I feel uneasy about writing this because it "seems bad". I still think it holds very true.
So this post is not about not having friends, not about not building a team, or not hiring out or delegating. It’s not about introverts or extroverts. It is not about feeling lonely.
This is about fully facing the reality of having to first handle the one person you were trusted with: yourself. So why is it alone? Because in the conversation between you and you, there is no place for anyone else.
Whatever that is that you are pursuing you are gonna be surrounded by lots and lots of people. They can be your classmates, colleagues, your virtual team, etc. That composition of people changes as you progress through your life. If you are lucky or intentional, you will have your "core group". However, all throughout your life, only one thing remains truly constant. Yourself.
So establishing a solid and deep relationship with yourself is crucial.
Fully facing yourself in your entirety: seeing yourself, from multiple perspectives, and getting an idea of who you actually are as opposed to who you think or want to be.
Looking at yourself like that is almost like seeing yourself as your own child. You have unconditional love for this beautiful creature but you also have a tremendous responsibility to foster this person. Seeing yourself this way helps apply actually effective methods for change: those that are coming from a place of love and directed towards progress.
Every day no matter where you at and what you are doing, you will be facing the same question. The question of yourself: what you want, what you don’t like, what are you striving for. Life is driven by your desires. The better you understand yourself, the more intentional you can be about it.
Coming across the globe to the US has led me to hold a more extreme perspective on this topic. In the beginning, I felt extremely lonely and alienated from myself and looking for "external friends". I found a couple of really precious people with time but I also realized that my "best friend" is supposed to be me. This is the person I spend the most time with and have to work with the most. So when I started learning to be alone, to be by myself and solely with myself, enjoying my company, I untapped so much of myself that was just waiting for some extra attention.