Reconnecting With Old Friends When You’ve Become a Different Version of Yourself with Linda Mueller

Friendship IRL

Imagine you’ve made the move you’ve always dreamed of.

You live on the other side of the world and experience a new culture. It changes how you see your life – and almost imperceptibly, it changes you, too. When you return home, things are different among your friends. You don’t fit in the way you used to.

Today’s guest, Linda Mueller, has lived this challenge firsthand through seven international moves over the course of thirteen years. Today, she is a life coach and mentor who empowers international women in the journey of relocation and repatriation.

How do you reconnect with old friends when you’ve become a different version of yourself? While Linda’s story centers on international relocations, I think there are takeaways that apply to so many transformative life experiences.

In this episode you’ll hear about:

• The impact on relationships based on emotional intimacy roots when we become new versions of ourselves
• Reverse culture shock and the importance of keeping an open mind when it comes to forging new connections and maintaining old ones
• The instinct to add vs. to cut when it comes to looking at the scope of friendships in our lives (and in particular, adding people with similar interests or available time)
• Juggling a mixture of glass and plastic balls, and focusing on harmony instead of balance
• How technology enables us to hold on to so many more people than we used to – which creates new challenges!

Resources & Links:

Sign up for Linda’s newsletter and receive five strategies to make the most out of your time abroad, and follow Suneera Madhani, whose brilliant metaphor about juggling plastic vs. glass balls is mentioned in this episode.

Go back to Episode 12 and learn about my theory about the Roots Framework and listen to Episode 87 about spring cleaning your friendships.

Like what you hear? Visit my website, leave me a voicemail, and follow me on Instagram and TikTok!

Want to take this conversation a step further? Send this episode to a friend. Tell them you found it interesting and use what we just talked about as a conversation starter the next time you and your friend hang out!