Let's see how different people built balanced friendship portfolios:
Noor's Portfolio Rebalancing At 34, Noor's audit revealed 90% of her friendships were professional contacts. Her portfolio was dangerously undiversified—if she changed careers, her entire social life would evaporate.
Using the 3-2-1 model, Noor strategically built: - Activity Partners: Kept one work friend for professional discussions, added a running buddy from her neighborhood, joined a book club for intellectual stimulation - Close Friends: Deepened relationship with a fellow working mom who understood her life stage, maintained friendship with college friend for different perspective - Inner Circle: Invested heavily in developing one activity partner into a true confidant
Within six months, Noor had a balanced portfolio spanning all four domains. When she later changed jobs, her social life remained stable because work was only one component.
James's Post-Divorce Portfolio James, 41, lost most mutual friends in his divorce. Instead of randomly trying to "make friends," he strategically rebuilt: - Activity Partners: Golf buddy (recreational), divorced dads group member (life stage), neighborhood gym partner (geographic) - Close Friends: Deepened connection with understanding coworker, reconnected with old friend who'd been through divorce - Inner Circle: Gradually developed gym partner into closest confidant through consistent vulnerability
The portfolio approach helped James avoid the common trap of only befriending other divorced people, ensuring diverse perspectives during his life transition.
Ali's Remote Work Portfolio Working remotely, Ali struggled with geographic isolation. His portfolio strategy: - Activity Partners: Online gaming friend (interest), co-working space acquaintance (professional), climbing gym regular (geographic/interest hybrid) - Close Friends: Maintained deep online friendship with college friend, developed local connection through climbing - Inner Circle: Invested in converting local climbing friend to deeper relationship
This gave Ali both local and virtual connections across multiple domains, solving his isolation without abandoning valuable online friendships.