Episode #856
In this episode, we dive into the vital role of maintaining friendships as we age, highlighting why it’s essential for both mental and physical well-being. As we navigate through life, it’s easy to let friendships fall by the wayside. Yet, loneliness can have severe health implications, such as increased risk of heart disease, high blood pressure, and even cognitive decline. Tim and Mark discuss the concept of Blue Zones, regions where people live significantly longer due in part to their strong sense of community and social connections.
The conversation touches on the pitfalls of making your spouse your only friend and the importance of having a network of male friends who can provide emotional support, reduce stress, and offer accountability. They emphasize the need for men to prioritize these friendships despite busy schedules and societal expectations.
Join us as we explore actionable steps to build and maintain meaningful male friendships, including finding common interests, making regular efforts to connect, and overcoming feelings of guilt associated with taking time for yourself. This episode is a heartfelt reminder of the joy and strength that comes from having a solid circle of friends, no matter your age.
Tune in for an engaging discussion that underscores the power of connection and the positive impact it has on our lives.
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Transcription
Tim Matthews 0:00
guys not having enough male friends, and therefore making your wife your only friend, there is a hell of a lot of risk there. And it places a lot of strain on the relationship too. Because the reality is, loneliness is a killer.
Mark Hainsworth 0:17
I tell you what I’ve noticed as men start to open up with each other judgment goes out the window,
Tim Matthews 0:24
in our one common regret of the dying, is I wish I would have spent more time with the people I love and spent less time at work
have you ever noticed that it is harder to maintain friendships as you get older? Today, we are diving into why it’s important for you to make an effort to keep friends as you get older. We’re gonna talk about Blue Zone communities and the benefit of the role that community plays. We’re going to pull in a lot of insights from the amazing man I’ve got by my side, Mr. Mark Hainsworth, he is our head of coaching has decades of experience in working with men. And we’re going to really get some key insights from you and from your experience with the guys. Cool, Sir Tim? Yeah, thanks for being here, brother.
Mark Hainsworth 1:24
Long way,
Tim Matthews 1:25
where we come from,
Mark Hainsworth 1:27
I’ve come from Cape Town via the UK.
Tim Matthews 1:33
Not falling
Mark Hainsworth 1:35
nine hours a jet lag, and it’s the dry air here to get him. It’s like, whoa, I’m in a different environment.
Tim Matthews 1:41
I get it. Brother. I arrived last week, about 27 hours similar jncu been here a few days. So hopefully will not mess this episode up, then, you know. So I want to dive into the impact of not having friends. You know, I think one of the key elements that I believe the men join The Brotherhood in the inner circle for is that sense of camaraderie, right? We see when the guys get together, be on a TPM trip be on a trip that they arranged themselves. And we’ve seen it as a stick around for years that the bonds that develop, how those bonds serve them in their life and in their journey. And I think it’s very easy to find the trap that I think a lot of guys have definitely fallen into at least one time in their life. And that is the pitfalls of making your wife, your main companion. Now there’s, there’s some nuance there as well. And there’s some benefit to having a certain mentality of her being your best friend and such. But you know, as a guy, if you don’t prioritize making those male friendships, and you do then as a result, kind of default to having your wife be the person that is your man companion. While there’s pitfalls there. So I’m curious, what’s your experience of this? Like? What have you experienced in your own life, your own journey? I think you’re good at keeping male friends. You’re always telling me how you get with them. But I’m curious what you’ve been through and what you’ve seen with the men as well.
Mark Hainsworth 3:15
Yes, so what’s really interesting, I mean, I got married, let’s start there. I got married when I was 28. I worked in an organization I used to travel the world selling thermometers, funnily enough, not quite fancy thermometers, but and I had a couple of guy friends at work. And then at home, I was with my, obviously, the wife was at home, she worked as well. So she had her own career. But we did quite a lot of stuff together. And when the marriage started to get to its crisis point, and we’re headed towards separation, what’s really interesting was, I reached out to some of my old friends. And what fascinated me was the way that they were just there, the guys were just there. They’ve noticed I’ve been missing for a while. And, and the other thing that I really appreciate you with some of the really honest feedback I got from them, about how I how they perceive me. So in this in this process of separation and divorce, I was questioning myself, like really questioning myself. And if I look back on it, some of my closest friends that I went back and saw and said, This is what’s going on. One, it was really scary for me to open up and saying, you know, I’m feeling like, not good enough. Feeling like a failed and the uncertainty to open up to them and say, This is what this is what I’m going through right now was scary. At every time I did it. One of the guys were saying Yep. And I did have to share a story that where they’d experienced something similar or they were able to Look at it and go, Hey, that’s not you. That’s not the mark, I know that Mark, I know it was a different is a different to the way you’re showing the way you explain experience and myself at the time, you know. So there was a level of male support, which was brutally honest, which I enjoy. Actually looking back at it really empathetic. And there was a lot of humor. Because a lot of my buddies have got great senses of humor, which is where we connect on, they can kind of call it as it is with a smile on their face. And then we can have a good laugh about it. So that was the first time I realized, hey, there’s something really powerful here about having male buddies. After the separation. I went to live in Chicago, I worked on a on a job there for three and a half years. And I worked with a bunch of eight blokes. And not only that I worked with them during the day. But because we were all expatriates on working on this project, we used to socialize at night. And the connections that were made in that time were just irreplaceable, absolutely irreplaceable. To the point now, where if I get in touch with one of these guys, and it’s 20 odd years later, and it’s just like re was immediate connection to those times where we connected 20 odd years ago. But when we get together now, it takes nanoseconds before that connection is experienced. Again, it’s like it’s timeless, it’s timeless, you can pick up with these types of friendships, anytime in your life. And there’s something there that is, every play in my world is irreplaceable.
Tim Matthews 6:41
Yeah, I think you you’re very right. Very true. It’s been my experience in all honesty. Now, I’ve found myself in the past five to 10 years, not doing a good enough job of keeping up with my male friends from yesteryear, if you will, you know, 10 years ago, a bit longer than 10 years ago, I started down this path of like self discovery. And I knew I had to change things in my life, my life wasn’t working the way that I wanted it to work. Now back then I was 20s. And part of that meant leaving my hometown and just leaving sort of friendships behind some people behind, it’s kind of now come full circle, because there’s two guys in particular from mess with these 1718 through until now, even today. But I didn’t see them for a few years didn’t really speak to them for a few years, we just kind of in my own journey and experiences to be fair and them as well as their families and had demands and such we just grew apart. And quite frankly, it wasn’t a priority. I didn’t make it a priority to maintain a closeness and a connection. But in recent years, I’ve reignited that. And to your point, there’s nothing better when he can go meet a friend. And just pick up where you left off. Right and knowing you’ve if you needed to, you could call them and they’d be there. I mean, it’s priceless. But it goes to this. One of the first pieces here because I was again researching around this, he was talking about the impact of not having male friends, the research was and one of the two of the points. The first one was around the impact on emotional and mental health. And the studies showing the importance of having male friends and how it provides, which kind of goes to what you said a minute ago. It provides emotional support, reduces stress, and can help you navigate life’s challenges with a trusted peer group. The second piece was around having shared interests and activities, which kind of goes to the second point. And the research talks about the importance of engaging in hobbies and activities with male friends not only strengthens your bond but also enhances overall well being and happiness. And I think it’s so easy for men as they start to make strides in their career. And they start to form a family to neglect those male friends, especially entrepreneurial men. Oh, yeah, because I think they’re so used to Lone Wolf in it, of carving their own path of doing it their own way of at times, honestly, not even not allowing themselves to get attached to people. Because if they get attached to people at work, then it makes it harder for them to maybe fire them All dumb, accountable, or whatever it may be. Those lines get blurred. I think as a result that then keep everyone at arm’s length. And the other story that I hear a lot from the Men is, as the men become increasingly successful. They start to question what does somebody want from that? So if they’re making new male friends, then are those people becoming friends with them? Purely because of what they can get remote. Yeah. So there’s a whole mixture of things, this recipe that then contributes and coalesces to these men becoming lone Wolf’s as we’ve spoken about, and, and not understanding the impact of not having male friends. You
Mark Hainsworth 10:35
know, as you tell that story, I went to see my parents last week and my dad for that, since he retired has been a sailor, he had a little boat needs to go and sail and he met his buddies at the Yacht Club. And as he’s gotten older, he had to sell the boat two years ago, because he can’t manage it by himself anymore. And then as he gets more decrepit, as he would describe it, he can’t get out as much, he’s not able to drive anymore. And I look at him. And there’s, he’s got a couple of friends that come and pick him up at home and take him to the Yacht Club. And he’s there when she came on board. And he goes out for a sale, and he comes back, and that’s his hit. There’s something about the shared hobby, and the bunch of guys, and when I go out sailing with them, it’s fabulous. Because I can just hear the banter going backwards and forwards. It’s priceless. It’s priceless. And they also get to Well, certainly that he gets to offload a little bit about what’s going on for him, you know, and the guys, it’s the other beautiful thing about men, they just listen. We don’t necessarily try and rescue, we just listen to them. Yeah, I got bit of that going on too long. I’ll tell a story that riff mirrors bank one the hearing, you know,
Tim Matthews 11:46
I think that bands are pieces, some underestimated to the kind of like the locker room chat, right, just unable to let loose, have that banter go back and forth, like what it does for self esteem for confidence for the nervous system, the laughter, the fun, is huge. And the other piece here in the research that I want to bring up, because you mentioned this a moment ago, actually, was the importance that friends can challenge you. Now they can offer a different perspective and hold you accountable to your goals, contributing to your personal and professional development. So if men become too busy, if men choose to pretend like it doesn’t matter to them, or it’s not important, then they’re also going to miss out on the opportunity to your point of having friends that challenge them, that offer different perspectives that can become very insular. And then when we are going through these challenges, like a lot of the men that come to us who are going through challenges in that relationship, they don’t have anyone to talk to. Well, they don’t have anywhere to turn because have built this facade and this image of who they are within their community, right, and how people perceive them as a lack of friendship. So to be fair, some of them do, some of them have one or two friends that they can confide in. But I’m trying to think back to some of the things men have said, I don’t think he’s received has been received very well. So I don’t know how to handle it. And I think as well, because the friend also knows the wife, they don’t want to share too much. Because if they things turn around, they don’t want them blur their friends vision view of who the wife is. So they kind of hold back a little bit as well. So they don’t really have that space to share very freely and openly, to really get things off their chest and in turn, get the perspective, get the accountability, get the support, just not feel so alone. That
Mark Hainsworth 13:53
banter that camaraderie is kind of irreplaceable. I mean, you know, with the powerful men, we’ve got The Brotherhood, there’s three or four guys who are based in the UK. Only one of them was a guy that I’d worked with who’s in his Activation Method, but I was coming to the UK on route to somewhere I think it was to do a reset in Windermere and I knew there was a spare weekend and a new one of the guys was coming to help out at the offer reset, upsize. I said, Why don’t we get you together, he was American with a couple of the English guys. So we organized a cottage in the Peak District and for blokes who I’d never met them all face to face, I only met one face to face, we got together. And it was like we’d known each other forever. And it was just like this click and the humor starts going and the banter. And then obviously, because of the work that we do in The Brotherhood, there’s the challenging, there’s guys challenging each other. And there’s the edginess where men started a little bit of one upmanship and competition, and it was just such a healthy piece. And at the same time, couple of times in the weekend a guy would drop into the and slightly vulnerable space and share what was going on and we got we got you, buddy. We’ve got your back. And and is that so that’s the amount. So there’s the emotional support. There’s the challenge, there’s the fun. And there’s the possibility to really open up and share about with other men about what it’s like being man.
Tim Matthews 15:20
Yeah. Which leads me on to my next point the pitfalls of the pitfalls rather, of making your wife your only friend. You just kind of get that from you, right? Well, no, I don’t think you can get that from your wife. I’m thinking of Amelia. I can certainly banter with Amelia. But the banter I have with her is very different to the banter with the guys, I can certainly get support from Amelia and that feeling that she’s got my back no matter what. And at the same time, it’s just different from a group of guys, it’s just a different energy that gets brought in I think men understand how to listen to men. You know, I think men often have to learn how to listen to women Listen, without trying to soul and to clicks, barriers. And you know, all that stuff.
Doug Holt 16:12
Hey, guys, sorry to interrupt this episode. But the reality is, if you are watching or listening to this right now, then you are looking to better yourself, and I applaud you, you’re one of my people. And I want to give you the opportunity of taking massive action. So if you haven’t joined The Activation Method, yet, it’s our flagship program, do what 1000s of other businessmen just like you have done and take action. Be one of the one percenters that actually does the work and takes action, there’ll be a link in the description that will take you right to a page, they’ll just give you more information, there is no obligation, just go check it out and see if it’s a good fit for you. Alright, let’s get back to this episode. When
Tim Matthews 16:55
he got a couple of guys together, there’s just something in it there, where there’s a shared experience and shared understanding that’s unspoken. And they just often know how to just listen. And whether it’s dropping a humor or sharing a story, like you were saying, you just can’t get certain needs met as a man, by making your wife your only friend.
Mark Hainsworth 17:20
Yeah, there’s quite a lot at stake isn’t there, there’s a lot
Tim Matthews 17:23
at stake. This deck, there’s a balance, right between being vulnerable to your wife, like, if you’re gonna make you, your wife, your only friend and you’ve got something going on, and you don’t know the answer. And you’re going to share it with your wife that can be power in that. But if that’s happening, often, that’s not going to be very powerful for her she’s not going to feel safe, she isn’t going to feel safe at all, right? Because if you’re gonna be vulnerable, that’s fine, but at least have some kind of direction, you know, you’re gonna head in, or at least be okay, being vulnerable, and saying you don’t know, but not have that answer every time. Because then she has to step into the role of supporting you and asking you questions and even lead in the polarity goes, it can just mess a lot of things up. Whereas when you’re with another guy, and like you just said these guys who got together, dropping into the vulnerable space and challenging one another, there’s there’s nothing at stake there. Right? There’s something
Mark Hainsworth 18:26
I think in that male female connection, where to threaten that connection can be quite scary. And if you got good male buddies, there’s that I think there’s an almost an element of male trust is like, you’re not gonna I’m not going to be rejected by these fellas.
Tim Matthews 18:41
That’s a big one. Yeah,
Mark Hainsworth 18:43
there might tell them, man, I’m being an asshole. They might tell me the feel sorry for me. They might tell me you did great. We could be all sorts of feedback coming back. But there’s, I tell you what I’ve noticed as men start to open up with each other. Judgment goes out the window. As we open up, the judgment goes out of the window. And I’m wondering whether that’s a masculine energy piece. What do you mean? We’re going completely off piste here for a moment, but I did one stage I went through an Ayahuasca experience, which is classed as a feminine energy. And I also did a Sampedro experience, which is classed as a masculine plant, so feminine and masculine. And both of these are psychedelics. And I was exploring what there wasn’t me that I didn’t really want to look at. And under the Ayahuasca the messaging was brutal. Critically, it was really cutting and it was a brutal experience. Whereas with the masculine energy, I was kind of sitting there all by myself in this forest. And it’s like, oh my goodness, I was able to receive really tough judgment on myself but it came with the with a with a warmth and an S sense of like a fatherly energy going, well, you burn your messed up a bit there. But there’s a smile that comes with it when Wasco there was this bite, and it was vicious and it was hard. So I’m just comparing the energies now the peace with I’ve come, I’ve come up, I’ve got a couple of mates who are very critical. They’ve got a critical heart energy, which is quite vicious. But it’s the, it’s the only happens in the minority of cases, the beautiful thing about the feminine is you’ve got this nurturing aspect, if it’s healthy, and it’s got these very critical acts aspect, if that’s holding those two energies of really, there’s a war, I’m gonna say, a warm judgment, from the masculine side and a cold a judgment from the feminine side, that’s my, that’s been my personal experience of opening up and doing the work in feminine surroundings as opposed to masculine surroundings, there’s
Tim Matthews 21:05
definitely a lot more at risk by choosing to open up to your wife, I don’t think opened up to her. Absolutely, because there’s a lot of there can be a lot of power in that. But in the context of this conversation, about guys not having enough male friends, and therefore making your wife, your only friend, there is a hell of a lot of risk there in continuing to open up 100%. And I think what you said was really good. And it places a lot of strain on the relationship too, right? Because it then puts the wife in the position where she’s then having to meet a lot of the social and emotional needs of you, which is a hell of a burden to place on somebody. However burden?
Mark Hainsworth 21:54
Well, it gets mixed up, you see, I think it gets mixed up, you know, if I’m talking to my wife, as my wife, and being open and vulnerable, yes, and fostering the connection. And then I want to share something that’s going on for me, which might actually threaten the connection, I’ve got those two things happening at the same time. Whereas if I can go out and be with my buddies and say, look, I’ve got this going on in the marriage, I don’t know how to address it. Because I’ve got a bit of that going on. I’m not alone, I’m not abnormal. And I can process it without involving my wife, and having to put her through all of that stress. Yeah, so in a way, it’s working on the connection with my wife, it’s not putting that at risk, it’s caring for that connection. And yet, I’m still able to go and do clear out whatever needs to be cleared out so that I can continue to be present in that.
Tim Matthews 22:47
I love that switching gears a little bit and go into Blue Zones fall, the definition of a blue zone. And so Blue Zones are regions around the world, where people live significantly longer and healthier lives, often reaching the age of 100. At a rate that’s higher than anywhere else. So some places of Blue Zones include parts of Italy, parts of Greece, Japan, and one of the key pieces, there’s a few things that contribute to this quality, their pace of life. Which is ironic, say quality there yet, most people smoking these blue zones. But one of the big factors in this. Longevity is the role of community. Because in blue zones is a strong sense of community. And belonging is a common factor. It goes back to your previous point, you’re talking about right? And social interactions and community, the support role that their play is a crucial role in a residence living longer. And I’m reading that there from a study that’s been done on Blue Zones. The lesson from this is fostering strong social connections, participating in community activities. And prioritizing relationships can lead to a longer, happier life.
Mark Hainsworth 24:20
Yeah, my feedback on that it’s really interesting. I live living in Cape Town. I’m living in a suburb where it’s multiple single houses. We’ve all got our barbed wire fences. And I know the neighbor across the road, and I know the three neighbors to the left and the know one neighbor to the right. And that’s it. And I’ve been there 20 years. Wow. Now does that one of my sailing buddies, he’s just moved from a similar scenario in another suburb of Cape Town in his early 80s. He’s moved into Security is state which is aimed at older people, generally guys and girls above their 60s. They’ve been there three months, they’ve got complete set of social connections already similar age, able to walk the streets able to connect, you know, meet the neighbors quickly, they’ve got, there’s a, there’s a community center where they go in and get meals, and there’s a gym. And so it’s like this village environment where there aren’t walls, the whole environment is kind of guarded by electric fence. But within that community, they’ve just got this ability to foster connections. And I walked into that place went for lunch a couple of weeks ago, and I was in awe, this is what’s missing, could feel it, I could feel it instantaneously. Wow, there’s something here, that he’s just this community feel. And they’re all they’ve got smiles on the faces, and they’re all walking in the morning as best they can. And they’re enjoying life.
Tim Matthews 26:05
I know, I wonder. Suicide is one of the either the number one or one of the number one killers for men think aged 35, to about 50. While since I looked at the stats, and I just wonder how much loneliness plays a factor in that suicide, and the suicide rate because I’m thinking if you’ve got these male friends around you, so you understand the importance of it. You consciously cultivate the relationships in the community. And you’ve got the kind of relationships that you’re talking about where you can bring your stuff, and it’s all accepted. And you realize that you’re not alone. And you’re not there for making your wife, your dominant Friend nonmem Friend In Your Life Would that then contribute to a lack of of feeling more connected, that’d be a lack of the opposite of loneliness. And in those cases, would that fall in the suicide rates and come down?
Mark Hainsworth 27:13
I kind of grew up on on the back street in Bern. So the the piece of my childhood that I remember is terraced house back streets been all the kids played together. All the parents knew each other the village, the village environment brought up the kids. If I misbehaved, and my mother didn’t see it, somebody else would see it and sought me out. And it I think brought a sense of more, there’s a more rounded upbringing to one. The other interesting piece that I see walking into a place like Khayelitsha in Cape Town, which is one of the more working class communities, predominantly black and colored people walk into that community, I can feel the connections, I drive down the street when nobody knows me, and they’ll wave. It’s really, really, it’s palpable, and I get into the into the townships, this community here, there’s but more than that, if you look at a community, places like the place in Japan that I saw on the program around the Blue Zones, those people have probably never moved out of the village in their lives. Yeah, they’ve grown up in a in an environment where they’ve got the support system, they’ve got the family, you’ve got the cousins, the aunties and the uncles, they got the friends next door, there, there’s a feeling of belonging. It’s just like, this is where I belong. I’m on the other end of the spectrum, I’ve traveled all my life. And so I’m used to dropping into communities and then kind of moving on two or three years later. Probably one of the things I missed is that sense of community. And
Tim Matthews 28:48
I’m going to read you off some some stats here because this is it’s fascinating in 10. This episodes to go as deep as this into this topic, but I think it’s such a huge one. One that just isn’t spoken about enough? I don’t think so. Social isolation is the lack of social contacts, right? While loneliness is a subjective feeling of being alone. Both can have severe implications for health and well being. So loneliness has been linked to a higher risk of health issues, such as heart disease, high blood sugar, blood pressure, and weakened immune system. The science Lincoln knows chronic loneliness can lead to depression, anxiety, and cognitive decline. Kind of think about your dad right? significantly impacting the quality of life. So I would personally believe in surmise that loneliness the lack of people of men, having adequate male friends. Other quality connection within those friendships as well, would be directly correlated to loneliness and therefore Sue aside as well, I think those things are going to be interlinked massively.
Mark Hainsworth 30:05
Well, I think loneliness talks to the disconnect. Yep, exactly. And in the disconnect this pain in the disk
Tim Matthews 30:16
a feel alone, no one’s no one gets me that’s me there’s something
Mark Hainsworth 30:19
wrong with it. And then of course, we’re going to the brain or system the wrong with me I don’t fit etcetera, etcetera Yeah, shame fest or then that drives the suicide. What I’m saying or the pain becomes so great that the kindest thing that I can do for myself is to take myself out to remove the pain.
Tim Matthews 30:36
Yep. So while three action steps a guy can take listen to this, to develop more male friendships in his life.
Mark Hainsworth 30:46
Well, firstly, that come to me is find a bunch of blokes that you can connect with. I don’t think it really matters where they come from, it could be go find a new bunch. And if you’re gonna go and find a new bunch, we’ll find something where there’s a common interest, your team cycling, blame lawn bowls, depending on your age, so find something that you enjoy doing, and then go and join a club. Because then you mixing with a bunch of people with common interests, common interest is there, then the the human connections happen anyway. Because there’s the common interest, you start talking about something, the rep, the rep, the rep, the rapport builds, really, really easily. So yeah, find a bunch of mates, find something that you enjoy doing. And then I’m wondering, you know, what I’m wondering, this comes back to the one of the key values that we got at the powerful man, how many guys guys are there hanging around this world board with nothing to do with no connection? And how much wisdom is sitting with those fellas that could be imparted to our youth? Go and get involved with something for the youth, the youth, in my view, are completely disenfranchised these days. can’t connect because they’re being brought up behind these things we call cell phones or tablets. Why? What benefit would there be for the older men to begin moving into a mentor role and get involved with the youth in the community, whatever it looks like scouts, organizing some sort of music evening where the kids can come, but just adults getting together and doing something with the younger generations. We don’t address it at a grassroots level, it’s only gonna get worse. As we move forward.
Tim Matthews 32:40
I love that. I’m gonna throw a three out there as well. Gotta make an effort. As you guys have got to make an effort, I think they need to realize the importance of this. Think it’s so easy for the men to brush it under the carpet. Pretend like they’re too busy, pretend like it doesn’t matter. But if any of this is resonating whatsoever, I would strongly encourage the men to take a risk and prioritize it, they’re going to have to overcome feelings of guilt. Going to meeting the friends and doing something for themselves. Often the men feel guilty, it’s going to have to overcome that they’re going to have to overcome challenges from the wife, no doubt as well, because you’re gonna face some shit tests. Explain to the wife how important it is for them, to have male friendships and what those male friendships provide them with. Absolutely key. Like you said, I agree find some shared common interests with somebody at the gym, whether it’s a golf club, whether it’s whatever it may be, and take the lead and begin by nurturing those relationships and opening up just like the men take the lead at home, to collect barriers and lead the wife and lead the household do the same here. lead the charge on building the friendships lead the charge and having meaningful conversations with these guys will lead the charge on making an effort to get together regularly whether it’s once a month, a poker night, or once a quarter, whatever it may be. But the more regular it can be, the more easily it’s going to be adhere to. Because the reality is loneliness is a killer. We now know that science, Blue Zones, whatever. We know suicide is one of the number one killers for men. Those two are linked. We also know we’ve had 1000s of men that come to us who feel alone and don’t have friendships because they’re questioned the motive of people that wants to be friends. They don’t trust them. They can’t be bothered with the stress of professional life and they tell themselves they’re too busy. However, given the emotional and social in positive impact of having these male friends, it’s imperative to cultivate these relationships. Think about the Regrets of the Dying. You know, one common regret of the dying is I wish I would have spent more time with the people I love and spent less time at work. That was one of them. This Five Regrets is something that was one of the key ones. Guys, thank you for joining us. For me, for us. Life is about what happens in the moments you create. That’s what’s going to create a richness of life for you. Having experiences with people you love, doing things that you both enjoy. Don’t fall victim to pretending that you’re too busy to find friendships. Find men who are going to be there for you that have your back and who you can confide in, because there are gonna be times when you can need to rely on those men and don’t fall into the pitfall of making your wife your only friend. We’ll see you next time on the TPM show.
