On an episode of Feel Better Live More, host Rangan Chatterjee chatted with Dhru Purohit, an expert on friendships, who explained why friendships are so important, the benefits of having a best friend, and why we need deep connections with others in order to thrive. 

Why friendships are an overlooked aspect of wellness:

“The fundamental theme of how people navigate the world is the sense of tribe that they’re surrounded [by]. Friendships, connections, deep meaningful relationships, they impact every aspect of our life from our health to our happiness. Every area of our life is touched by friendships—but just like stress, because it’s not always obvious—it goes overlooked. Most people don’t realize that they have a friendship and disconnection problem.” 

He followed that, due to social media and our daily lives, we constantly have people around us and because of that, “most people don’t even recognize that there’s a challenge when it comes to deep meaningful connected friendships in their life and the impact that it has on everything else that they care about.”

Big dreams require big friendships:

On the pod, Dhru noted that, “the bigger your goals and dreams are, the more you actually need deep meaningful friendships around you to support you in that process.”

The benefits of getting coffee with a friend:

Dhru noted that just sitting down and having coffee with a friend can have a profound effect on your nervous system by letting it know that you are not alone. He followed that, “when we lean into connection, not only do we receive the benefits, but we help other people become a better version of themselves”

One of the top five regrets of people at the end of their life?

“I wish I had kept in touch with these golden friendships that I had over the years and didn’t get so busy that I just let them go.”

Two simple ways to deepen your connection with friends:

  • Schedule a coffee date
  • Schedule a phone call to chat 

How to meet new—likeminded— friends:

On the pod, Dhru noted that finding friends online is a great way to find people with similar interests as you, the key is then using that connection to schedule time to hang out IRL.