So how, what's the prescription?

Yeah, absolutely.

And if we look at the statistics on isolation and loneliness in the US but also around the world, we can see that a lot of people feel that way, right? Um, and so it, it is a very common experience.

And what I would say to everyone who might be feeling that way, and by the way, we all do at some times, is that in the same way that you can go from being malnourished to well-fed or from being exhausted to well-rested, you can go from being lonely and disconnected to having the support and the meaningful relationships that you desire.

There are absolutely ways to go about that.

But there's no quick fix, right? It does take time and effort to, to build the kind of sense of community and belonging that we all crave.

So one thing I would suggest is to start small.

Or may- maybe that's not true, I don't know.

Can you talk a little bit about what loneliness does to your brain and your body, and why it is so important to take your social health seriously?

Sure.

So the neuroscience on this is really interesting.

For one thing, we see that when people are chronically lonely, that can trigger some really limiting self-beliefs.

So for example, people who are feeling disconnected might go into a social interaction feeling more guarded, less likely to open up and share, interpreting negative cues more than they're interpreting positive cues.

And all of that can actually inhibit them from having a positive interaction with the other person, ironically.

It's a bit of a self-fulfilling prophecy.

But is there a way?

You know it's important to take care of your physical and mental health, but what about your social health?

By thinking of our health as primarily physical and mental, we overlook what I believe is the greatest challenge and the greatest opportunity of our time.

And now, our TED Talk of the day.

So a couple years ago, a woman I know who I'll call Maya went through a lot of big changes in a short amount of time.

She got married, she and her husband moved for his job to a new city where she didn't know anyone, she started a new role working from home, all while managing her dad's new diagnosis of dementia.

And to manage the stress of all this change, Maya doubled down on her physical and mental health.

She exercised almost every day.

She ate healthy foods.

Where does this fit into the financial story? Why are you at the Schwab Impact Conference? Why does

this fit in here perfectly? Sure.

Well, for one thing, social health is a vital pillar of our well-being, just like financial health is.

And so today we've been exploring how those two relate.

I've been here telling investment advisors about the power of their ability to promote social health among their clients, to support their connection goals alongside their financial goals.

And so really encouraging people to think about the ways that they can connect with their clients, but also that they can help people set up their lives and their legacies to be ones that are founded on close relationships.

What drove you to this in the first place?

Well, you know, I'm really passionate about helping people live more meaningfully connected lives, and there are so many insights in the research that I'm passionate about helping people to act on in their lives.

Here's a clip from Kasley's TED Talk.

Hundreds of millions of people around the world go weeks at a time without talking to a single friend or family member.

Globally, one in four people feel lonely, and 20% of adults worldwide don't feel like they have anyone they can reach out to for support.

Think about that.

One in five people you encounter may feel like they have no one.

This is more than heartbreaking.

It's also a public health crisis.

Um, so what advice would you have for people who are watching or listening where they are in a relationship and their partnerHas very low social health and they're worried about their partner

And I thought I'd just ask you to describe a time when you had to take the research and practices that you've been thinking about and really dig down and apply it to yourself.

To your point about introversion, if I was some social butterfly who was just telling everyone to socialize all the time with everyone and go to parties, that would just be so nauseating to a good portion of humanity.

There's so much nuance to the ways we connect and how much we connect and what's fulfilling to each person.

But to your point, I love experimenting.

I mean, that's truly where the passion for all this started was, okay, here's what the data says.

How do we actually apply this in our own lives? And what does that mean for you and me? One example was that in the final semester of my undergrad, I did a project where for 108 days, I did an act of kindness every single day.

This was incorporating research on things like gratitude.

How should we be thinking about social media and technology today? What are ways that we can tap the beautiful extensibility that they provide for us while really paying attention to what's going to be healthy for ourselves?

In her twenty twenty-four talk, she explains why connection is so key and how not prioritizing it can cost us.

So a couple years ago, a woman I know who I'll call Maya went through a lot of big changes in a short amount of time.

She got married.

She and her husband moved for his job to a new city where she didn't know anyone.

She started a new role working from home, all while managing her dad's new diagnosis of dementia.

And to manage the stress of all this change, Maya doubled down on her physical and mental health.

She exercised almost every day.