He builds fixed habits that keep core people in his life — for example, a standing workout call over Zoom with his college roommate three times a week, where they each go for a run and talk on the phone across the New York–Vietnam time gap.
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Stephen says he has "a lot of habits in my life to keep the most important people in my life a part of my life." The concrete example: his best friend and college roommate is in New York, he's in Vietnam, and "we have a workout call over Zoom three times a week" — every Monday, Wednesday, Friday, 7pm his time and 7am hers, they both go for a run and talk on the phone. He says these patterns mean the core people are always present, which "gives me a lot of space to feel safe emotionally," and from that safe base he can go explore.