Does making friends get harder as you get older? How the hell do I make friends? This episode is a rerun, and it's STILL very accurate.

According to the American Perspective Survey, May 2021, many people are not satisfied with the size of their friendship group. About half of Americans (51 percent) report they are very satisfied or completely satisfied with the number of friends they have. 30 percent say they are only somewhat satisfied, and 17 percent say they are not too or not at all satisfied with the number of friends they have.

If you fall in that range of little to no satisfaction in friendships, here’s what you need to know about creating a bond.

So, how long does it take to make a new friend?
- 50 hours before you consider them a casual friend
- 90 hours before becoming real friends
- 200hours- before becoming close friends

source: 'Journal of Social and Personal Relationships'

As the New York Times reported in 2012, there are “three conditions that sociologists since the 1950s have considered crucial to making close friends: proximity; repeated, unplanned interactions; and a setting that encourages people to let their guard down and confide in each other.” Cultivating emotionally intimate relationships, in other words, takes more work than just compliments.

In this episode, I sit down with my friends Krista and Tabia, and we talk about our friendships, the ups, downs, and the work it takes to make them work.

A special thank you to Kamil Lewis, LMF,T, and Danielle Bayard-Jacskon, Bumble Friendship Expert, for lending their expertise on forming friendships.

Follow the guests on this episode:

Follow Shan:
https://www.instagram.com/shanboodram/
http://tiktok.com/shanboody
/ @loversbyshan

Follow Krista:
https://www.instagram.com/itskrista/
https://www.instagram.com/almost30podcast/

Follow Tabia:
https://www.instagram.com/tabiacharles/

Follow Danielle Bayard-Jackson
https://www.instagram.com/daniellebayardjackson/
https://www.instagram.com/friendforward/

Follow Kamil Lewis, LMFT
https://www.instagram.com/kamil.lewis/?hl=en
https://www.instagram.com/theexpansivegroup/?hl=en
https://www.instagram.com/safewordpod/

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