"You don’t need ten perfectly maintained friendships. You need one or two that run on rhythm."

Hey Reader,
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Whether you powered through the full 7-Day Challenge or barely made it to Day 2, you’re here — and that’s what counts.

If these tips resonate, you’ll probably like the daily stuff I post on Instagram — short, tactical friendship observations from real life. Follow along here: 👉 https://instagram.com/mattritter1

There are people I genuinely love who I now mostly see at birthday dinners. Nothing went wrong. No falling out. We just stopped having a regular place in each other’s week. That’s how most adult friendships fade. Not from conflict. From lack of rhythm.

So this edition is about how to make ONE friendship work.

🤝 The Friend: Pixar’s Lunch Table

Before Pixar became Pixar, it was a small group of animators and engineers working inside Lucasfilm. They spent a lot of time eating lunch together — same people, same tables, most days.

Out of those regular hangs came a habit of showing each other rough ideas and unfinished scenes. Over time that became what Pixar later formalized as the Braintrust — the creative circle behind Toy Story, Finding Nemo, Up, and nearly every Pixar hit.

The trust that powered those films didn’t come from off-sites or retreats. It came from seeing each other constantly in a low-pressure setting where conversation was easy and frequent.

A lot of great collaboration — and great friendship — comes from one simple dynamic: the same people, in the same place, on a regular basis.
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A quick note about our sponsor: Superhuman. Can anyone keep up with what's happening, have you seen these Seedance videos, it's insane! Am I out of a screenwriting career? Who knows.
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My two cent: we should see if we can implement these tools to our advantage and not our overlords. I see Superhuman as a work resource, give it a read.

🛠️ The Fix: The 3 Cs

If you want one friendship that actually survives adult life, build it around three things:
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​Close. Consistent. Casual.

Close​
Pick someone who lives near you. Proximity is underrated.

Consistent​
Same time. Same place. Weekly or every other week. When it repeats automatically, it survives busy seasons.

Casual​
Keep it easy. If it feels like a production, it won’t last.

I have a standing Friday pizza with two other couples and our kids.

Some weeks it’s loud and chaotic and all of us are there. Some weeks someone’s traveling. Some weeks one of our kids melts down and we’re eating quickly (standing up) and leaving early.

Doesn’t matter. The reservation exists either way.

And here’s the bigger realization: the point of a standing hang isn’t the night itself. It’s removing the need to plan your friendship over and over again. Once something is recurring, the friendship stops depending on mood, energy, or motivation. It just runs.

You don’t need ten perfectly maintained friendships. You need one or two that run on rhythm. Close. Consistent. Casual.

🔎 The Reco: Padel

Tried padel for the first time recently, my brother's been obsessed so I finally relented and went with him. He warned me five times, but I still nearly ran straight through the glass wall chasing a ball. Still loved it. (But seriously, can they put some stickers on the glass??)

It’s become a very easy thing to suggest when you want to see someone but don’t want to turn the night into a whole production. Book a court. Play for an hour. Maybe grab a drink after. Easy sport to pick up and active enough that it feels like you did something. Simple enough that people will actually say yes. Easy to do again and again. That's why they're calling them "social sports."
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Let me know if you've joined the padel (or pickleball) cults?

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Forward this to the friend you keep saying “we need to hang soon” to. Then actually pick a night.

Matt Ritter
​The Friendship Guy