I was thinking about the different types of friends again, and thought that I should make this post to help visualize the difference between real friends and everybody else.
Among all of these, I consider frenemies to be the worst. Unlike leeches they’re at least beneficial sometimes (often strategically), which makes it harder to just drop them – even when you know you should. However, they’re the number one type of person you need to get rid of asap!
| Type | Scenario |
| True friend | Helps you, even if he may not benefit |
| Business partner | Helps you, but only when he also benefits |
| Leech | Never helps you, but still wants to benefit from you |
| Frenemy (friend + enemy) | Occasionally helps you, but also acts against things that benefit you |
The unpredictable timing and severity involved when a frenemy chooses to strike out at you could be devastating if you’re not careful. If you can’t surround yourself with only positive people, the next best thing is to at least eliminate the negatives that come with frenemies.
As far as the leeches go, a lukewarm, neutral person is still an energy draining time-wasting favor-seeker who will only slow you down and consume all your resources – that’s a negative ROI. So make sure they get the boot too!
