$3 Billion Dollar Loneliness Cost

Good afternoon!

I was reading this new landmark World Health Organization report on loneliness this morning and one number shocked me: $3.2 billion.

That's what loneliness costs employers in just the UK every year. Just the employers. Not even counting what it does to the actual humans walking around feeling disconnected at work.

Question: When was the last time you felt truly seen by a colleague?
Not just professionally acknowledged, but genuinely understood as a person?
Or even that someone at work was curious about your personhood, rather than just about what you could do for them?

In the age of small teams and remote work, a calendar zoom just to chat is pretty much unheard of.

The WHO research breaks down what we actually need from relationships into four buckets:

Fun (shared interests, enjoyable moments)
Intimacy (feeling heard and understood)
Support (knowing someone has your back)
Proximity (accessible connection when you need it)

I’d never seen fun on a list like this before and boy do I love that.

Today's small practice: Ask one colleague a question that has nothing to do with work. See what happens.

If you’re living in Los Angeles and want to practice some listening skills, I’m co-hosting a workshop on listening and seeing others at Moss co-working space in Venice tomorrow at 6pm.

Hope to see ya there!

Orly