Social Fitness Routine: Prioritize reconnecting with dormant ties.
Here’s a social fitness routine 💪 prioritize reconnecting with dormant ties. Add a repeating reminder in your calendar to reach out to an old connection on the first or last day of each month.
Awkward or cringy? Nah, here’s why:
Reconnecting with someone you haven’t spoken to in a while adds novelty to your social interactions. This experience can be exciting for the brain. Conversations with our inner circle relationships can get mundane, like being on social connection cruise control. Daily interactions with a more diverse set of relationship types — weak ties, strong ties, dormant ties, even strangers — spark belonging and feelings of well-being.
Rekindling can trigger the release of oxytocin, our human bonding hormone. Oxytocin makes feelings of trust, empathy, and authentic connection. And it counterbalances cortisol, our stress hormone.
Past positive interactions with dormant ties create a residue of trust. The brain recognizes this trust from previous encounters, making it easier to rebuild rapport. No cringe needed.
How would you feel if someone from your past showed up to express thanks for your positive impact on their life? Here’s the magic: acts of gratitude benefit the giver as much as the receiver. Who made a difference in your life?
Dormant ties provide fresh and novel information. Since you last connected, they’ve encountered new people, new ideas, and new opportunities. And so have you. Mutual support abounds!
Your former client, colleague, or classmate might be struggling in life. An unexpected outreach could be the ray of positivity they desperately need.
Your long-lost friend might be lonely. Asking for advice can be a gentle reminder that they are valued and matter in someone else’s life, which can be a powerful antidote to loneliness.
Who comes to mind right now? Who would you love to hear from? Who made a difference in your life? Make a plan to tell them.
🗓 It’s the last day of September and the perfect time to start a new social fitness routine: Put a repeating reminder in your calendar to reach out to a dormant tie on the first or last day of each month. ✅
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Need and MCLE Speaker? Social fitness is an essential pillar of health, like movement, sleep, and nutrition. Both introverts and extroverts need healthy social connection routines — to buffer against stress, enhance professional performance, and influence career well-being. We can learn how to “network with purpose” and rethink relationships as part of a happier, healthier lifestyle. Ask me about my newest MCLE talk on this topic, currently booking for 2024 dates.