What is a Friend? Why Making Friends as an Adult Feels So Hard

This Is How You Think - Mindset Habits for Personal Growth

This Is How You Think - Mindset Habits for Personal Growth
What is a Friend? Why Making Friends as an Adult Feels So Hard
Feb 24, 2026 Episode 17
Jule Kim

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Adult friendships are complicated, and figuring out what friendship means as you get older is something most of us are just winging. At some point, you start losing friends, or realizing the ones you have don't quite fit anymore, and you're left wondering what is a friend, really, and what do I actually need from the people around me?

I sat down with four people to explore their experiences with friends to answer exactly that. 

What came out of these conversations wasn't what I expected. We get into what makes a good friend for you, which in turn, might give some hints on how to also be a better friend.

In this episode:

  • How friendship needs shift with every season of life, and why growing apart doesn't mean anyone failed
  • The grief of losing a long-time friendship you didn't choose to end
  • What give and take in a friendship actually looks like in practice
  • How to define what a friend really means to you, and why most of us have never stopped to think about it
  • Why expecting every friend to show up the same way sets you up for disappointment
  • What it looks like to be genuinely content with a small, intentional circle

Guests:

Jaclyn Mrozek, Mark Chepelyuk, Sandra Park, Von Bondoc

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