Those are not your friends.

They’re just looking for favors.

Dear Authentic Introvert,

There comes a time when your efforts compound over time and you start experiencing breakthroughs.

Your strategies shift and you realize that a lot starts to happen without trying too hard.

People are drawn naturally to you, and you start getting opportunities to show your work.

At this point, if you look at your old friends who are far behind in their journeys, you’d see them stuck in loops.

They’re making the same mistakes on repeat, not doing what needs to be done, and blaming their failure on uncontrollable factors like the government’s policies, their upbringing, education and so on.

If you’ve got to define them in one word, you’d say losers.

I’ve been warned against keeping friendships with losers several times in my life and I ignored this advice every single time.

And I will always do the same. Here’s why:

They became your friends when you were a nobody.

Yes, you’ve come a long way while they haven’t. Everybody has a different pace and trajectory.

This doesn’t make it okay to leave them behind and shake hands with people at your own level or higher.

Yes, it’s okay to make deals with them and have mutually beneficial collaborations but they aren’t your friends.

In fact, you don’t matter to them as much as your work does.

The moment what you do is no longer profitable for them, there is no reason for them to stick around.

And you need true friends the most when you hit a low. These losers are more likely to be there for you then.

And moreover, your friends reflect who you are. If they seem like losers today, this means you were one too in the past.

And I don’t see how anybody can be a better friend than your past self.

How many real friends do you have?