Credits: Social Media
Why you should sacrifice your career for your friends, not the other way round
The worlds most successful people have all sacrificed things along the way: hobbies, family time, journeys of self-exploration, or something as simple as having time on their hands.
Its a widely held cultural belief that success requires sacrifices. But what if were thinking about it all wrong? Speaker and author Simon Sinek wants us to start prioritizing friendships over deadlines, because in the end, your friends will be there for you, your work wont. Trevor Noah is impressed. What do you think?
Why we should sacrifice work commitments before commitments to our friends
We talk about investing, Simon says. This is a different kind of investment.
Simon Sinek is an English-born American author and speaker. He recently joined comedian Trevor Noah for an episode of Talking Books, where they talked about friendship and human connections.
- OH, THAT’S GOOD: Neuroscientist says you only need one good and reliable friend
People are moving from California and New York to Texas and Florida to avoid paying taxes because they want to save time, he goes on. I want it to be the reverse.
Hes not worried about saving the money, he says, if it means living somewhere he doesnt want to live. He wants to live with the people I love, even if it costs more, because there are metrics that are more important than those related to business success.
Maybe I wont achieve that thing, he continues. Maybe I wont make that deadline, or maybe Ill miss that quarter. Its a different kind of sacrifice. We think of sacrifice as always against people, but I can make a sacrifice of my career from my friends.
Ultimately, he says that in the future, when you’re in a time of need, Your friends will be there for you, your work wont.
Maintain good quality friendships outside work and romantic relationships
Later in their conversation, comedian Trevor Noah makes the case for appreciating the importance of having good quality friendships alongside romantic relationships.
People have now shifted all of the expectation, all of the support, all of the love they got from a community of friends and theyve moved it on to one person.
He mentions studies that, he says, have actually shown that having a friend you can talk s**t about your partner to actually improves our chances of staying with your partner. For what its worth, I couldnt track down any studies that came to this conclusion. But it’s an interesting thing to think about.
Do you have a friend you let off steam with? Someone you can speak to in confidence, in a way that helps your romantic partnership?
The same thing is happening at work, Simon interjects. In the past, we got our sense of belief from church, he says. Church attendance in the US is still high, but it’s fallen dramatically over the last two decades. In 2000, 32% of Americans attended church every week. Now, it’s just 20%.
Work was the place we made our living,” Simon continues. “We had barbecues with our neighbors.” In other words, we satisfied our various needs in different places, among different groups of people. “And over time, those things have disappeared. �
Now, he concludes, we demand of our work that it be the place of purpose, community, social life, and even politics.
The episode is available on Spotify here. It first aired on September 19, 2024.
- I LOVE IT WHEN YOU CALL: TikTok sad to discover adult life reliant on catch-up friendships
