Influencers Are Not Your Friends

I love to learn.

As a consequence of this, I follow several “Influencers” to learn more.

I enjoy reading books, watching videos, and reading emails from Simon Sinek, Adam Grant, Esther Perel, Chip and Dan Heath, Ramit Sethi, Marisa Murgatroyd, Marie Forleo, and others.

Here’s the thing. The relationship we have with Influencers is typically a one-way relationship. They share enough that it seems like we know them pretty well. However, they probably know next to nothing about us!

We can’t reach out to them if we’re having a bad day. They’re probably not going to go skiing with us. And we don’t have any in-jokes with them.

While their content may be amazing, we need real friends in our lives. We need to know people we can text or call when we just need to talk to someone. In my experience, friendships develop when you can spend time together in person. While it’s possible to maintain long-distance friendships, there’s a lot to be said for interacting face-to-face in the real world.

Sometimes, I think about what it would take to become an influencer. In most cases, the paths to get there would be very difficult. I certainly respect anyone who manages it.

You can respect people who are not your friends!