Nobody puts “number of good friends” on a balance sheet, but maybe they should. Over a career and a lifetime, the relationships you build and protect turn out to matter most in life. I have seen people reach extraordinary professional heights only to look around and realize they did it largely alone and that the summit wasn’t nearly as satisfying as they imagined it would be. The people who seem genuinely fulfilled, not just accomplished, are almost always surrounded by real friendships built over time, through shared experience, honesty, and a mutual commitment to showing up. These types of friendships bring meaning to life.
Sometimes things get in the way of those friendships such as our unwillingness to let things go. Grudges feel powerful when you’re holding them, but the reality is that they cost you far more than they cost the person you’re directing them at. While you are replaying the offense, nursing the resentment, and spending your emotional energy on something you can’t change, the other person is out dancing. They have moved on. You’re the only one still standing in that moment, and it isn’t serving you. The high road is the smarter strategic choice. Be the one who’s dancing.
Letting go of resentment is only half of it. The other half is actively wanting good things for the people you love. Genuine friendship means their wins feel like your wins, and you root for them without reservation. That is harder than it sounds, especially in competitive professional environments where comparison is constant and the temptation to measure yourself against your peers is real. But the professionals and people I most admire have figured out that someone else’s success doesn’t diminish theirs. When you truly care for a friend, a colleague, or a family member, you want the best for them, full stop, with no asterisks attached.
The practical takeaway here is simple even if the execution requires discipline: invest in your friendships the way you invest in anything else that matters. Show up. Be honest. Forgive faster than feels comfortable. Celebrate the people around you loudly and without hesitation. The career achievements are meaningful, but the relationships are what give them context and make them worth having. Long after the deals are done and the titles have changed, what you will remember and what people will say about you is how you made them feel and whether you were truly in their corner. Build that kind of wealth, and you will never be poor.
As always, this post and others can be found on my blog, Business Law Guy.