Friday, January 11, 2013

Friend Portfolio Optimization

Philosophy:To give a back ground, I made a friend excel because I was chasing after the "wrong" people. Girls that would break my heart. People who weren't good friends. Girls that I didn't have interest in. People that I was bringing up but they weren't bringing me up to the same level. People who were neither fun when I went out with them nor were they funny when I was kicking it with them. This is why the list is made. If I properly allocate my time, maybe I can get to where I want to be. A girl that I enjoy hanging out with, and is hot. Friends who are fun and/or funny hoping for more of ands rather than ors. The idea is where do I want to spend my time with people, and how do I want to spend my time with them.

How to do this:Think of everyone in your life. If you interact with someone, they are in your life and you are spending time on them that could be used doing something else. For example if I get coffee with someone, I could be spending on working out. Going out seeing the world. Meeting new people. These all dictate what kind of person you are. Figure out what you use people for and see if its a worth while investment.

My biggest tip is to be honest with yourself. Don't share the list with others as it will make you start being dishonest. Also this isn't a list you should look at daily but to get a frame work, update on a monthly basis, in your mind and see where you are losing time (this is a very IE exercise where you find where value is being created/lost). Also when I say be honest, I mean be honest with where someone should be. Don't be nice, this is your time and you should use it correctly.

Categories that I have:great friends - 5
good friends - 12
mentor - 3
put in effort - 5
put less effort - 2
phase out - 46 - people who you shouldn't put in any effort with. this should be the biggest bucket
wish list - 4
future successful friends - 21
once in a while contact - 11
work list - got moved to its own excel that i need to clean up
mentees - 3
need to be listed - right now 0

Categories I should add/seem like a good idea:Guys/friends to go out with and have fun with
People you trust
People who have abused your trust

Final thoughts:
When I made my list I realized where I was spending my time. I also realized I didn't have enough mentors so I actively seeked them.

I hope this helped and have fun making your own list. Again, be honest with yourself and stop wasting your time. Its the only thing we have.