One Story. One Lesson. One Better Week.
One of the questions people ask me all the time is,
“How are you and your son Max so close when he lives hundreds of miles away?”
The answer usually surprises them.
We only see each other a few times a year.
But we talk or text almost every day.
Sometimes it’s a five-minute phone call while I’m driving home.
Sometimes it’s a picture.
Sometimes it’s a funny meme.
Sometimes it’s just…
“Thinking about you. Hope you’re having a great day.”
Those little moments have become the glue that holds us together.
It made me realize something years ago.
Closeness isn’t created by proximity. It’s created by consistency.
The same thing is true with my brother and sister.
We don’t spend every holiday together.
We don’t talk on the phone every week.
Sometimes a month or two goes by before we actually hear each other’s voices.
But we’re constantly checking in.
Sharing a laugh.
Sending a story.
Remembering birthdays.
Celebrating each other’s wins.
If one of us needed the others tomorrow…
There wouldn’t be a second of hesitation.
That’s when it hit me.
Relationships don’t slowly disappear because people stop loving each other.
Most of the time…
That realization changed me.
As I looked back over my career, I realized something I wasn’t proud of.
I’d recruited over a thousand Loan Officers.
I’d celebrated their successes.
Watched them build incredible careers.
Shared some amazing chapters together.
Then life happened.
The next opportunity.
The next recruiting trip.
The next goal.
The next season.
Without ever meaning to…
I had let too many wonderful people drift out of my life.
Not because I stopped caring.
Because I assumed there would always be time later.
There isn’t always a later.
So I decided to become intentional.
I made a list.
About a hundred people who had shaped my life.
Family.
Friends.
Former colleagues.
People who had encouraged me.
People I’d laughed with.
People I’d learned from.
Then I did something that made a lot of people laugh.
I called them.
And I asked two simple questions.
“How do you like to stay in touch?”
Text?
Phone?
Email?
Then I asked…
“How often would you like to hear from me?”
Every month?
Every few months?
A couple of times a year?
I actually put it into a spreadsheet.
Yes…
I know.
That’s the recruiter in me.
Max still gives me a hard time about it.
My wife Julie just smiles because she’s learned that’s how my brain works and just shrugs and says, “That’s Peter.”
But here’s what I’ve discovered.
Very few people need an hour of your time.
Most people just want sixty seconds of your attention.
A quick text.
A short phone call.
A birthday message.
A photo that reminds you of them.
Those little moments say something much bigger than the words themselves.
They say…
“You matter to me.”
Over the years, those tiny deposits have become some of the richest investments I’ve ever made.
Ironically, they’ve also helped my career.
Not because I was trying to build a network.
Because trust grows where genuine relationships live.
People can tell the difference.
The older I get, the less impressed I am by how many business cards someone has.
I’m much more impressed by how many people genuinely smile when their phone lights up with your name.
To me…
That’s wealth.
This Week’s Thank Goodness It’s Monday Challenge
Think of one person who made your life better.
Someone you haven’t talked to in a while.
Don’t wait for a birthday.
Don’t wait until you need something.
Don’t even wait until you have something important to say.
Just reach out.
Tell them you were thinking about them.
You may never know how much they needed to hear it.
Until next Monday…
Call your parents.
Text your kids.
Reach out to an old friend.
Life doesn’t usually pull us apart in one dramatic moment.
It happens one missed conversation at a time.
Protect the people you love.
One conversation at a time.