A study showed that 70 percent of employees say friends at work is the most crucial element to a happy working life, and 58 percent of men would refuse a higher-paying job if it meant not getting along with co-workers. Maybe this is why the Gallup research shows that people who have strong work relationships are more engaged, produce higher-quality work and have a higher state of well being.

Then why do only 15% of people believe that they have a real friend at work? Probably because most of us have a tendency to separate and isolate our friendships, defining people either as our work friends or our “real” friends, not realizing the huge benefits of unifying them and bridging the distances between the two.

Have you ever tried to get to know your colleagues at work well enough to make wonderful friends out of them? If not, you have underestimated their role in your happiness and in your success, for they have the power to phenomenally up your wellness and productivity!

Here are a few tips to help turn your work friends into real friends

1. Take it slow and one step at a time.
2. Support your friends inside of the office.
3. Use social media to find out more about them.
4. Do lunch together.
5. Ask them if they’re interested in doing something together.
6. Find common interests.
7. Include your real friends in get-togethers with work friends.
8. Take the risk of forming better bonds.

Listen in for more tips and tricks to turning work relationships into real friendships! 

Drink of the Week: ​The Negro Modelo beer

You might not be able to go to a bar and grab beers with your friends right now. But you can still drink beer. I realized it has been a while since I highlighted a beer as the Drink of the Week. A little history lesson about Negro Modelo, the first bottle came off the assembly line in 1925 and since then has been a part of Mexican culture. It's a fixture at major holidays, family celebrations, and friendly get-togethers from Sonora to Chiapas. There website actually has a number of cocktails that you can make with Negro Modelo - maybe I’ll have to try one of them one week for the drink of the week -  I actaully don’t think I’ve ever made a cocktail with beer before. Have you? Let me know if you have.

If you liked what you heard today, please leave a review and subscribe to the podcast. Also, please remember to share the podcast to help it reach a larger audience.

And if you would like a shout out for tipping your bartender and contributing to the ever growing This Sh!t Works bar tab click HERE to make a donation. No amount is too small, it will get drunk!

Relevant Links:

https://juliebrownbd.com/ ​(Website)

https://www.instagram.com/juliebrown_bd/ ​(Instagram) https://www.linkedin.com/in/julie-brown-b6942817/​ (LinkedIn) https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCIwWVdayM2mYXzR9JNLJ55Q​ (Youtube) https://www.facebook.com/juliebrownbd/​ (Facebook)Book: ​https://juliebrownbd.com/book/ ​(This Shit Works)