According to the most upvoted Urban Dictionary definition, friends with benefits are:
"Two friends who have a sexual realtionship without being emotionally involved. Typically two good friends who have casual sex without a monogomous relationship or any kind of commitment."
(Not that it matters, but my ego won't allow me to move forward without pointing out that the spelling and grammar mistakes are in the original quote, not mine.)
According to a less popular definition, friends with benefits are:
"The best kind of friendship out there."
In my younger days, I was firmly in the first definition camp. Now that I've matured — aka I'm married 😳 — I've realized just how important the right friends can be.
Over the weekend, Sahil Bloom, a Twitter-famous entrepreneur, angel investor, and thought leader that I (and 448K+ others) follow, posted an epic thread, "The most powerful ideas in life." One of those "ideas" was Decentralized Friend Groups:
Decentralized Friend Groups
Centralized Friend Group: one cluster of friends with shared backgrounds & beliefs.
Decentralized Friend Groups: small, varied, unconnected clusters of friends.
Having decentralized friend groups is the key to independent thought.
h/t @george__mack
When it comes to friends, I'm quite literally the luckiest man alive. I have the equivalent value in friendships that Elon Musk has in USD. (By the way, @elonmusk, if you're looking for a new, genuine, intelligent, and witty friend, slide into my DMs.) Whether that's actually true or not, that's how I feel.
My main group of friends, I've had since high school. We have a text thread that makes me smile on the daily, if not the hourly. But, if those were my only friends, I wouldn't be the person that I am today. I also have countless great friends that I've made along the way... friends from my UCLA philosophy days, friends from my Loyola Law School days, friends from the places that I've lived and offices that I've worked, friends from the domain industry, friends from angel investing, friends from crypto, friends from other friends... basically, I have an abundance of friends because I'm always open to meeting new friends.
My friends have been instrumental to my success, at all stages, and I'm eternally grateful to each and every one of you.
So what's the take away here? Be a good friend, be open to meeting new people, and be somebody those people would want to be friends with. Don't limit yourself to one group or category of friends, and don't limit your thoughts or your world view.
According to Naval Ravikant's Five Chimps Theory:
"In Zoology, you can predict the mood and behaviour patterns of any chimp by which five chimps they hang out with the most. Choose your five chimps carefully."
Be a good chimp, and be a good friend.
If you're a good friend looking for a good friend, you know where to find me.