Lifestyle

How to Identify the Top 25 People In Your Immediate Circle and Why This Matters

Published

3 years ago

February 15, 2023

In the digital age, making friends is easier than it has ever been with social media allowing for instant and ongoing connections with a virtually limitless number of people. On Facebook alone, today’s average user has more than 300 friends.

As with most things, however, quantity does not necessarily translate to quality.

“How many friends should you have?” asks Mark Lacek, author of the book “So, Who’s In Your Circle?” and creator of the My-Circle app. “It is something you need to consider if you want to build bonds with your friends that are stronger than ever and walk through this crazy and exciting life together. The digital age calls us to be a mile wide and an inch deep when it comes to friendships. But focus matters.”

Mark’s philosophy regarding friendship is that loyal friends are the only kinds of friends you want in your life. He also knows that having and enjoying loyal friendships takes some work. His book provides a roadmap for whittling down the ever-growing “friends list” we have built on social media to create a more manageable and satisfying personal social network.

“My goal in authoring my book is to help people intentionally, efficiently, and effectively determine how many of their friends can reasonably fit into their lives,” Mark says. “Our lives are so busy that it is a challenge to make time for friendships. We need a strategy for optimizing our time with friends and building deeper relationships with the ones who matter most.”

Optimizing your circle of friends

When it comes to friendships, many people have an inner circle. These are your “besties.” They are typically the two to five people who you cannot imagine doing life without.

Your inner circle is important, but it should not represent the totality of your friendships. Right outside of that inner circle should be a group of great friends who have won your trust, loyalty, and respect. Mark calls these people “My 25” and recommends an intentional approach to identifying who they are.

“If you are blessed with a broad array of friends, you know that they are true gold in life,” Mark says. “But we are not good at, nor have we typically given much thought to, organizing our friends. What can we do that will allow us to optimize our friendships over the course of our lives?”

Mark offers the following steps in his book for identifying those who would rank as our top 25 friends:

For those who work outside the home, begin by thinking about relationships with those whom you see most often. Close friends often are found in this group. However, spending a lot of time with someone does not automatically make them a close friend. You might log a lot of hours with a coworker during the day but never connect with that person outside of work. Those types of relationships probably would not qualify as one of your top 25 friendships.
Think of the friends you turn to when you have a problem and need help or advice. These are probably the people that you feel you can count on. You trust what they have to say and you respect them.
Think of the people who feel close to you even though they are far away geographically. If you have maintained a friendship with someone who lives several states away, that is a good indicator that they are a close friend.
Look at the lists of calls and texts on your phone or direct messages in your social media accounts. They provide a great gauge of the people who matter in our lives. That is not to say that your closest friends are those with whom you communicate most often; however, if you rarely place a call or send a text to someone, they probably will not rank among your top 25 friends.

Being intentional about friendships

The digital age has made it easier to have an abundance of friends, though it still hasn’t helped when it comes to authenticity in relationships. To find true happiness in our friendships, it is critical that we identify who our true friends are and focus our time and energy on them.

“There are so many studies that prove the value of having friends,” says Mark. “It isn’t only that they’re good for your health, which they are, and enrich your life, which they do, but also that they help you to become your best self and the person you were meant to be.”

Lifestyle

When the Body Speaks: How Maryna Bilousova Helps Clients Heal Beyond the Physical

Published

23 hours ago

March 6, 2026

Michelle Langton

Our bodies hold onto what our minds try to forget until they speak up through tension, fatigue, or illness. It’s easy to overlook signs like tight shoulders, restlessness, or headaches. But often, these signals are connected to something deeper. Maryna Bilousova has built her work around helping people listen to what their bodies are really saying.

Like many of her clients, Maryna spent years in a high-stress environment, constantly pushing through. She knew how to perform, meet goals, and keep everything running. But peace was missing. Her body carried the weight of unspoken stress. That realization changed not only her life, it shaped how she supports others today as a transformation coach and subconscious pattern specialist.

Instead of focusing only on what’s visible, Maryna helps people look inward. She works with individuals who feel stuck in cycles they can’t explain, like burnout that does not go away or stress that feels out of proportion. Often, the root is not just a busy schedule. It’s emotional tension that’s been buried and ignored.

Looking Deeper Than Symptoms

Many people come to Maryna after trying traditional methods. They have done meditation apps, therapy sessions, or self-help routines. Still, something feels off. That’s where her work begins, not with fixing, but with listening.

She helps clients connect the dots between their physical symptoms and unresolved emotions. It’s not always about big trauma. Sometimes, it’s small moments that were never processed, guilt, grief, frustration, or shame. Over time, those emotions settle in the body.

Maryna recalls one client, a long-term cancer survivor, who returned years later with ovarian cysts. The physical fear was real, but so was the emotional weight she had been carrying from a past relationship full of betrayal and silence. Through their sessions, they uncovered and released that emotional residue. Weeks later, the cysts were gone. It was a reminder of how deeply the body can reflect our inner state.

Patterns That Keep Us Stuck

Maryna’s approach is not about chasing positivity or trying to fix everything at once. She focuses on patterns, how people speak to themselves, how they respond to stress, how they make decisions. Often, what feels like self-sabotage is actually an old belief playing out.

For example, someone who always avoids conflict might be carrying a belief that their needs don’t matter. Another who keeps overworking may feel that slowing down means they are falling behind. These beliefs often form early and show up in adulthood in ways that quietly run our lives.

Rather than offering surface-level solutions, Maryna holds space for clients to explore what’s really behind their choices. Her calm presence allows people to soften, reflect, and begin making changes that come from clarity, not pressure.

A Path Back to Yourself

The people Maryna works with are not looking for a quick fix. They want to feel lighter, clearer, and more like themselves again. Her clients often say that what changes is not just their mindset, it’s how they feel in their own skin. They start resting without guilt, setting boundaries without apology, and making choices that actually feel good.

Maryna believes that healing is not about doing more. It’s about slowing down enough to notice what your body and mind have been trying to say all along. When people start listening, they stop feeling like they have to fight themselves, and that’s when real change happens.

In a world that pushes us to ignore discomfort and keep going, Maryna offers something different: a place to pause, reflect, and reconnect. Because sometimes, healing does not start with doing, it starts with listening.