Focus on cultivating a sense of belonging at work, including feeling cared for, understanding your impact on colleagues, and having an office best friend, as these factors are more critical for job happiness than salary.
Actively invest in and maintain warm social connections with others, as these relationships are strongly linked to better physical health, lower stress, and protection against stress-related illnesses.
Develop an ongoing practice of actively nurturing your relationships, as adult friendships require consistent effort and attention to prevent them from withering away from neglect.
Strive to cultivate at least one ‘best friend’ at work—someone you can discuss personal life matters with—as this significantly boosts job performance, engagement, and retention.
Actively utilize your work hours to build social connections and companionship, recognizing this as a primary opportunity to meet your social needs and combat loneliness.
Engage in appropriate vulnerability by revealing aspects of yourself, sharing opinions, asking for help, or briefly sharing personal highlights to foster trust and intimacy in work relationships.
Actively engage with close relationships to discuss daily stressors, as this practice helps your body calm down and regulates stress hormones, preventing prolonged fight-or-flight states.
Approach potential work friendships with a degree of vulnerability to test for chemistry, while simultaneously protecting yourself by not oversharing until you feel ready and trust has been established.
Recognize that building social health, like physical health, requires effort and moving through initial discomfort, nervousness, or fear of rejection to achieve deeper connections.
Actively seek and foster interpersonal connections within your workplace, recognizing the significant amount of time spent there and the benefits of integrating social life into that environment.
Ensure your interactions leave others feeling better, which can involve empathy, validation, forgiveness, setting boundaries, or expressing needs, to foster positive emotional exchanges in relationships.
Take advantage of the consistent daily interactions provided by your job to build a shared history and trust, transforming casual acquaintances into deeper friendships.
Create and maintain strong boundaries between work and personal life, particularly in remote settings where work can easily encroach upon your home and personal time.
Avoid sacrificing your well-being and time with loved ones for work, as those who prioritize relationships over relentless achievement often express less regret in old age.
Question your mind’s default assumptions about what will make you happy, as they might be incorrect and lead you away from true happiness.
Adopt a mindset where work is seen as an important but not all-encompassing part of your life, understanding its transactional nature and not letting it solely define your self-worth.
Focus on fostering genuinely healthy relationships in the workplace by teaching and inspiring positive interactions, as this approach actually reduces drama and unhealthy behaviors.
Actively seek out environments that expose you to people you might not naturally gravitate towards, as this can help you discover new parts of yourself and foster unexpected connections.
Actively involve colleagues to help you navigate difficulties and solve problems, as this collaborative approach strengthens both your work outcomes and your personal resilience.
Interact with co-workers from different areas of your workplace to gain new perspectives, as these diverse interactions can spark new ideas and enhance your own creativity.
Foster emotional connections at work to receive nurturing and support, which helps reduce depletion from work stress and ensures you have more energy for your personal life at home.
Actively schedule and engage in joyful activities with friends, as this can create memorable positive experiences and foster connection.
Leverage remote work environments to focus primarily on the quality of your output, reducing concerns about physical appearance or constant performance of a certain persona.