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- The Era of Social Fitness
It’s Thursday, March 21st, and today we’re talking about the era of social fitness and what it means for people and business.
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Bear with me:
“In the hustle to hit the next milestone or close the next deal, we often miss out on something crucial. It's not about how many hours you clock in or the figures on your balance sheet. It's about how we connect, understand, and uplift each other.”
This is the kind of thing I would read online and either assume it was written by ChatGPT or sort of roll my eyes at…because…what?
But the last few years have been a bit cruel. The importance of social fitness entered my life slowly and silently in 2021 when I moved across the country and then proceeded to kick my arse seven ways to Tibet.
We hear it all the time: ”the loneliness epidemic blah blah”, “isolation blah blah”.
It’s critical. I would even propose that it’s killing us. Yet the “blah blah” is because while most of us agree it’s the lead domino on a well-lived life, we seem uninterested in fixing it outside of occasional lamenting.
Here's the deal:
Social fitness is the next big thing.
The world's feeling lonely. It's bad news for us all.
Your team's culture hinges on this.
And there's a goldmine of opportunities here for businesses smart enough to tap in.
Let’s get into it.
Imagine your social skills as a series of muscles; ones that flex when you navigate a tricky conversation, build rapport with new people, or listen with active presence.
This is social fitness: the art and practice of building healthy, effective social interactions.
An important distinction: this is about quality, daily practice, and a variance in relationships. Acquaintances, core friends, recreational buddies: these are the equivalent of exercise, nutrition, and good sleep. One is good, but three are foundational for living well.
Social fitness isn't about being the life of the party or the most charismatic person in the room. It's about being consistent and intentional in your interactions. It's the secret to building resilient, thriving communities, both personally and professionally.
Impact on Personal Wellbeing
Strip away the titles and the quarterly reports for a moment.
At our core, we're social creatures. Our well-being thrives on connections. The busier we get, the more likely we are to sideline this fundamental need, even when we know it's the very fabric of health and longevity.
Hyper-connected by technology, yet paradoxically lonelier than ever— this silent plague costs more than just morale. It's a public health crisis with a hefty price tag on healthcare systems, workplace productivity, and societal well-being.
Imagine if we began treating social health as we do economic health, with strategies and investments aimed at nurturing connections. Take the United Kingdom, where the government appointed a Minister of Loneliness to combat social isolation. It’s a bold move, acknowledging the ripple effect loneliness has on society and the economy.
Worse, as loneliness rises, prescription medications rise with it, and more and more people are reporting feelings of despondency and lack of purpose. So many of our “third places” are extinct or endangered. In fact, at a recent Techstars event, a founder was sharing with me that three friends of his, all atheists, had recently begun going to church in search of community. (This isn't a commentary on church, merely on how hungry people are to belong).
Why are we ignoring it?
Social fitness may be in crisis, but it’s also the primary need we ignore. I think we get caught up in three major traps:
Visibility: When we’re physically overweight, we feel it, but others see it. This lends a particular kind of pain and amplifies our awareness, and often, desire to fix it.
Media: Every day we scroll through a series of PR’d photos and words, leaving us feeling that everyone else has figured it out. It’s hard to reach out when it seems the world doesn’t need you. There’s also a strange meme culture around loneliness, which only serves to normalize isolation.
It’s somehow become cool to disconnect
Self-reliance: Western culture, in particular, applauds the self-made man narrative. It should be called the self-made man fairy tale because they don’t exist.
You can quantify your savings, monitor your weight loss, or celebrate a promotion. These are societal yardsticks of success, making them more straightforward paths to follow. On the other hand, addressing loneliness and building a community involves navigating the murky waters of qualitative data.
It’s not just personal
For business leaders, this comes down to team and money
Team:
Dive into any high-functioning team, and you'll find a web of strong social interactions. It's not the perks or the paychecks that keep them on the bus; it's the sense of belonging, safety, and mutual respect among its members. Turning collaboration into collective brilliance is the hallmark of the best work environments.
It doesn't happen by accident. It's the result of deliberate actions:team-building that goes beyond the superficial, creating spaces for open, honest communication, and, importantly, leading by example. When leaders show vulnerability, listen actively, and value each interaction, it sets a precedent. It’s worth noting that every company has a unique culture, whether by default or design.
Money:
The narrative of business success is being rewritten, and at its heart is social fitness.
By embedding social fitness into your products or services, you're not just selling; you're shifting lives. You're offering a solution that speaks to something deep and intangible, and in doing so, creating a brand that stands for something worth legacy.
The business case for social fitness is clear. It's a chance to rethink empathetic design. We have the responsibility to shape a future where business success and social well-being are inextricably linked.
David called it early
There are some seeds of hope we can look to:
Jubilee Media is a multi-million dollar company that made a name for itself by producing video series such as Middle Ground meant to cultivate empathy for “the other”. I became a huge fan after the first video I watched: Cops and Ex-Felons.
Recognizing that sometimes you need a shoulder to lean on, subscription-based Papa helps health plans and employers connect members and their families to real people for help with companionship, everyday tasks, and transportation.
Not a business: Elle Beecher is the brilliant mind behind The Board Walks: a social movement that brings together strangers every Saturday morning, rain or shine, for a five-mile walk. After reading through the ground rules she set, I’m not surprised that they’re expanding into new cities.
Rainn Wilson hosted a Netflix documentary called The Geography of Bliss. In it, he travels to five countries in an attempt to define where the happiest and unhappiest people are and what makes them so.
Not many of us will be surprised to learn that happiness is directly related to your sense of community and connectedness to others. But in some strange way, I am surprised. Not at the answer, but that we keep getting slapped in the face repeatedly with a clear answer to a problem that’s killing us, yet have such a hard time doing anything with it.
Commerce shifts culture. The need for businesses to influence behavior in a way that pushes humans toward each other instead of away from each other has never been so critical. While media continues to divide, we get to bridge chasms.
I myself am socially out of shape: flabby, barely keeping up in social settings, and feeling a bit sick all the time.
Actual photo of my social life
And I recognize that something has to be done about it. The first business to make this happen for me gets all my money forever.
Onward,
April
PS: If you want to dig in a little more, I recommend this article, which breaks down some great data and solutions around social fitness.
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