From Isolation to Inclusion

Key Takeaways

• Importance of Togetherness and Belonging:
  • Togetherness and belonging are essential for personal and professional wellbeing.
  • They improve mental and physical health, increase resilience, and foster stronger, more compassionate societies.
• Benefits of Connection:
  • Connection with others provides a support system, meaning, purpose, and joy in life.
  • It reduces feelings of loneliness and isolation, which have become increasingly prevalent in recent times.
• Personal and Professional Growth:
  • Being part of a group or community promotes personal growth by exposing individuals to different perspectives and experiences.
  • Improved teamwork enhances collaboration and goal achievement, both personally and professionally.
• Career Advancement:
  • Professional networking within a community can lead to valuable career opportunities and connections.

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From Isolation to Inclusion: Cultivating Stronger Societies with Togetherness

Good morning, it’s currently 10 degrees in the Yarra Valley and welcome to the show. My name is Kim Harris, and this is Stories of Change.

This morning, I am going to be talking about a topic that’s a little bit different.

Last term we really focused in on the Stages of Change and I explained the processes of change, and the reason I did that is to help you feel empowered to make changes in your life because whether we like it or not, change is inevitable.

This term I’m going to focus in on how important it is for people to change together, particularly together. The effects of togetherness are more important than you might think.

One of the factors of successful change is having the support of what we call helping partners.

Change is inevitable. We cannot change alone.

Kim Harris

It’s hard, and we need to support each other.

If you want to grow and develop, both togetherness and belonging plus the need for change on an individual and organisational level, is essential.

With that in mind, I’m going to unpack what this means.

What is the power of being together and feeling that sense of belonging to your community, to your family and even to yourself?

An important topic for discussion.

I’d like to give a shout out to the Community Enterprise Foundation^TM. They are the people that have put forward the funding so that I can come along and share some of my expertise. I’m a professional coach and associate member of the International Coaches Guild and have been working in the field of transformative change, for more than seven years.

Thousands of hours and thousands of people that I’ve coached through the process of change.

When people thrive, communities thrive.

Kim Harris

When businesses thrive, the economy thrives.

That’s what I’m going to be talking about today.

How can we utilise this concept of individual change and organisational change to increase our feelings of togetherness and belonging?

And the world certainly needs us together. For inspiration I do have a song here it’s called “Happy Together” by the Turtles. I really like this song because I just find it one of those cheerful happy songs. Enjoy this one by the Turtles.

From Isolation to Inclusion: The Global Challenge of Isolation and it’s Solutions

What’s in it for you?

This morning, we are talking about togetherness and belonging because it’s a simple kind of idea that can have a profound impact on your life.

What’s in it for you? I hear you ask.

Why would you listen to this show, and what’s in it for you?

Why listen along for the next half hour or so?

Well, research has shown that having a sense of belonging can improve your mental and physical health as well as boost productivity and creativity.

And I know that we’ve got lots of creative types throughout the valley.

We also have lots of very productive and efficient people too.

There’s lots of wonderful people out there making a real go of it with their small businesses and small enterprises and all the way up to great big organisations throughout the valley.

This is the concept we’re talking about. Tying together togetherness and belonging with the change process on a personal or organisational level.

In your personal life, togetherness and belonging can provide you with a support system. A practical down to earth support system.

It can give you that meaning and sense of purpose.

It’s also fun to hang out with certain people!

I don’t know about you, but I’ve got some hilarious children that really love their dark humour, and they give me a great feeling of joy and fulfilment in my life.

Hanging out with them is awesome.

That kind of feeling, when you’ve got that sense of belonging, and that sense of purpose, and joy, that can boost you through life’s challenges.

We all have little setbacks from time to time, and we need that resilience factor, to get over those little hurdles.

In general, it makes life easier when we’ve got a support system in place.

So that’s on a personal level.

Having a sense of belonging can improve your mental and physical health.

Kim Harris

And togetherness and belonging are not just nice to have.

Connection with others provides a support system, meaning, purpose, and joy in life.

Sometimes we can think, “Yeah, yeah, it’s a simple idea. Who cares?” Togetherness and belonging, rah, rah, rah.”

But really, it’s essential for your wellbeing and the wellbeing of our community.

Cultivating sorts of qualities that can help us have stronger, more resilient, and more compassionate societies is really, essential for the wellbeing of our whole community. It’s not just about you.

It’s also about everybody in your life and everybody around you.

Along with that, as I’ve touched on, we can have this increased feeling of wellbeing for ourselves.

Reducing those feelings of loneliness and isolation.

Studies have shown, especially recently, the global impact of shock and shockwaves, the fallout of the isolation effects of the last few years.

It’s more important than ever to get out there and start to improve your connections with others for the sake of your wellbeing.

It’s more than that too.

We also want to enhance our own personal growth. Being part of a group or a community, stepping outside of the family perhaps, and looking for those opportunities outside in our community can lead to increases in personal growth and development. Because as we interact with others who have different perspectives and experiences, we start to broaden our own horizons and gain new insights.

If you imagine a closed system where you’re only really recycling your own thinking on a subject, or your own belief, or your own thoughts, or anything like that. It’s this closed reticulating system. When we have additions, the addition of someone else’s thoughts or the addition of someone else’s point of view, it is what expands the system and helps it to grow. And that’s how we grow as people.

Growth is the result of additions. We expand as a result of additions.

Kim Harris

We’ve got some enhancements there to our own personal growth and development, which is a bonus.

Improved teamwork enhances collaboration and goal achievement, both personally and professionally.

Another thing that might be in it for you, you might be working in a team. You might be playing in a team.

I know there’s lots of great clubs and organisations out there. So improved teamwork is another important impact of togetherness and belonging. They’re critical components of effective teamwork because when team members feel connected and supported, they’re more likely to collaborate in better ways and achieve the common goal, of the whole team.

You can get improvements to teamwork by thinking about togetherness and belonging and increasing those experiences of being together and belonging.

I hope that that’s increased your motivation towards being part of a group or a community and doing more things together with other people.

Considering, you already are a part of a group or community, whether you like it or not. And perhaps you haven’t realized that this group that you’re a part of, the family that you’re a part of, the community that you’re a part of, the wonderful Yarra Valley whole region that you’re a part of, it’s a great geographic area.

We’ve got so much beauty here to enjoy, so many great groups that we can look into and feel really part of.

When we do this, we can feel that sense of connection and we invest in those common goals, we’re more likely to work hard and stay committed to that and keep our motivation alive.

Research has also shown us that motivation is not permanent.

It’s something that gets topped up every day.

There’s a point in the day where you run out of motivation, and you run out of steam.

Important that we keep looking for ways that we can top up our motivation.

One of the simplest ways, weirdly, is to have a sleep, get a good night’s sleep, but also working with others really does increase our motivation.

Don’t know about you, but when I’ve got someone counting on me to show up at a certain time, a certain place, and do a certain thing, I’m much, much, much more motivated to make that happen.

Increases in motivation, I think, is another great bonus of being together and having that sense of belonging.

Motivation is not permanent; it gets topped up every day

Kim Harris

Then, of course, there’s one reason that goes back to that kind of more organizational or business type of benefits in professional networking.

Advance Your Career: Professional Togetherness and Belonging is Important and Valuable As Well

Being part of a professional community can also provide valuable opportunities to advance your career and connecting with others in your industry.

Again, adding to that, to your own thoughts and increasing your body of knowledge around your profession or your industry. You also get to make some valuable connections to advance your professional goals.

As they say, it’s not what you know, it’s who you know, and how you know them.

Another benefit of togetherness, for you, is your ability to professionally network and get connected with the right people at the right time and in the right way.

Ha ha! I hope that has solved the case on how important togetherness and belonging are, how essential they are in having a fulfilling and successful life, both personally and professionally.

Providing us with that sense of connection, purpose, and support, it all helps us to achieve our goals and dreams, whatever they may be.

That’s what’s in it for you.

I’m going to be talking a little bit more and define some of these terms, so you know exactly what I’m talking about. But before we do that, I’m going to play some songs. First up is Rihanna, “We Found Love”. Enjoy this one.

Togetherness and Belonging are the Antidote to Loneliness and Isolation

That was Pitbull with “Give Me Everything”. What a fantastic song. I love the lyrics in that song. And it’s right on theme of togetherness and belonging.

What does he say in the song? Grab somebody sexy, tell them, “Hey!”.

Hopefully you’ve got someone sexy you can grab today.

Perhaps they would love to hear that from you too?

Pay them a compliment, make them feel good. Why not?

We’re talking this morning about the concepts of togetherness and belonging and why it’s so important and all the wonderful things that you get out of having time together and in cultivating that feeling of belongingness.

Togetherness and belonging are essential for personal and professional wellbeing

Let’s unpack some of the meanings of the words.

I don’t know if you know this about me. If you’ve been listening to the show, you might have caught on that I’m quite into words. I’m really, really into words and I love to read the dictionary.

If you want to blow your mind, just look up the meaning of some of the words that you kind of take for granted sometimes, because believe me, you will uncover some absolute gems in there.

Togetherness

Let’s talk about togetherness, the first words.

Togetherness refers to a sense of connection and closeness with others.

Whether that is in a romantic relationship, or a family unit, or a community, or even with humanity, because we have these kinds of different social circles that we move in.

It’s a feeling of being connected to others and having a shared experience or a shared purpose, as I touched on earlier, that shared experience.

I mean, to watch a sunset together, or to lay in bed and snuggle on a cold morning together, they are wonderful experiences to be shared with our fellow humans.

Togetherness involves that sense of unity.

It’s also about interdependence as well.

It’s where we’re not independent and we’re not totally dependent. We’re in that nice middle zone of interdependence.

Let’s flesh out unity and independence because I think they’re common words, but what do they actually mean?

Unity

Well, unity refers to a state of being united or joined together as one, as in the state of having a common purpose or a common goal. And that we are working toward that goal together.

Unity can be achieved through sharing our values, our beliefs, and our experiences. Unity is something that I’m proud to say I feel, our community in the Yarra Valley really strives to achieve. I know here at the station here at Yarra Valley FM, we really want to have that inclusivity and we really want to include lots of diversity in our programming, for example, working towards this goal of really celebrating the diversity in our Yarra Valley. We are unified in our quest for being together and making this a great community to live in.

Unity is a wonderful word.

Interdependence

We’ve got interdependence next. Okay, so interdependence, the meaning of that word refers to the mutual reliance and interconnectedness between individuals or groups.

This is where we start to see the individual and the group but understanding that no one person or group can exist in isolation and that everyone is dependent on others in some way.

Interdependence involves recognizing and respecting the unique contribution of others. Again, we’re working towards that common goal, or purpose.

Interdependence promotes cooperation, collaboration, encourages us to share our resources, our skills, and our ideas.

You can see that in the innovations all around us all the time, this necessity for interdependence.

There are some great words there. So okay, we’ve got togetherness, which involves unity and interdependence. What about belonging?

Belonging

Belonging, on the other hand, is a sense of being accepted and included within a group, where you can be included within a group, an organization, or a community.

It’s a feeling that you’re an integral part of something that’s much larger than just yourself.

Belonging involves a feeling of being valued and respected within a community and having that sense of identity and purpose within the community structure.

Belonging is another fantastic word.

And I’ll unpack that a little bit more because there’s some keywords in there that I think often do get misinterpreted.

Respect

Respect is a word included in there because it involves this feeling of being respected.

Respect refers to the act of recognizing and valuing the inherent worth and dignity of all individuals, regardless of who they are, what their background is, what they believe, what they value.

It involves treating others with kindness, empathy and consideration and honouring their opinions and perspectives.

From the dictionary definition of the word, respected also includes admiration, and a component of admiring.

It’s people you admire, you often have great respect for.

Who do you admire, who admires you, that’s what we’re talking about when we’re talking about and unpacking this word belonging.

Then we’ve got a couple of other key things that are a bit different.

I thought they’re worth defining for you.

Self-Identity

Self-identity within a community, what is that all about?

Well, this refers to an individual’s understanding of themselves in relation to a larger group or community.

It’s how we see ourselves as we connect to other groups.

It involves identifying with the values, beliefs and customs of the community and finding a sense of belonging within it.

Self-identity can be shaped by a variety of factors, including our heritage, how we were brought up, how we were raised, we’ve got religion and we’ve got our own spirituality as well, ethnicity, I can’t even say the word, oh my God, that’s hilarious. Our ethnicity, I can’t even say it, that’s so funny. And our ethnicity, sorry, I really can’t say that word, but I hope you get it, and our shared experiences.

Our self-identity within a community is again going back to that idea of interdependence.

It’s like who we are, and then who we are in relation to the community.

How do we identify ourselves within all of that?

Purpose

The final one worth defining is the word purpose.

Purpose within a community refers to a sense of meaning and direction that an individual derives from their participation in a group or an organization.

It’s having clear understanding of how our actions are contributing to the goals and the objectives of the community and feeling a sense of fulfillment and satisfaction from that contribution.

One of the words I really love is contentment and it’s that kind of feeling. It’s not just about feeling good or feeling happy, it’s feeling content, pure satisfaction and something is so satisfying.

Purpose within a community can be found through so many different types of activities such as volunteering, or advocacy, or leadership roles. And particularly in my job, I do a lot of mentoring within the community as well.

Mentoring businesses, and individuals as I’ve mentioned before, is a wonderful way to find that sense of purpose within my community, something I love doing.

There’s some unpacking of what togetherness and belonging means.

I hope you can reflect on those words. I know they’re simple words and words that get strewn about a lot, but it’s good to sometimes stop and take notice of what these words mean and what is the gold and the wisdom behind these words.

I hope you enjoyed that. I’m going to play another song now. I’m in a bit of a dancey mood this morning. I don’t know about you. I’ve got one here. “I Can’t Stop the Feeling”, enjoy this one by Justin Timberlake.

Togetherness and Belonging: They improve mental and physical health, increase resilience, and foster stronger, more compassionate societies.

Believe it or not, we’re coming up to nine o’clock shortly and that’s about it for today’s episode of Stories of Change.

Today we’ve been discovering the power of understanding some simple concepts of togetherness and belonging, and I hope you’ve enjoyed the introduction to those, these concepts.

We’re going to be talking about this for a little while and I’ve got some great interviews lined up for this coming term as well.

I wanted to make it clear, what’s in it for you.

The benefits of togetherness and belonging for you personally are that you’re going to improve your mental and physical health.

If that’s something that you want to boost, you might be interested in ramping up more togetherness and belonging in your world in general, and that includes your personal and professional life.

Having a support system in place.

Having a supportive system helps you, it can become a joy and an opportunity for you to feel more fulfilled because you’re connecting with others and helping them perhaps with a goal of theirs or helping you toward a goal of your own. You’re doing it together, not doing it in isolation.

It’s more than a nice to have, it’s essential for your wellbeing.

Kim Harris

If you want to improve your own wellbeing, or your sense of resilience, and if you want to create stronger and more compassionate societies, if you have those bigger, broader community type aims, then togetherness and belonging is the way to do that.

It’s more than a nice to have, to have increases in wellbeing. They are important to overcome the impacts of loneliness and isolation.

We are considered geographically isolated in the Valley, statistically. Something to think about is that we need to be quite intentional about this. It’s not going to happen by itself.

We need to look for ways and understand the importance of being connected with other people. It has that knock on effect to greater life satisfaction.

We’ve talked about another benefit, which is your personal growth.

If you’re the type of person who loves to grow and develop and we all do, it’s one of our essential core needs, to grow and contribute.

From my studies in human behavioural science, these are two of six core universal human needs.

Important to look for opportunities to grow and develop to meet these basic human needs.

Isolation to Inclusion: Cultivating Teamwork is a Critical Component to Togetherness and Belonging

Sometimes we grow and develop within a team structure. If you’re in a team already, or joined a team recently, there’s lots of great clubs out there, footy clubs, cricket clubs, netball clubs, you name it. Even public speaking clubs like Healesville Toastmasters, is a great example.

We like this improved sense of teamwork as well. That’s where we have a common goal and we’re working towards it together.

And of course, all those things are wonderful ways to increase our professional network as well.

You might have had experiences like me, like people that I meet at a club or in a club environment, have gone on to become great friends, and we’ve done projects together. We’ve ended up working together. We can build our network quite intentionally with thoughtfulness around these concepts of togetherness and belonging, and it turns out it’s very good for you.

Very good to give you a sense of connection, purpose, support, and help you achieve whatever the goal is, or the dream is.

Isolation to Inclusion: 3 Simple Actions You Can Take Today

Wow. Some actionable steps after today.

You’ve listened to the show.

Hopefully you’re feeling really motivated to get some more connection and belonging and togetherness in your life.

My three action steps, I’m encouraging you to take.

Number one, seek out some social connection.

Take steps to connect with others, both personally and professionally.

It might involve joining a club or group like I’ve just touched on, or attending a networking event, but it’s also just simply reaching out to your friends and family.

When was the last time you sent a random text message to a good friend and said, “Hey, thinking about you. I hope you’re having a good day.”

We’ve got Mother’s Day coming up. When was the last time you told your Mum you love her? Take her out for lunch or something like that. It’s not just about one day, Mother’s Day. It’s about cultivating a sense of togetherness and belonging for the duration of your life.

It’s more than a one-day thing.

One day or day one. You decide.

Kim Harris

Where are some ways that you can be connected more socially?

Look for those intentionally.

Another actionable step you can take today, you can volunteer or join a cause.

We are a volunteer run radio station, for example. There are opportunities here. Connect with us and volunteer and join the station.

Consider volunteering for a cause that you feel passionate about.

It’s much more likely to help our feelings of motivation to get out there and join a group if we’re passionate about it.

What do you feel passionate about?

What do you feel emotion about?

If there was a topic, like, are you passionate about the environment?

Are you passionate about small business, and small businesses thriving?

What is it that turns you on, so to speak, and gets your emotions fired up?

That’s where you want to start looking.

Then reach out to those kinds of volunteers or volunteers groups or causes that really resonate with you.

The third actionable step is foster teamwork in your workplace.

We all work.

We all need to make money.

We all need to pay the bills.

We’re all doing some kind of work, even if we’re working in the home as a stay-at-home parent. I stayed at home and raised my kids for many years, and I never stopped working. With my eight kids, I was always cleaning something, or cooking, or driving here or there. And there is an emotional labour involved in being a mother as well, being there emotionally for your kids and for your partner. That is work. And it’s an undervalued and probably less well-known type of labour, but it still is labour, a labour of love.

Improved and Effective Teamwork Relies on Togetherness and Belonging

Foster that sense of teamwork wherever it is that you’re working, whether it’s in the home or outside of the home, or you might be a grandparent working with your extended family like your grandkids. How can you encourage and collaborate and provide those opportunities to build yourself as a little team?

Just remember, we’re a team member of the human race, if you like.

If we make that effort to support and encourage each other and look for ways to contribute to each other, the world would be a better place.

So next time, next time, our next show, we’re going to be exploring the neuroscience of connection and how our brains are wired for social interaction.

Three of the major things that I love about life, I love these, the science of life, the art of life, and of course, the magic of life.

Next time for all of you more scientifically minded people, I’m going to do a show all about the neuroscience of what I’ve been talking about today.

If you have a bit of a scientific bent, you’re most welcome to join me.

Finally, if you’ve missed out on any of our previous shows, they’re all podcast and available on my website and the Yarra Valley FM website. That’s yarravalleyfm.org.au

If you’ve missed the show last season where we talked about change and thoroughly unpacked change and the process of change, and you want to be empowered to make some of these types of changes that I’ve been talking about today, getting out there in the community, connecting with your family members better, listen along to the show, I’d love to have you.

Feel free to at any time dedicate a song to someone, somebody that you love.

That’s it for me for today. Have a fantastic week.

In Conclusion

Togetherness and belonging are not just abstract concepts; they are essential elements for leading fulfilling and successful lives.

By embracing these principles, we can improve our mental and physical health, enhance our personal and professional growth, and contribute to creating stronger, more compassionate communities.

As we navigate through the complexities of life, let us remember the power of connection and the profound impact it can have on our individual lives and the world around us.

I look forward to exploring the neuroscience of connection in our next episode.