Women in Financial Services
As we approach Blue Monday…
Gary Ford / 10 Jan 2024
A week from now, it will be Blue Monday - at least in the Northern Hemisphere - the third Monday in January and supposedly the most depressing day of the year. The theory arose from a series of connecting factors around the weather conditions, debt levels, post-Xmas, broken (already) New Year's resolution, low motivational levels and a feeling that action needs to be taken.
I've always thought the second Monday was a strong competitor as it is typically the day that a lot of people return to work after an end of year break.
Either way, it can be a tough time of year for people.
On Saturday, I got together with some of my closest friends (pictured) to play poker. We have been doing this once a month for nearly 20 years. Who wins no longer matters (well nearly, I won this time around - I am not called competitive Dad in my household for nothing!) and we don't have deep, life changing conversations. We chat about what is happening in our lives, sport, music, practical related nonsense - in a way it doesn't matter. It is just nice to have a friendship group I can rely on - I have known some of them over 40 years.
I realise I am one of the lucky ones. Over a quarter of men in the UK say they have no close friends with 22% aged 55 or over say they never see their friends. A recent survey in the US found that just 27% said they have at least 6 close friends. In 1990, this figure was 55%.
I have also been incredibly lucky in my career - I have got to work with some of the most wonderful people on the planet - many of them are LinkedIn connections and I wish I had more time to speak to many of them more regularly.
But as I've got older, I have realised that if you want to build friendships or even just an ongoing set of connections with people, you do have to work at it. I feel that I try, but maybe I need to try a little harder.
During Covid, where I found I had a little more time on my hands than I expected, I put out an offer to everyone in my network, to let me know if they would like a virtual catch up, even if to just say hello. I am doing that again.
Even if we haven't spoken in many, many years - please message me on LinkedIn if you'd like to catch up for a virtual beverage of choice. I am keen to continue to cultivate our relationship. This applies to all genders, by the way, not just the men (but not to anyone who just wants to sell me stuff!). Let me know...
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