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Your Midyear Relationship Check-In
Social Wellness Month is acknowledged in July and represents a relatively new monthly health focus in the U.S. Created in the early 2000s by mental health professionals, Social Wellness Month aims to cultivate stronger relationships with oneself, family, friends, colleagues, and communities.
Read on for the #TRN rundown on this fun and fast-growing initiative.
Setting Your Sights on Social Wellness
Social Wellness Month focuses on nurturing relationships—with yourself and others. It offers the perfect opportunity to conduct a mid-year check-in on some of the relationship goals you may have set at the beginning of the year.
Did you promise yourself you were going to visit your nana more often or finally join your city's adult kickball league? Even if the first half of the year slipped away from you, there's still plenty of time to refocus on those goals, whether you want to open up and pursue some new relationships or deepen the ones you already have.
Building Better Relationships
Our relationships often give us the strength and support to navigate life's complexities. Here are some of our top tips for building positive social habits and cultivating the relationships that matter:
Take Care of Yourself, Take Care of Others
As the saying goes, you can't pour from an empty cup. Bring the best version of yourself to your relationships by practicing healthy habits and self-care as much as possible in your own life. And if you find yourself at a low point or feeling stressed, don't be afraid to share your feelings openly with loved ones, just as you'd want them to share their true feelings with you.
Stand By Your Commitments
Honoring your commitments to yourself and others can go a long way toward building trust. It's not just family, friends, and colleagues who benefit from seeing that you're a reliable person who sticks to your word; you can build self-respect and reliance as you honor the commitments you make to yourself.
Try Something Different
Be bold and change up some of your routines. If you have a long-distance friend or relative you regularly call or text, surprise them with the occasional handwritten letter or greeting card. If you'd like to meet some new people, try a new group fitness class or visit a local art show or community event. Show a friend's new small business some love by supporting them on social media; it just takes a few seconds of effort and won't cost you a dime.
Set Reminders
If you often notice that entire months have flown by without you checking in on that friend or former coworker you promised to keep in touch with, this one's for you: set calendar reminders. Really. We promise it's okay to use a little admin support to help keep you on top of your healthy communication habits. Mix it up and keep it fun by setting auto notifications to remind you to send a catch-up text or invite a friend out for coffee.
Celebrate Social Wellness Month
Tell us what you think about Social Wellness Month, or share your top relationship-building tips! Talk to jo@trustedreferral.org
Want to be a part of the #TRN Team? We are looking for guest writers to contribute to our blog. Reach out to jo@trustedreferral.org to learn more.