How 👏 YOU 👏 Can Make High-Quality Friends

Recently, I crashed after moving to a new city because I forgot one of the most important elements of life.

Today, I will share with you some ways you can build a rock-solid community.

Backstory

Five weeks ago I moved to Austin, Texas.

I was so excited to move and had been looking forward to being in a new city for months.

My plan upon moving was to lock in on my work, goals, dreams, heart’s desires… you get the point.

My first week in the new city I was (after finding the grocery store of course) working my day job, hitting the gym, building Ikea furniture, and staying up until 3 AM every night editing videos for other projects.

Initially, I was feeling GOOD. I mean I had the energy pumping, the supplements going, whipping up healthy meals and protein shakes, and feeling so motivated.

It wasn’t that I didn’t want to make new friends, it was that I wanted to focus and have my job/business endeavors dialed in before dabbling in social land.

After about 10 days of this routine, I crashed and sank harder than the Titanic.

I started having panic attacks, and feeling so depressed which I hadn’t felt in a long time.

I called my family and friends crying and realized your boy had to make some changes.

What I realized was that the community I had had in San Diego didn’t move with me to Austin. I was so used to seeing people I knew everywhere I went and didn’t realize how much those little interactions had contributed to my mental health.

Don’t just take my word for it, community and its positive affects on your mental health has been well-documented and studied.

If you don’t want to read those two links, boiled down the findings are people with a greater sense of community experience less mental health issues.

Here’s What I Did And You Can Do To Build Community:

1. I found the local pickleball courts and started playing a few days a week. Pickleball is an amazing sport because it’s very social and you’re exercising at the same time. Courts are constantly popping up all over the US as its the fastest growing sport and you can use websites like www.breakthelove.com or simply google to find places to play, classes, etc.

2. I joined a gym. I found a gym that incorporates co-working, weights, yoga, and cold plunges + saunas. Instead of working from home all day, I would split my days, working from home in the morning and then heading to the gym to workout and wrap up my computer work for the day. Just simply being around other humans and having those little interactions was a game changer.

3. I jumped on the apps MeetUp and SweatPals and signed up for a plethora of different events ranging from functional fitness training in a park to morning breathwork and meditation sessions.

These three things fast-tracked my ability to build community and make new friends that aligned with my life vision.

I can’t recommend the apps MeetUp and SweatPals enough. I never realized how you can search for any kind of group you’re interested in and go join that same week.

Same with joining a gym. Joining a gym is one of the best things you can do for yourself not only because of the benefits you’ll receive from exercising but also because whenever you’re in the gym you’re surrounding yourself with people that are actively working on improving their lives.

A lot of gyms offer free day passes so you can go and see what kinds of classes or amenities they have to offer. If you’re new to the gym, when you’re talking with the front desk explain this to them because more often than not you’ll receive a free training session or at the very least there will be someone knowledgeable on staff who can show you the ropes.

What have you done to build up your community? I’d love to hear from you.

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Thank you!

With love,

Chris