As you get richer and more powerful/influential in life, you will accumulate more and more fake friends.
These are people who will pretend to care about you in order to derive benefits from you which could be money, contracts, connections, or simply an increase in their own reputation and power by association.
But when you need them the most, they will desert you and will not be there for you.
Every successful person has some friends like this. The poorer their discernment is, the higher the percentage of fake friends they will have.
Over time I’ve found a highly accurate way to identify fake friends from real ones.
The test: You need to observe over time if they always agree with you. If they always agree with you, they are not really your friends.
What it actually looks like in practice:
Situation A: You like someone.
You: I like X person. They are so helpful.
Fake friend: I also like him. He’s always helpful when you need it. You’re right.
Situation B: You dislike someone.
You: I don’t like X person. He’s an ass.
Fake friend: I’ve always had a bad feeling about him. He’s so shady and talks behind people’s back. You’re right.
Situation C: You’re about to do something you shouldn’t do.
You: I’m going to start drinking a little. I think it will do me good.
Fake friend: Yes. Life is short. If you don’t have fun, what’s the point? There’s nothing wrong with drinking a little.
Situation D: You don’t want to do something good.
You: I’m going to stop working out.
Fake friend: Yeah gyms are an artificial environment. Sweating in the sun is so much better. You look fit already, you don’t need to train.
Real friends will sometimes agree with you and sometimes disagree with you. Fake friends will almost always agree with you and support your point of view.
If you say you like someone, a real friend will give you his honest opinion. He might agree or he might warn you about the person not being as good as you think (and vice versa).
The same with if you’re about to do something that you shouldn’t do. A real friend will usually tell you not to do it. A real friend of yours isn’t going to tell you that you should start drinking.
If you’re about to not do something good, a real friend will often reprimand you for it. Not always (they may think you deserve the rest), but this is often the case.
In general, with a real friend, you will have agreements AND disagreements. With fake friends, you will primarily have agreements.
You need to observe this over time and you will catch a lot of fake friends.
You don’t need to call them out on it, but remember to not invest too much time/resources into them because there is unlikely to be an ROI as they will not be there for you when you really need it (you have nothing to offer in return).
They will only be there if they think you are an “asset” for them. The moment you become a liability, they are gone.
So be real careful… especially if you’re a successful man.
Hope that helps.
Your man,
Harsh Strongman
