I like to see friends, I like to have people over, and I like to go to other people’s get togethers. On any given week I will have fed a friend at least once. This last week, I had my weekly regular lunch with my brother on Sunday, had a friend and her kids over on Monday, had my cousin and her family over for dinner on Wednesday, hosted a kids slumber party that night, had a friend and her son over for lunch on Thursday, and met a friend and her son at an indoor play area on Friday while Nate visited with a neighborhood buddy and his son. Then on Saturday, Nate visited with his neighbor friend and their son while I went to lunch with my brother, then Nate went to indoor golf with friends and I hosted two families and a mom friend for game night. In two days I’m going to a game night.
This is a typical week.
I’m not telling you this it brag about my social life because this might be another person’s nightmare of a week! I’m telling you this because I have found for me, that seeing a friend or some friends almost daily is my recipe for a happy life, and I’m curious if you’ve ever thought about how much time with friends or family is your perfect quota.
Maybe you only want to see your friends once a month or once every three months, and that is good too! The important thing is knowing the goal you are wanting to achieve because you know that would be your ideal life.
Because I know this about myself, I have a regular with my brother who just happens to be one of my best friends every weekend, and I have a regular meetup with the same mom friend every Friday. The day that I see my other friends is the same day I will already plan for my next meetup with them so they don’t ever slip between the cracks.
So for example, if I see Irene at the playground with her son on February 5th, I have it on my to do list that same day to schedule our next meetup.
T. Harv Eker has once stated, “The reason people don’t get what they want is because they don’t know what they want.”
So in the spirit of trying to figure out what you want in your social life, I’d recommend breaking it down very specifically. How often do you want to go on a date with your husband/boyfriend? How often do you want to see your extended family? Friends? Best friend? Siblings? Etc.
Here’s my current list to give you an idea –
Unless we know what we are aiming for in our social calendar, we really can’t make that happen. So what about you? Have you ever done anything like this or tried to put your social life into concrete, actionable goals?
Meaningful relationships might be the key to happiness, so figuring out exactly what that looks like could be a worthy investment of time. What do you think?