Happy New Year! Thanks for signing up to all the new readers. Also, thanks to all the readers that provided feedback on my draft map making guide. Here are some nuggets about how networks shape your wellbeing, relationships and community to help you actively cultivate yours.
Latest News
Season 3 of The Reliants Project podcast has launched! This season focuses on life events, how those events impact our personal networks, and how our networks help us weather those changes. Some of these events will be very common, like getting engaged or having children. Some of them will be less common, like experiencing the death of a partner or being displaced by war. Each guest reflects on their own experience and shares what they’ve learned about how to cultivate their relationships in the face of these changes. In the first episode, I focus on changing jobs and the role that networks have played in building my career.
Wellbeing
Whether or not you buy in to new years resolutions, goals, or intentions, you’d probably admit that paying more attention to friendships would improve your wellbeing in 2021. Here are some helpful posts about setting SMART friendship goals that can be applied both virtually and IRL.
Relationships
Snapchat surveyed 40,000 adults under 40 from 16 different countries for their Friendship Report 2020. They specifically look at the impact of the pandemic on friendships, as well as the impact from more common life events (many of which we’ll explore in Season 3 of the podcast). They also dig into what happens when we lose touch with friends from our past and how many of us would like to reconnect.
“At a cultural level there is a lot of lip service about friendship being wonderful and important, but not a lot of social support for protecting what’s precious about it. Even deep, lasting friendships like ours need protection—and sometimes, repair.”
—Aminatou Sow and Ann Friedman, authors of Big Friendship
Community
“…we can literally alter our perception of challenging things by surrounding ourselves with the right kind of relationships.” —Zahra Davidson
Interested in unlocking the value of peer learning and support in your community? The team over at Enrol Yourself have published Huddlecraft, where they reflect on 3 years of facilitating learning marathons. In it they cover the power of peer groups, key ingredients for success, and impact these groups have on wellbeing. The co-founder, Zahra Davidson, was also a podcast guest in Season 2. You can listen to her interview here.
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About The Reliants Project
Reliant is my word for a person that someone depends on, an essential component of our social networks. With each edition, I’ll share useful nuggets about how networks shape your wellbeing, relationships and community to help you actively cultivate yours. Whether you want to cultivate your relationships, make better introductions, or activate networks to make an impact in the world, let me help you reach your goals.
You can find more about The Reliants Project here.