How do you grow a relationship meaningfully?
Lately, I've been running an experiment with my friends. I ask them to write down three names - three people they can call at any time, who will be there the very next moment if they say they are in need.
The whole premise is to find those three people. If you don't have them, you should probably drop everything and put real effort into finding them. At the end of the day, AI will not come to your funeral.
I went down a rabbit hole thinking about how you grow these relationships meaningfully. I think a relationship grows when you are present for someone in their need, in one of three ways: physically, emotionally and mentally, or financially. Financial support is probably the weakest of the three, but it can still create a meaningful connection.
In their good times or bad, you were there. You were part of that memory, and you did it consistently, more than once.
I don't mean this as an exercise to tick off. It has to be genuine, and it has to go both ways.