As part of my email cleanup, I reviewed my Contacts list once again. Back when I was working, I had thousands of contacts from work, from LinkedIn and from my Inside Sales Dude mailing list. I never deleted any of these contacts “just in case” I wanted to reach out them someday. After all, my contacts list was built up over more than 25 years of hard work.
After my wife died when I shut down Inside Sales Dude and went on the road, I winnowed this list. I removed anyone who I hadn’t contacted in years. I did this several times since then, eventually working my way down to less than 100 contacts.
Today I cut this list again.
This time, I intentionally removed people who were left that I still care about – former mentors, coworkers, friends, and extended family members. I have fond memories of my interactions with them.
But I haven’t communicated with them in years. Some 3 years. Some 5 years. Some more.
There’s no reason to keep their information anymore. If I ever need to reach them, I’ll figure out a way to track them down. They can do the same with me.
More importantly, letting them go is a final acknowledgment that the relationship we once had has passed. These contacts aren’t thinking of me – even if I do occasionally think of them. Even if they are thinking of me, they never reach out. Nor do I.
I’ll likely never see them or speak to them again. The time when our paths intersected is over.
It’s a final clean break from the past for me and it feels like the right thing to do.