Start the group you want to be part of

How to take the initiative to make life more fun

In a perfect world, we’d all have groups of close friends who get together regularly.

Unfortunately, though, that isn’t the case for a great many people. If you read the statistics, lots of people spend a lot of time alone. And even if you don’t spend much time alone, it can feel challenging to maintain friendships during the “busy years” when people are working and raising families.

But that isn’t inevitable. I was reminded of this while listening to my Best of Both Worlds podcast co-host, Sarah Hart-Unger, talk about her annual trips with her college friends. She and five other women got to know each other as students at Williams a great many years ago. They’ve made the time to get together regularly since then, even though they don’t live near each other. (You can listen to the podcast episode we did on their get-togethers here.)

I’ve heard from a few people that hearing that episode made them a little wistful. And I get it. What Sarah and her friends have is rare! But not impossible. And even if you don’t have an existing group of close friends you met decades ago, I believe it’s still possible to create a group of close friends now who get together regularly. Here are a few ideas for making it happen.