Having lots of people in your life, seeing people regularly and being ‘well connected’ has many advantages.
Don’t get me wrong. Knowing how to chill in ‘down time’ on your own, to reflect, have privacy and relax is also essential - even superman had his fortress of solitude! But regular social contact is very good for you and the more people you know, the happier you are likely to be.
Those with a supportive social circle, or even just one close friend or partner to talk to and lean on in times of crisis, enjoy healthier, less stressful lives. And they have more fun! If you make the commitment to meet more people, and really develop the relationships you have, you’ll find that the payoff is more than worth the effort.
Health and social connections
Having lots of friends and social connections is very good for your mental and physical health. A massive study of 4,725 randomly selected residents of Alameda County in California found that those with the fewest close friends, relatives and social connections had mortality rates that were two to three times higher than those with high levels of social connectedness. Also, life expectancy tables show a difference of nine years between people with very poor social connections and those with very good ones. (1)
Luck and social connectedness
Having lots of social connections can also manifest as ‘luck’. For example, most people get jobs through people they know, or a ‘friend of a friend.’ Of course, the more people you know, the better connected you are and the more likelihood something ‘lucky’ will happen. Luck is so often a numbers game.
Social activity and intelligence
There is even evidence that socializing can raise your intelligence level – your IQ. Yes, socializing really can increase thinking ability and exercise the mind. (2) So seeing more people can boost your physical health, offset and even prevent depression to some extent, and possibly improve your IQ and your LQ (luck quotient!) into the bargain.
So it’s no surprise we decided to base a hypnotic download on motivation to increase your social circle. The latest session for hypnosisdownloads.com ‘Increase your social circle’ uses deep hypnosis and relaxation to encourage the unconscious mind to start building friendships and connecting to people.
Mark
Notes
(1) The toxic effects of loneliness are confirmed by insurance statistics and numerous scientific studies. For example, one study of 972 Johns Hopkins medical students used results of personality tests to classify the students into one of five types. Thirty years later, when they checked health status, they found that students classified as ‘loners’ had sixteen times more cancer than people who vented their emotions to friends. Study after study has shown that feeling connected with other people is extremely important for physical and mental health. Suicide, alcoholism and mental illness rates are much higher among people living alone.
(2) Researcher Oscar Ybarra and his colleagues at the University of Michigan explored the possibility that social interaction improves mental functioning. In a series of related studies, they tested the participants’ level of cognitive functioning, comparing it to the frequency of participants’ social interactions. They found that people who engaged in social interaction displayed higher levels of cognitive performance than the control group. Social interaction aided intellectual performance. “Social interaction,” the authors suggest, “helps to exercise people’s minds. People reap cognitive benefits from socializing.” They speculate that social interaction ‘exercises’ cognitive processes that are measured on intellectual tasks. “It is possible,” the authors conclude, “that as people engage socially and mentally with others, they receive relatively immediate cognitive boosts.”
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