I used to have a pretty black and white view separating my professional life and my personal life. I put friends in one category and co-workers in another… You have your co-workers and your friends. And the 2 shouldn’t mix.

But honestly, my feelings on this have completely evolved over the years.

Email, text, chat, and social media have blown up the boundaries between work and home and there’s no going back.

You spend so much of your life at work, so you might as well work with people you would actually want to hang out with personally, right? That’s a WIN-WIN.

Plus, it’s hard to meet new people you can relate to after school.

But as with anything, there are other considerations. When you make friends with people in your professional circle, there’s great responsibility. If and when you have conflict, you have to handle it with a higher degree of self-awareness and emotional IQ. You don’t want that immature tantrum to boomerang back at you and harm you professionally, right?

The truth is RELATIONSHIPS drive everything in business and personal life. They are one of the key components of my PEER2LESS GovCon Growth Framework.

What is your view of separating professional and personal life? What, if any, boundaries do you still have?

In fact, friend, I would love if you’d connect with me on Facebook if we aren’t already connected.