Simone Stolzoff

So I'd start from that place.

Assume they want to connect.

And the second thing I'll say is to be an initiator, which is to say that if you want more friends in your life, be willing to make the first move.

And then the third thing I'll say is give your friendship a reason for being.

As my friend Anna Goldfarb likes to say, every friendship needs an about.

It's not quite a complete sentence, especially as you're an older adult to say, I want a new friend.

Give yourself a reason to make that friend.

I want a new friend to watch the game with.

I want a new friend to read books with.

I want a new friend to talk about politics or to think about my career with.

And if that relationship has a reason for being,

it's much more likely to be sustainable and to give the relationship itself a sense of purpose rather than what happens so often, which is this sort of like, we should totally hang out sometime.

Maybe you hang out once, but you don't necessarily have that reason to come back again and again.

It's a great note to end on.

It's the first question every single podcast host or substitute teacher of my life has ever asked me.

Yesterday, I gave a talk at a company and a friend of mine was the person that brought me in.

We were sort of like loose coworkers working at the same company at the same time.

She said, why don't you come speak to my organization?

I give the talk.

This morning, I get an email from her and say, I'm so sorry, this is so embarrassing, but do you pronounce your name Simone or Simo?