Thought

I started writing on Twitter a year and a half ago.

At the time, I knew I had something to say, but didn’t know where the path would take me.

What happened next was unexpected:

I formed friendships.

I started connecting with real people… over the internet.

Many of the guys I talk to the most these days, I met through Twitter.

I even spent Thanksgiving with a friend who I met 100% online. We never would’ve met if not for Twitter, but there we were spending a holiday together.

Honestly, it blows my mind to think about it.

In my past, I’ve been let down by friendships. Most people show up when convenient and bail when you need them.

True loyalty and friendship is rare.

I think one of the hardest parts of modern life is the atomicity. A person can exist inside of a vacuum. If you wanted to, you could stay inside your apartment for months on end, with no interactions with another living human being. This can happen even if you don’t want it to.

In a strictly material sense, we don’t “need” each other anymore.

There’s a lack of human connection these days and I think it’s a subtle yet dangerous threat to civilization.

It’s a particular crisis for men.

Men are the less social of the sexes. We have a tendency to isolate, especially as we age and are no longer forced into group settings with other men at a similar stage in life.

It wasn’t always like this. For all of human history, up until about 5 minutes ago, men worked together in bands. We’re social animals. Without human to human interaction, we go crazy.

I’ll never forget when, at the end of the covid lockdowns, I went to a recruiting event for work. It was the first time I’d interacted with a group of strangers in over a year and it was shockingly awkward. I felt weird, talking was weird and the strangers were even weirder.

Social ability is a muscle that will atrophy without use.

You see, a group of true friends acts as a feedback mechanism:

They help you know when you’re on the right track.

They keep your ego in check by making fun of the absurdities that comprise you.

They point out when you’re messing up.

They laugh at your jokes.

They show you new perspectives.

They push you to be your best.

They provide you with an opportunity to go beyond yourself when they are in need of rescue.

Life simply isn’t complete without friendship.

The trouble is, it’s rare to find someone that you connect with on multiple axes.

Someone who has the same level of ambition or talent.

With overlapping interests and in the same phase of life.

One of the greatest things about the internet is that you are no longer locked into a local pool of humans.

Your people are out there.

People who share your values and want to see the world transform the same way you do.

Tactic

So, how do you start building your network?

I believe Twitter is the best networking platform on the planet.

Start posting. Become a creator. Become someone worth following. Become someone who merits connecting with other high-level people.

Then find other creators in your niche. Follow them and drop comments on their posts to start building rapport. After doing this for a time, send them a DM.

Not everyone will respond, but you might be surprised by who does. From there, get on a call with them.

The secret is to bring something of value to the table.

You can think of someone’s value to you as a zero-to-five star system. Take Elon Musk for example, he’s so good at business that he’s a five star in that area to anyone. But, he doesn’t seem to lead the healthiest lifestyle. He could benefit from hanging out with someone who is disciplined with their health. So even though this health-conscious friend is a zero in terms of talking business, he’s a five in health. He brings something to the table that Elon doesn’t have.

The best friendships are defined by this synergy. This is when each of the friends in the equation are a 4 or a 5 star in one or more areas to the other person. When these stars align, there’s a strong exchange of value in both directions.

Tweet

Tome

Tool

I hope this week’s 5 T’s have your T levels surging!

If you found this newsletter valuable, share it with a man who wants to increase his T and invite him to join our brotherhood.

In Victory,

Alexander