Do you keep your circle small or broaden up a bit to help you achieve success? A British Anthropologist and Psychologist says there is a mathematical formula of friends needed for success. Robin Dunbar says the magic number needed is 150. These 150 friends are divided into tiers. The most broad tier are those people you see at a wedding or class reunion. The next tier consists of 50 people you would invite to a birthday party, but not an intimate dinner party. The next tier is comprised of 12 to 15 that you would consider good friends. Your inner circle that you trust with everything makes up about 5 people. Where do we fit our 5,000 Facebook Friends?
As for dinner parties? He says the idea number is 4 for meaningful conversation where everyone is involved. A group of 6 is best if you want to cover a broad array of subjects. For something like a book club, the number is 10 to encourage lively debate.
He says having too many friends can be bad because we only have so much emotional energy to expend on people. If we try to use it appealing to far too many, we will burnout.
Does your life fall into this equation?