so grateful for.
Speaker 1:Also, when it comes to friendships and now I'm talking about my mom and I'm talking about her as my best friend but how amazing is it that she doesn't care about the successes that we think are successes? I could come with the newest and craziest car to her and share it with her and be like, hey, I have this amazing car right now. She wouldn't be impressed. But if I tell her that I'm in a good state physically and mentally and I'm healthy, then she's happy. I mean, that is the best friendship and the best connection that we all can have. We need people like that around us, who don't really care about how much money we have or if we have this new bag or if we have this amazing, crazy car. No, we need friendships that really care about us, like what's within us.
Speaker 1:But, yeah, my mom is one of my best friends, I would say, and I think this relationship, of course she's my mom. Like from the first day, from the day that I was born, she had been there, so she knows me like no one else. But I think then, growing up and being a child or as a child, I also spent so much time with her and my parents. I think I talked about it in one of the other podcast episodes, but they split up when I was a teenager. But even before then I think I spent so much more time with my mom compared to my dad. So he would work a lot, he wouldn't be there, he would always be somewhere. So all the memories that I have of my childhood, it's more with my mom and I think that's why our connection and our relationship is so strong and that's why she truly is my best friend. I hear those kinds of stories a lot, especially from children that had been grown by only one parent, and I hear those stories a lot especially from kids that had been raised by only one parent. So I was raised clearly by my mom at least that's all the memories I have and my dad never had been there. So, yeah, right now. So this is why our connection, I think, is so strong and this is why the connection to my dad is way less Later in school.
Speaker 1:I never had any kind of problems when I had been in school to make friends. I think I always had friends. I need to pause here for a second and I need to think like I think I never had an issue with making friends. I had been part of the cool kids group not always. I think it also changed a tiny little bit at one point. I would also say I had been between the cool kids and the more nerdy kids, but I think most of the time I had been more with the cool kids. This was my friends group and I never had issues to make friends, which is crazy when I compare it to today.
Speaker 1:I'm 29 years old. I should be so much more confident when it comes to building friendships and going over to someone and talk to these people, but I'm actually pretty insecure about it. It gets better, it gets better, better, better. But especially after lockdown, especially after COVID, I want to be honest with you it was so hard for me to meet new people. I also moved from Austria to Germany, so I spent most of my time in Germany right now. It was really hard to come here, to be confident and to build new friendships. It was really really hard. Crazy, because as a child I never had problems. As a teenager. In school, I never had problems. Why do I have problems now? It's actually really crazy when I think about it. But I want to move back to friendships in school. I think in English it would be like high school. I was a teenager, I haven't had any problems. There's just one thing that I want to mention here, because that also shows me like how important it is to have the right friends.
Speaker 1:When I was a teenager, when I was around I would say 13, 14, that also had been the time when my parents split up. So I already I was in puberty and my parents split up, so I was already in a really, really crazy stage of life, I would say I would call it like that. I started to rebel, and when I started to rebel, I also met some other rebel friends. They all had been a little bit older. So I was, I would say, 13 or 14. My friends had been around 16, maybe they just had been older. That's what I remember, but I think 16 isn't true. I think I had been around 12, like 12 or 13 years old, and they had been around 14, 15. I think that's correct. Anyways, they had been a little bit older. They all had been very, very bad, and I mean they all had a really bad influence in me. They all were smoking, they all were drinking, they all were doing weird things that I, of course, then also started doing because I wanted to be like them.
Speaker 1:They were my friends, they influenced me to do a lot of things, and there's a saying like you are the people. No, no, no, no, no. I already said it in another podcast episode. Okay, I will remember. You are the five people that you surround yourself with. I hope this is the correct way to say it, and what I want to say with that is that you spend your whole day, or your whole life with five people around you and you are clearly like the five people that you surround yourself with. So you do what they do, you get inspired from them, you get motivated by them, you get influenced by them, and that truly had been the case for me there as well. So I started to hang out with the rebel kids and I became a rebel myself.
Speaker 1:Believe it or not, but I had been a really, really bad teenager. I'm so sorry for that era of my life, but I was going out a lot and when I say I was 12 years old, 13 years old, I should not go out. I should not drink alcohol, I should not smoke cigarettes Definitely not. But I wasn't just smoking when I was with them. I even started smoking at home. I never shared that. I think I never shared rebel party teenage Anna. But it had been a really, really crazy time and I kind of regret it. But at the same time, I don't regret it because I don't regret anything in life. It is part of my journey and I think I was just able to start my business and start my whole career that I've started at such a young age because I've had this whole party phase. I was already done with it at a really young age because I started so early.
Speaker 1:Quick info here I don't want to promote this right now because, starting with the party era so young, it also has a lot of downsides and I don't recommend doing it. You are so stupid when you're so young and you do things that you don't know that they are not good for you. They're bad for you, and I'm not just talking about cigarettes, I'm not just talking about alcohol. Having bad friends around you like you do things that you regret, and I don't know if I'm ready to talk about things like that yet, but yeah, we did weird things. Also the fact that they had been older. They were thinking of other things, different kinds of things, sexual things that I wasn't ready for at the age of 12. So I do regret it on one side, but it's all part of me, it's all part of my journey and that's why I don't regret anything in life. I just want to.
Speaker 1:If you're listening right now and you're really young and you have friends around you that might be older, but not just older maybe they are also these kind of rebel friends I want you to reflect on it and think are these really the right people for you, like, do they have a good influence on you? Or maybe have a think and be smart? And if it's not the right people for you, you can always separate yourself from them. There are people out there who are really good for you, who want just the best for you, and I want you to connect with those kind of people and not the rebels, the bad ones. But yeah, that had been part of my friendships when I was younger. I'm so, so happy that at one point I disconnected myself from them and I actually made one really, really good friendship in school.
Speaker 1:We are still in contact, we are still good, I would say, even though she lives so far away. Like she lives in Austria, I am in Germany right now. I travel all over the world, so it's hard for us to see each other. I think I see her twice a year, or let's say once a year, definitely at Christmas, because I'm home with my mom and she still lives there. But she had been my best friend when I went to school and I'm also so grateful for that time because she was amazing. She was the smart child, she was a little bit of the nerd, but she was an amazing influence and she actually got me out of this rebel group. I think I'm so grateful that I had her and we built an amazing friendship and it's still here and I'm so happy for that.
Speaker 1:Also, the old friendships, like the lifelong friendships I think many of us have those and that's also something that I'm so grateful for, because nobody knows me better than my three girls or two girls now, but the other one is kind of separating as well from us. She grows into a total different direction so we're not in contact that much anymore. But I have two lifelong friends that really we are growing together. But at the same time we are not growing together because everyone has their own journey. And these lifelong friends they all still in Austria. They're all still kind of in this village that I grew up in. I'm traveling all over so I'm clearly not physically there, but we are still in contact. So these are my lifelong friendships.
Speaker 1:I would also say not just lifelong friendships but also long distance friendships. We really try to keep it up and I think if you also have a long distance friendship, you know the struggles Like it's hard to stay in contact and take care of everyone, but somehow it's possible. Also with these kind of lifelong friends. You know what I think is really interesting how it always feels like damn, I have seen you yesterday and it's all the same. Of course they have stories to tell and something to share, but somehow it always feels so safe safe, I think that's the right word to say it. It always feels so safe and I feel so good around them and once again, I'm so grateful for these lifelong friendships. I hope I will never, ever lose them, like never, ever, never, ever.
Speaker 1:So next to the lifelong friends, we are also slowly moving from school to adult life and I said it before, I really think, since I'm an adult, I don't even know if am I an adult, adult or adult. I don't know how to say it the correct way. I'm sorry if I say it wrong, but I don't even know if I'm already an adult. I don't know. I still feel like a child or a teenie sometimes, but then when I spend time with teenagers and I do sometimes then I realize, okay, I'm further, I'm further and I'm closer to 30 and I have so much more life experience. I have so many other thoughts about different kinds of things, so I can clearly tell that I have grown up. I just think sometimes I don't want to accept that I have grown up and I don't want to accept that life goes so quick and that I don't know, I feel like we have celebrated Christmas just yesterday and tomorrow there's Christmas again. The years go past so quick and that scares me. But anyways, I think it's harder to build friendships right now and I mentioned it before I think the hardest time for me was definitely after COVID.
Speaker 1:After the first lockdown I came out and I already had been in this super extreme phase. First I had been in my extreme fitness era, then I had been in my extreme work era and then suddenly there's this lockdown and I come out of this lockdown. I'm in a new city and I have no friends and then I slowly want to live this balanced life and I want to not just focus on one thing, I want to have friends. But I didn't even know where to start. To be completely honest, and you hear me like trying to find the right words, but it's really hard for me right now because, yes, I really really struggled in my head. I'm thinking, damn, how did I even make friends? Because it was possible. Let me share it with you, with a lot of practice and with a lot of confidence and with a lot of being brave moments, it was somehow possible, and I want to share those with you because I know I have a lot of adults here listening right now and you might also feel lonely sometimes. Or you feel lonely right now and you want to make new friendships, especially when you're moving into a new city, as an example. So I hope my tips help you. And actually, what kind of tips do I have for you? First of all, I think like, don't give a fuck anymore, don't overthink and just put yourself out there. What I mean by that is I want to talk about one friendship. Let's start with this one, because this is a friendship that I've made in Berlin that, to me, is building more and more, and I hope it's not one of those kind of friendships like the come and go friendships. I hope it's not one of them. I really hope it's something that lasts for a really, really long time.
Speaker 1:But I met her at an event. I went alone, I went just by myself to an event. I was really nervous, I was really insecure, I was the whole event actually started really crazy because I was the first one there. I was so on time. All the others came later. I was so on time. I was the first one there. I was so on time. All the others came later. I was so on time.
Speaker 1:I was the first one there and it was an event from okay, it was an event from Amazon Prime. But I walked in and I said, hey, is this the event from Netflix? So that's already how it started. So I said, instead of Amazon Prime, I said Netflix, like the competitor. And the way they looked into my face they were like, uh, what? And I was standing there. I was like, no, okay. So the whole evening already started really chaotic. It already started really crazy. I felt even more insecure and even more weird because this whole group, like the one group that I asked, hey, is this the Netflix event? They all looked at me so weird so I didn't want to become friends with any of them because they already judged me so much. So the whole event evening started really, really crazy.
Speaker 1:I was there alone by myself, super insecure, but yeah, I was standing there. And then I remember there was this bar. So I walked over to this bar. I was like I at least grab a drink, that I have something to hold in my hand. And then there was this other girl standing next to me, and I don't know why, but I thought, okay, instead of standing alone by myself here right now with my glass, I'm just asking her a question. So I just asked her hey, you're also super early here and I just said something funny, which wasn't funny, but I thought it might be funny. And then we started the conversation and she said hey, you know what, if you're alone here, if you're here by yourself, just join us. I'm here with my friends group, just join us. It's going to be super fun. I joined her and we connected on Instagram first. The cool thing about it is she's also from Austria, so we had a connection point. We were both chatting about Austria and how funny it is that we are both at this event here in Berlin now. So we started the conversation and the conversation built up. We went out to grab a coffee, then we went out to grab dinner together and now we are really, really close friends.
Speaker 1:If I would have been insecure in my bedroom at home and I wouldn't have gone to this event, I would never met her. We would never be in a friendship right now. So I felt like brave enough to just go alone, go by myself to this event and then talk to someone. And this is my number one tip for you Just put yourself out there. You have to go out. This is a bit like dating for me. You cannot find someone, you cannot be in a relationship if you never go out on a date. It doesn't work. You have to put yourself out there, you have to go out, you have to be open and just see what happens. Also, don't overthink it. You don't have to overthink everything and sometimes you have to be a little bit flexible and you just have to be a free human being, be free and be open to all the opportunities that life brings for you. Yeah, this is one of the Berlin friendships that I was able to make.
Speaker 1:I have a few other Berlin friendships. It's more like the party friends, I would say the era friends. It's not the close, close, close friends. It's not the friends that you meet every single week, that you call throughout the week multiple times, that you share everything with, but it's the type of I say the come and go or the era friends or the party friends. I do have quite a lot of them actually in Berlin now, which means we go out for I don't know, we have brunch together or we party together because it's the party friends. They invite me to birthday parties, they invite me to their friend's birthday party. So it's that kind of friendships but it's not really really close and I think both friendships are fine. I always think, and I always say that, that you don't need a lot of friends, you just need a really few close friends. But having a lot of friends that you just hang out with or you have fun with, you make experiences with the come and go friends, the ever friends, I think that's also fine and that's also totally okay, as long as you are aware of that and you're like okay, this is not a really close friendship and maybe sometimes you have to prioritize things, you have to prioritize people. Maybe that also helps you. Who are your really close friends and who are just the come and go friends?
Speaker 1:I had a conversation this morning as well with one of my employees and we talked about this whole friendship topic and I was asking her, like what kind of types of friends do you have in your circle? And she said I mean she also said the lifelong friends. Yes, we talked about this. Then we also talked about the come and go friends, the era friends that I also talked about with you now. But then she also mentioned one more friendship type. She didn't say toxic, but she said kind of like the false kind of friend. And I questioned it because I was like, yeah, but do you have friends that are false friends? And then I was thinking, actually, yes, I think friends that are false friends. And then I was thinking, actually, yes, I think at one point in our life we all have those type of false friends. We think they are friends but actually they want to be friends with us because of false reasons, of reasons that are not really meaningful, or they don't want to be real friends with you. They just want to have any kind of benefits from you.
Speaker 1:So, as an example, I started to grow on social media years ago, so followers became really relevant, no matter where I was going to. Even today, when I go to an event, sometimes I get treated Because I have a lot of followers, or it's not just me, like, as an example, if I go with another girl to an event which has way more followers, then she gets treated different than to what I get, and I think this is also really important, and that's what I meant when I said my mom does not care about my success, she does not care about my follower numbers, she does not care about what kind of car I'm driving. She cares about me, she cares about the person that I am, and that's to me a real friend. That's to me the kind of friend I want in my life, compared to like a false friend. A false friend likes you because you have any kind of things that they think are great or are cool or they can benefit from, for example, your followers are cool or they can benefit from, for example, your followers. I also had some situations where I had been with some people and then there was this discussion about hey, why did you tag this person, but why didn't you tag me in your stories? And that already shows me like, hey, do you want to be here with me now? Do you want to spend time with me now, or is it all just about that? I tag you in my story so that my followers see you as well and maybe also give you a follow. Like that is something that I really want to be more aware of, like the false kind of friends, and I want to separate myself from them.
Speaker 1:It's time. It's time not for a break, but I mean a little kind of break, and this is also your reminder, your podcast reminder to drink a little bit more water and to stay hydrated. Today, though, I'm cheating on the water, because before I drink my water here, I'm gonna drink a sip of coffee as well. So please give me a little second. I mean remember, when I started this podcast, I always had a drink of the day. I mean, look at us, today, I'm here with a drink of the day. I mean, look at us, today, I'm here with two drinks of the day Some coffee. So I have a sip of coffee now, and then I have some water with some vitamins in it.
Speaker 1:I'm drinking out of a wine glass lately. If you watched the video, I mean, you can tell what I'm doing here, but I don't know. I have this new thing that I either have my water bottle with me also inside of the apartment, or I'm drinking out of a wine glass, because I found this super cute wine glass collection with super cute quotes on it. On my wine glass today, it says busy doing nothing. So cheers to all of you, busy doing nothing which is actually not true, because I'm chatting with you and I'm recording a podcast episode but I found the wine glass so funny. I also got a few messages already on Instagram saying why I'm always drinking with a wine glass or cheers, or oh, a wine in the morning and I'm like it's not the wine, it's just water in there. I promise I'm not there yet. I'm not there yet, that I'm drinking wine just by myself, and that that will be crazy Drinking a glass of wine right now, recording a podcast episode, maybe as an idea for next time. Let's see what I come up with and let's see how chatty I get when I'm recording drinking something. But no, no, no, no, no, no. I don't want to do that. I stick to water for now and I stick to my coffee for now, and it's amazing too, all now. And I stick to my coffee for now, and it's amazing too, all right, after our hydration and coffee break.
Speaker 1:I want to give you another tip, or maybe some other tips when it comes to how to make friends, because that's also a really common question. First of all, I said to stop caring about what other people think of you and just put yourself out there. You can. You really can in all areas of life, not just when building friendships. Be more confident and put yourself out there, because nobody's like you and you deserve to show yourself to the world. So I really want to encourage you to do that. But other than that, like I think the online world is something really special and I know we talk a lot about being online is something that's not good for you. Don't spend so much time on social media. I say it so slow because social media I don't know if you knew, but social media actually was built to build communities and to be social, and it never actually had been easier to be social and to be on a platform, like to be on social media and connect with other people. It never had been easier, but at the same time, I feel like it never had been more problematic and it never had been harder. But I want you to use social media in a way of, yeah, making new friends, because I think there is a way If you move from the online world also to the offline world, if you move from the online world also to the offline world.
Speaker 1:As an example, I think on social media there are a lot of communities, and communities are great because if you find the right community for you, they have the same kind of interests and if they have events, for example, you can meet them in the offline world and then you can connect and then you can do things together and you can form meaningful friendships, relationships. So I think being on social media, meeting people there, because of the communities that are created there, are really, really powerful. So check out on social media. Maybe there is a community like my community, for example, or our community, the team grow. We are all together, we are all working most of us so hard, we are sweating together, we are working, working most of us so hard, we are sweating together, we are working out together, we're doing the same kind of fitness and workout challenges together. So this is an amazing community. If you love the healthy lifestyle, the healthy balanced lifestyle, then I think the Team Grow, as an example, can be really great for you to find friends.
Speaker 1:Actually, we did a lot of events in the past. We did events through Germany, through Austria. We went with our little bus from city to city and we made these workout events and, till to that day, I know a few girls who connected there and they just came by themselves. And this is also an invitation for you right now, like, if we ever do another event, please come, even if you're alone, if you are just by yourself, please come, show up, because maybe you meet people there, especially if it's really hard for you to find new friends. Come to an event and I guarantee, especially when you are within this community with the same interests, it's going to be easier to build friendships.
Speaker 1:Events, communities I highly recommend it, and community is like it could be anything it could be when it comes to fitness. It could be one of these workout or fitness events. It could also be for you like show up to a yoga class If you love yoga. Show up to a running club If you love running. There are people with the same interests and besides fitness, I think there are also so many other things, other communities, like a book club, as an example, or painting workshops or in acting school. Actually, when I went to acting school, I met amazing people and we still kind of like friends. It is the party friends that I have, it's my acting friends that I have and, yeah, it's a lot of fun. We make experiences together. We do activities together. It's my acting friends that I have and, yeah, it's a lot of fun. We make experiences together, we do activities together. It's a lot of fun, and I met them because of different kind of community things.
Speaker 1:Team, before we end this podcast episode, I hope you're enjoying it so far. If yes, please, please, please, make sure to leave a comment. If you're listening on Spotify right now, leave a comment, because this is the new tool that we have in here and it's so amazing to read your comments. And on YouTube, of course, you can also leave a comment. No, it really means a lot. It means a lot and it's so helpful sometimes as well, because if you have any kind of questions or if you have topics that I should talk about, it gives me a lot of inspiration and I know what kind of things you want to hear more of.
Speaker 1:Before we end this podcast episode, there's one more thing I want to talk about. It's what actually makes a good friend, and I hope this inspires us to all be a little bit better human beings. I hope this inspires us to also think about ourselves and maybe it helps us. Yeah, just be a better friend for our friends that we have and that we love. What makes a good friend? First of all, I think, what do I need from a friend? What do I want from a friend? And then, if I know what I want, I can also give it to someone else. I can also give it to the friends that I have, and I think what I want from someone is, first of all, that they listen, that they listen to what I have to say.
Speaker 1:And this is so important to me, because it's not that I say I had been a really bad person because I wasn't listening, but for a really long time I wasn't listening, I couldn't listen, and I think that's why I also had the feeling that nobody wants to listen to my stories, because I wasn't a really good listener. I was always in my own head, I was always thinking of my own things and I always thought of being the main character, which is super important. It's important that you are the main character of your amazing life. But if you are the main character all the time and you don't listen to someone like you can't build meaningful, deep friendships. You can't. The world is not just around you Like it isn't. It is about other things as well, and you also have to care about other people, otherwise you can't have friends, you can't be in serious friendships or relationships. So, yeah, I wasn't listening for a really long time. I was just in my own head, and that's something I got better with, but I still have to learn.
Speaker 1:So I want to listen way more. I want to listen and I have to say it again because there is a difference between listening and it goes in and it goes out again, or if you truly listen and you truly are present and listen to the problems, to the struggles, to the stories, I think that's something so cool. And that's not just something I've learned when it comes to friendships, it's also something that I've learned in all kind of relationships. But also acting, like in acting school. You have to listen because you can just play, you can just be part of the scene if you also listen to the other person, because how would you react if you don't know what the other person is doing and if you're not really listening very closely? So, instead of just talking, talking and chatting and chatting and being in your own head, I think being a good listener makes a really really good person and a really really good friend.
Speaker 1:Another thing that also makes a good friend is someone that you can have experiences together with and you go on adventures together and you make memories together. You don't have to have the exact same interests all the time. I think that's not what a good friend is, because I have friends especially the friends and our interests are very, very different. But if we spend time together, if we make memories together, no matter what it is if we go to a party or if we go out for dinner or if we spend a weekend somewhere together like we don't have the same interests, but the memories that we make together, the time that we spend together, it feels really, really good and I think that's what a true friendship is. You don't have to have the same exact interests. I don't think that's what a good friendship makes. It's more like the time that you spend together really feels like quality time and instead of feeling exhausted after, like do you know those kind of people when you come back home and you feel really tired and exhausted, that's not the feeling that I have when I spend time with a good friend I come back home and I feel energized again. I feel like my battery is full again. I think that's also what a really good friendship makes. Actually. Now, when I think of it, it should make you feel more energized and it should not make you feel more exhausted. It should make you feel more energized and it should not make you feel more exhausted.
Speaker 1:Last but not least, I think a good friend makes someone who is supporting others, who is not necessarily jealous, but it's more like it's more in a supporting way. So, instead of being jealous of what the other person has, it's more like I'm happy for everything that the person has, but I'm also supporting the other person. Happy for everything that the person has, but I'm also supporting the other person to get everything that the person wants. So it's a really healthy kind of place to not be jealous of someone, to not feel like you're left out or behind. It's not a jealous feeling. It's more a feeling of yeah, I'm just happy for that kind of person and I'm grateful that I have this person in my life. It's inspiring, it's motivating and there's no jealousy around. Yeah, I think that's truly all I wanted to say right now. It actually I thought it's going to be a really short and quick kind of podcast episode, but it turned out to be a really long one.
Speaker 1:I hope it inspired you to rethink your friendships. I hope it inspired you to if you struggle to make new friends, if you want to make new friends, to put yourself out there to see what life has to offer for you, and also to live a more balanced life and to know and realize that friendships are actually something really important and we all need friendships. They have a lot of benefits, not just for them, but also for us. It is something that's part of our life and I highly recommend you spend a little bit more time on building meaningful and healthy and great relationships. Relationships and friendships are work.
Speaker 1:So I hope I also inspire you today to actually put in the work and put in the effort to keep up friendships, because it is work. It is a lot of work to call someone all the time, to text someone all the time, to ask the simple question of hey, how are you? What's going on right now? Do you want to jump on a call? I think it's very, very important that you know that you have to put in the work, but it's going to be worth it. It's going to be worth it because it makes you feel so much happier if you know you have the right people around you.
Speaker 1:I also hope you have the right people around you, and if you don't, I want you to know that you can always make a change. You can always change. That's also what I keep saying here in this episode. You can always change the path that you are on right now. It's your life, it is your journey, and you can decide where you want to go and with who you want to go it with. So thank you so much for listening, team. I'm really grateful to have you here. It also feels like talking to a friend right now. Truly, it does. It really feels like I'm talking to a friend, and thank you so much for making this possible. Thank you so much for listening. Thank you so much for being here. If you have anything to add in this podcast episode, let me know down in the comments. What makes a good friendship for you? What does it mean to be a good friend like? Let me know. Let me know all your kind of thoughts here in the comments, and I cannot wait to read them. Thank you so much, team.
Speaker 1:We also have a podcast Instagram account now which I want to mention here. It's the today I'm growing pot Instagram channel. So just type in on Instagram today I'm growing pot and then you will see it. Yeah, we share a lot of news there. We share the new episodes there. I have a lot of community things there. So I'm asking questions, I'm asking for feedback. I'm sharing a lot of behind the scenes there. So if you want to check it out, check it out. Other than that, I see you soon when I talk about the next podcast episode and I honestly I cannot wait. So thank you so much for listening. Again. I send you a virtual hug, big, big, big hug and then talk to you soon. Bye.