It’s no secret that community has a major impact on your wellbeing. In fact, women who report the highest levels of life satisfaction also have three to five close friends on average. In this Meetup Live event, we’re bringing in an expert to talk about building friendships during the holiday season and beyond.

Watch Anna Goldfarb, journalist and author of the forthcoming book, Modern Friendship. Goldfarb will talk you through the steps for developing a strategy of closeness during the holidays that will lock in friendships for the long haul. In this hour-long session, you’ll learn to identify the people in your life who are good candidates for connection. Find out how to nurture those relationships to achieve the community and support you deserve.  

Main Takeaways

The three components all friendships have:

• Desire
• Diligence
• Delight

Friendships need an “about,” a clear and compelling reason that both people seek each other out. You can always negotiate the ‘about,” it’s really just proposing an interest to see if it’s as compelling to them as it is to you.

If a potential friend doesn’t reciprocate your desire, one great strategy for catalyzing the desire component in a friendship is to see how you can help your potential friend. I think people are much more responsive to that because you’re showing that you notice and care about them. In turn, they will care more about you.

Top Q&A questions

What if you don’t really have a social circle to cultivate?

• Co-working spaces are wonderful for creating a social circle. Not knowing many people seems like a problem, but it’s an opportunity to find other people who do what you do, and who are also looking to have some cool coworkers. I would reach out to other remote workers in your industry to see who would like to get together and start from there.

How do you not become resentful if you are always the friend who is helping the other friend?

• The lopsided friendship isn’t the problem, it’s the resentment that’s the problem. The first step is confronting and having a conversation with your friend. Your friend may not realize that this is the pattern, they may not realize that expectations have changed. A large part of adult friendship is having the maturity and courage to tell your friend what’s on your mind and giving them the chance to correct their behavior.

Socializing and friendship groups with Meetup

If you’re looking to kick-start friendships in the New Year, mingle as much as possible before the end of 2023. Find groups and attend events so you can socialize and make new friends. Thousands of events are happening on Meetup every day: find one that works for you!

Last modified on December 22, 2023