5 Reasons a Drink with your Mates is Vital to Your Success
Had a great catch up with friend and mentee Samuel Johns before Easter and we discussed life, business, direction and those things that have meaning for us. It felt good to connect with someone who is energized by life's potential and grabbing all the opportunities he can. Samuel also met up with Alden Poole his friend from Babson College days in Boston for some trecking at Wilson's Prom in Victoria. You get the idea from this photo that they had fun - right!
It turns out that our connections are more important than we may have realized. You may not have needed an excuse, but here are 5 good reasons to make a habit of keeping in contact.
In 2016 more people live alone, across country or far from family, have longer working hours with less extended family support. This has lead us to becoming more conscious of the stress inherent in our changing society and search for ways to understand and combat it.
A landmark meta study published in 2010 of over 300,000 participants found that social relationships were a stronger predictor of survival rates than well established risk factors like smoking and alcohol consumption, obesity and lack of excercise.
The research showed that adequate social support gives a 90% greater chance of survival.
Social relationships support our mental physical and emotional health in tangible ways. Studies show that those who are happier, are those with greater social networks.
The Mayo Clinic highlights these benefits of social support.
- Increase self worth - validation - your friends get your jokes. Think of the feeling you have when you find out that someone else is planning to walk the Camino trail. It is important for us as social animals to have our self worth reinforced by those around us, particularly by those we respect.
- Feeling of security - having access to advice, guidance and the assistance we need from others is a great comfort to us especially in times of need.
- Sense of belonging - Increasing isolation in society causes loneliness. We have developed as pack animals with a high need to be part of groups - family, sporting, workplace, clubs all give us a sense of being part of something and this is a vital cog in our lives.
I know I have mentioned it before, but I was so blown away when I saw Robert Putnam - said to be the most influential academic of our time, who told us that if you join one group this year you halve your chance of dying. If you join two groups this year you halve it again.
So making a habit of catching up with friends and meeting new connections could be the key to:
- Increase your happiness
- Better Health
- Longer life
- Help you to solve problems
- Feel valued
So ring your mates, enroll in a class, join a book group, walking club, or start volunteering. Make it a priority. There are others out there like you, exciting connections to be made and the beginnings of life long friendships. Reach out - a lot, and get connected.
What do you do to stay connected?