“Keep your friends close but your enemies closer.” As much as I love the Godfather trilogy, that line is purely for the sake of “gotcha” entertainment. Who really wants to hang out with their enemies?
That said, in addition to our old friends, family friends and…well…loser friends, we should really spend the lion share of our time with three extraordinary friends:
1) A friend who is smarter, wiser and more grounded: to learn from.
2) A friend who’s at a similar place in life as we are: to kick around ideas with.
3) A friend who needs our mentoring and coaching: to remind us of the essential benefits of selflessness, empathy and generosity (especially with our time).
Important because nobody has ever made it in the entertainment business without the helping hand or support of someone else (stop and think about that). Therefore our degree of success is largely dependent on who we know, who we listen to, and who we hang out with.