New Year, New Goal: Why you should Prioritize Social Wellbeing this Year

It’s that time of year again—New Year’s Resolutions! Whether you make annual resolutions or prefer to make shorter-term goals (like me), the same rules apply. We often set goals for self-improvement with a focus on our physical, mental, and financial goals, often forgetting one critical component. In learning about social health and wellbeing, I began to create goals that help me improve my social health—and started to feel more connected and happier as a result.Don’t worry about sounding professional. Sound like you. There are over 1.5 billion websites out there, but your story is what’s going to separate this one from the rest. If you read the words back and don’t hear your own voice in your head, that’s a good sign you still have more work to do.

You may be surprised to learn that scientists have established a link between social health, physical health, and aging! In fact, social health helps determine how long we live. I was first introduced to the concept of social health through a Ted Talk by Robert Waldinger, who spoke about the Harvard Study of Adult Development. This study, which has been running for 75 years, has involved 724 men and women being interviewed and examined to gain insight into health and longevity. The main message that came out of this was that having good relationships makes us happier and healthier and can even extend our life expectancy. However, it is important to note that if our relationships are sources of conflict or loneliness, they can have a negative effect on our health. Additionally, the number of ‘friends’; we have on social media does not necessarily reflect our social wellbeing. Waldinger also concluded that good social connections can protect our brain health, as those with good relationships tend to have better memory and clarity of thinking.

Julianne Holt-Lunstad, a professor from Brigham Young University, analyzed studies tracking the social habits of 3.4 million people and found that prolonged loneliness can be as harmful to our health as smoking 15 cigarettes a day. This was echoed by Dr. Kiffer Card from Simon Fraser University and Institute for Social Connection, who concluded that loneliness can have similar impacts to obesity, sedentary living, smoking, poverty, and poor air quality.

The key takeaway from this is that social connections are essential for our physical, emotional, and mental health. Having even one or two close friends can help to reduce the effects of trauma and reduce the need to self-medicate with harmful substances or behaviours.

You could be surrounded by wonderful relationships this year, or you may be unsure how to start building meaningful connections. Don’t hesitate to reach out to community or mental health services. No matter what your life looks like, you can make 2023 the year you start prioritizing your social health.