MBA1267 Why You Need To Keep Changing Your Friends + Free Ride Friday!
2 Feb 2026 · 11 min
Omar Zenhom explains why your closest 10 people shape your growth, and how to intentionally refresh that circle as you change. He walks through auditing your network, seeking new people at meetups and conferences, and following up in person.
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Hey, today is Free Ride Friday, so make sure you hang on to the end of the episode to hear who won this week's free ride. Every Friday we give away a lifetime membership to Ezcourse, our course on how to build your own online course in 30 days. It retails for $500 over at Ezcourse Co, but somebody's gonna win it for free this Friday. And every Friday. All you gotta do is leave us an iTunes rating and review to enter the weekly random draw. Listen in on Friday to see if you won and when you leave us a review, you enter the draw for every week automatically. It's our way to say thanks for leaving us some love on itunes. Let's jump into today's episode. Hey O. Welcome to the $100 MBA show where making your business better is our business every day with our daily 10 minute business lessons for the real world. I'm your host, your coach, your teacher, Omar Zenholm. I'm also the co founder of the $100 MBA, a complete business training and community online. And in today's episode, you will learn why you need to keep changing your friends. You might be saying, well, what does this have to do with business and my business? Well, one of the biggest influences on you as a business owner are the people that you're around. And if you're trying to improve and level up in your life and business as you grow, as you get older, as your business grows, you need to change. I don't want to say improve, but change the circle of people that are around you. I'm talking about your Intimate friends. I'm Talking about your 10 people that you are speaking to, spending your most time with. I'm sure most of you have heard the quote by Jim Rohn. We are the average of the five people we surround ourselves with. It's become so cliche. But it's cliche for a reason. It's true. So in today's episode, I'm gonna be explaining why you shouldn't be having the same friends year after year, decade after Dec. You should be trying to meet new people, different people. I'm not saying neglect the friends of the past, but if nobody is new in your life, then you're not going to have any new influences. And we'll talk about why and how to have a system to meet new friends, build those relationships. Even if you're, you know, in your 30s, 40s, 50s, 60s. A lot of us feel like it might get harder as we get older to make new friends, but this is really important in terms of your personal and professional development. I'll tell you why and what happens when you don't do this. And you might recognize some things in your own life that sound familiar. So we get into all that in today's episode and how changing your friends on a regular basis can impact you and your business. Let's get into it. Let's get down to business. If I go back 20 years, I'm in college, and the people that I spend my time most with, I can probably list in the top of my head the top 10 people that I spent most of my hours with when I was that age. Now, your friends and the people you spend your time with, sometimes it's not out of choice. It's just out of circumstance. These are the people that are in the college that I'm at. These are my classmates. These are the people that I've met on campus. I might have a friend or two that I knew from work, but I'm not really actively seeking out certain types of people to be friends with. I'm not really taking full control of who I spend my time with. I'm just letting it happen organically. Now, for many people, those people that you meet in college are probably lifelong friends. And there's nothing wrong with that. There's nothing wrong with keeping your friends from college. But what I believe can really deter you from growth is not having new friends, not making new friends along the way as you grow, people that will push you to the next level, people that will be doing things that you aspire to and make it look like it's super normal. And even though I really enjoyed my time with all those people in college and they're good people and they're friends on Facebook, I spend very, very little time, if at all, with any of them today. Why? Because I'm not in college anymore and I am an adult and I have autonomy and I can choose the best people to be around in different areas. People that will be positive, people that will make me question my choices in life and be a reinforcement of good people are doing things that I admire. And here's just the raw truth. If you surround yourself with people that are okay with being mediocre, it's going to be okay for you too, because that's the norm. I remember back in 2012 when I made the transition from my full time job as a teacher to a full time entrepreneur, I made a drastic change in my life and I knew I had to make new friends. You know, I can't be friends with the people at work anymore because we don't have much in common anymore. Work was the thing that tied us together. I'm not in that career anymore and they're not going to really relate to what I do now. On top of that, I need to be able to find people that can push me when I'm not feeling so good, that have higher standards of success than I do so I can achieve those levels of success. I moved to New York City. I met some really high achievers. I went to meetups and I went to events, went to conferences, and I tried my best to meet new people. Now, it's not easy when you're in your 30s to kind of build new relationships, but you're gonna find people just like you trying to make new friends, trying to make new connections, are making a transition in their life, and you can definitely relate to each other and help each other out. One of the fastest ways to fail in whatever you're trying to do in life is to be around people that don't support you, that don't believe in what you're doing, that don't think it's possible. What I'm saying is be around people that not only believe in you and think it's possible, but have already done it. So you believe it, so you see that this is possible, so you can continue to keep going. But of course, as you start building your business, as you start succeeding in your endeavors and your goals, you're going to pass milestones and you're going to need to start meeting some new people that are at the next milestone and I'm not saying neglect the people that you've met along the way, still be their friends, still check up on them. But we're talking about the people you spend the most time with. Who do you spend your weekend with? Who do you go out for a drink with? Who maybe you go on a skiing trip with? Now, I'm not saying all these people have to be entrepreneurs and super successful in life, but they have to impact you in a positive way. And here's the truth of the matter. People are either going to help you in some way, in a personal way, in a professional way, or they're going to hurt you. There is no middle ground. They're either going to be a positive or negative force. And negative doesn't necessarily mean that they're trying to sabotage you or they don't believe in you, or they're making fun of you. It could be that they're just not pushing you or they're not inspiring you, or again, like we talked about, they're just okay with being mediocre. And if you're the kind of person that just doesn't want to be mediocre, wants to but be the best version of yourself and continue to improve and grow, and that's how you feel fulfilled the need to find people to hang around with that feel the same way. So I like to look at the top 10 people I spend my time with on a regular basis, and I like to make sure those 10 people are not the same every five years, because it takes about five years to build a solid relationship with somebody. And I like to stay in touch with them. I still like to spend time with them, but maybe I want to introduce a new person every year. So every five years, I have, like five new people and five people that have been around for the last five years. And I'm actually in the stage right now where I'm meeting new people and being very selective with who I spend my time with, because my time is limited. And I want to make sure that I'm around people that I really enjoy and really admire. That's a really good word to admire somebody to be like, hey, I really like their position in life, what they've done with themselves, what they've achieved, and how they care themselves. You can learn a lot by just, you know, studying somebody's character and being around them. They can influence you. There's a reason why couples start to have the same mannerisms and the same habits. It just happens naturally. So be around people you want to be like, okay, Omar got The point, how do I do this? Well, like I mentioned, you want to take a look at who are the 10 people in your life right now outside your immediate family, like your children or your significant other? Who do you spend your time with the most? Write down their names and ask yourself for each one, is this person a positive impact for my growth and my well being or a negative one? And if you have to think about it for a few seconds, then it's not a yes, it should be an overwhelming yes. Like, wow, yes, this person really helps me. I feel good when I'm with them. When I leave them, I feel inspired. We have great conversations and they're just a positive impact. So just put like a tick mark next to everybody who's a positive impact and, you know, try to build those relationships, try to maintain them. You're going to have some open spots. How do you meet new people? Well, number one, these people might be already around you. Whether they're on social media, whether they're customers of yours, whether they're people that you've collaborated with in business, people that you met at a conference, a speaker that you saw on stage. Don't be afraid to reach out to them and just say hello, just be their friend. You don't have to ask them, hey, let's do a partnership or how can I help you promote something? You could just be like, hey, it was good to meet you at that conference, great conversation that we had. Hope everything's going well and just send them a letter, like, you know, not a physical letter, but send them like a message that tells them, hey, thank you. Like a thank you note. When you're in their city, when you're in their town, if they're local, take them out for a bite, take them out for a drink, no agenda. To be like, hey, I want to pick your brain. Hey, let's talk business. No, just be like, hey, I'm in your city. Let's grab a coffee, let's pick up where we left off in that conversation. And many people that I speak to on a regular basis that I consider close friends, they're not local to me, they're across the world. But when I am in their neck of the woods, I make it a point to make sure I see them, even if it costs me a little extra money or to make a quick detour, a bit more time, it's worth it. I'm building upon a relationship that I want to pursue and I really will value and I feel like it will help me. When I look back at my career as an entrepreneur. I look at the moments where I made jumps, where I made improvements, where things started to grow. They all had to do with the people I spent my time with, people that I had dinner with, people that I stayed in touch with, that I sent messages to, that I sent birthday cards to, that I, you know, sent them a gift. Just was their friend. Those people pushed me, those people helped me. Those people inspired me. And if you're around the right people, sometimes those people will be your friends for a very long time. Because, hey, they're improving too. They're moving up and you're growing together.
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To wrap up today's episode, Finding and making quality friends is going to take some effort. You're going to really have to think about how are you exposing yourself to new people that you admire, that you aspire to. You're going to have to go to some conferences, some local meetups. You're going to have to do some research and find out, you know, what places, what events can you get involved in so you can really be in a space to have the opportunity to meet interesting people that you'd like to spend time with. I always say start local. Start with your local meetups. Go to meetup.com, go to eventbrite, find out what's going on, maybe even get in touch with the organizer. Ask them if you can help them out with the event in any way. Have a cup of coffee. If you guys hit it off and seem like good friends, awesome. If not, there's no commitment here. You're just helping somebody out. Number two, ask for introductions. If you know somebody that knows somebody that's already your friend, ask them, hey, I would love to get to know this person. I know that you maybe have done business with them before. Know them. I saw a picture of you together on a retreat or something like that, or vacation on Facebook. Do you mind doing an introduction? If they're your friend, they'll be happy to. But I have to say, even the friends I make online through introductions and things like that, they don't really solidify until we actually meet in person. So. So making an effort to follow that up with some sort of in person interaction, whether finding out what conference they're going to go to this year and meeting up there or you know, maybe they're in a major city. Find out when you're going to be in that city soon. But the point here is that I really believe in person interaction really solidifies a relationship and makes a friendship real. Not that online friendships are not real. I just feel like it takes things to the next level and at least have some firm footing in terms of really knowing the person and feeling a kinship. So keep that in mind even when you have the introductions and you're building the relationship online that, hey, have some way to think about, when can I meet this person in person? Well, there you have it, guys. That's today's lesson. But today's episode's not over. It's Free Ride Friday. I get to give away a lifetime membership to ezcourse, our 30 day course on how to build your own online course in 30 days over at EasyCourse co. And today's Free Ride Friday winner is Scholar Gamer Nerd. Scholar Gamer Nerd says it actually works. 5 stars. I'm currently a high school teacher and about a year ago I stopped living in fear and started my own YouTube channel and brand. Omar's podcast was the first one I committed to because of how practical and relatable it was. In fact, I got my wife and a couple other friends to listen in on it too. His lessons apply to any business, in any entrepreneurial endeavor because of the common themes that are universal. Thank you for being so generous with your knowledge. Thank you Scholar Gamer Nerd. And congratulations. You're a Free Eye Friday winner. Your mission is to email me over at omar100mba.net so I can hook you up with the free ride to Ezcourse. If you want to win, just leave us an iTunes rating and review. Just like today's listener, Scholar Gamer Nerd. And you enter the draw to win a free ride. Listen in on Friday to see if you win. It's that easy. Thanks again for listening guys. Before I go, I want to leave you with this. Who you become as a person greatly impacts the future of your business. You are the leader of the business. You're the one who making all the decisions, the decisions that will determine the course of the business. And the better equipped you are, the better person you are, the better cultivated you are, the better the chances you're going to make the right decisions, make the right moves, execute properly and build a successful business or businesses. Hey, you might build an empire. So take this to heart. Take it seriously. Make sure you're giving yourself the chance to improve by being around people that not only allow you to do that, but encourage you and force you to become better. There you have it. Thank you so much. I'll check you in Monday's episode. I'll see you then. Take care.
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