Belonging: Hydrate From the Inside Out!

What It’s About: You may have gathered that I’m giving more intention and attention to the concept of BELONGING. This blog is a small step in explaining why. While a sense of belonging has always been a basic human need, there are pandemic type forces at work to isolate and/or polarize us. I believe we need to fiercely fight against those trends. Focusing on belonging for a greater good is an antidote! By really belonging to a group, we feel as if we are a part of something bigger and more important than ourselves. Individually, we do feel like a necessary ingredient, while the WE becomes greater than ME. The Belonging Project at Stanford notes, “Importance of a sense of belonging has been demonstrated through empirical work on human resilience and factors that protect emotional health and personal well being, even in the context of adversity and trauma. Individuals develop a sense of belonging when they feel connected to other people, especially those who share their distinct life experiences, interests, or goals.”

Why It’s Important: Numerous studies confirm belonging creates a lower prevalence of mental health issues, less unhealthy behaviors such as smoking, not exercising, not getting enough sleep and too much alcohol/drugs. From an organization perspective, belonging means one is also meaningfully engaged by intentionally finding ways of giving to others. Employees are even more connected when they activate a powerful purpose! (More on this in future blogs). I love the following quote: “We forget how it feels to be filled up by giving to somebody else… When I drink a glass of water, I can feel it hydrating me on the inside. When you give a service to somebody else, it’s the same: It fills you up on the inside. We all have something to give to this world.”

What We Can Do About It: I BELONG to an organization where the purpose is about transforming lives and creating a place of belonging in a local and global community. How cool is that? Each of us can make the journey from diversity to inclusion, to psychological safety and ultimately to REAL BELONGING. If you have that continuum, I promise you a more productive and engaged workforce, and a more joy filled life! Let’s do it together. We will hydrate from the inside out!

Think Big, Start Small, Act Now.

Lorne

One Millennial View: There’s a reason that belonging to groups feels great. Much of our growing up involved being members of teams, clubs, Greek life, and extracurricular activities that made us belong to something. Then poof, one day it’s kinda gone. Adult life offers some of the same, but it generally costs money or time we don’t all have (think country clubs). However, I think this is different. This is the idea that you can transform any organization into a place where everyone feels a special sense of belonging, without the dues. You all earned it. You all fit in. It’s worth celebrating.

- Garrett

Edited and published by Garrett Rubis

Belonging: Hydrate From the Inside Out!

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