| I’ve been a Type A individual all my life. From when I was a kid mowing lawns and delivering papers, to being a college student making six figures painting houses, to training hard every day as a marathoner and triathlete, I’ve always been goal-oriented and motivated. One constant mission in my life was to be there for my family—not just to support them financially, but to be present in mind, body, and spirit. I was always there for soccer games, Little League, dinners, holidays, weekend hikes, boogie boarding, and snowboarding. However, in being so focused on family and business, I missed out on male friendship. I had acquaintances and always made time for the gym, which I considered my social time, but I didn’t have many close male friends. I didn’t have a core group of close male friends my age that I could hang out with regularly. No poker nights, no weekends away with the fellas—nothing like that. And I truly feel I missed out. Since moving to Miami and living in a complex with a lot of like-minded, interesting individuals, I’ve made a ton of friends. I’ve made some very close friends—people we travel the world with and have over for dinner. It’s been remarkable. I realize now that male friendship is something I’ve been missing out on my whole life. It’s something I passed on to get where I am today. Male friendship is an incredible resource. If you’re lucky enough to have close friends, cherish them. Make the most of your time together—as much as you can without letting other important parts of your life suffer. What I find most remarkable about it is that it’s resilient. Once you’re close, you don’t have to “water” a friend with constant attention. The friendship persists. Women, I assume, gain similar benefits from female friendship, but I can’t speak directly to that. Anyway, cherish your friends. Spend time with them. Family and business are always important, and family definitely comes first, but we have more bandwidth than we think. How important is friendship to you? And second question—what did you feel like you sacrificed or missed out on to get where you are? Let me know on Instagram. | 