In this solo podcast episode, Cheryl McColgan, founder of Heal, Nourish, Grow, leads Day 18 of the 30‑Day Healthy Habits challenge. She emphasizes that social connection is an often‑overlooked pillar of health, linking it to mental well‑being, reduced isolation, and increased longevity. The core habit for the day is to actively reach out to someone—by calling or texting—and to follow up with a concrete plan to meet in person (e.g., a walk, coffee, or dinner). Cheryl explains why voice messages and phone calls matter, critiques vague “let’s get together” invitations, and encourages listeners to propose specific dates and activities. She notes that relationships require ongoing communication and that both giving and receiving outreach are essential. Listeners are directed to the show notes for research supporting the health benefits of social connection and invited to engage with the podcast via email or the email list. A standard disclaimer clarifies that the content is educational, not medical advice.
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Hello everyone. I'm Cheryl McColgan, founder of Heal, Nourish, Grow, and welcome to day 18 of your 30 Days of Healthy Habits challenge. Today is one that is such an underappreciated part of health, and that is to reach out to someone and having connection in your life and having a, a supportive community is really just so key, not only to your mental health, but also it's highly related to longevity. So if you wanna be healthier, Creating a small circle or a large circle of people that you have in your life that are available to you is just really important and an underrated aspect of health. So today's activity, today's habit is to reach out to someone. Now I'm gonna say call or text, but plan something, plan to meet, plan to meet in person, plan to go somewhere. It doesn't have to be somewhere where you spend money necessarily. Maybe go for a walk or just grab a coffee, or it could be dinner, just anything like that. And I am gonna encourage you, I said text or call, but I'm gonna encourage you to call because we all have gotten maybe a little lazy with that over time. And it's just, uh, nice to hear people's voices, even if I'm not able to pick up the phone for some reason in that moment. I always love getting a nice voice message cuz it's just something we don't do that much anymore. Uh, why this matters, again, social connection. It's protective for your mood and longevity, and it's just going to make you less isolated, which is also related to health over time. And if you don't reach out, you're not gonna have those connections. You're not gonna have an actual relationship. Like, relationships require communication. It requires touching base. And I have to say, I'm really impressed. There's certain people in my life that are just so very good at this, and I really admire that quality. Uh, they're always the one to reach out or just say, thinking about you, or let's get together soon and throw out a date and throw out an idea. That's another thing. I mean, people, I, I feel like that's one thing when you say, yeah, we should get together soon. That's not a plan. That's why that's part of this conversation of this habit is to get you to be the one that says, how does next Thursday work? Or throwing out a date and an activity, because a lot of people, you were the one to reach out. You're the one that was thinking of them. And so I like for that to be kind of the way that you connect is to actually put an idea out there and not make it so ambiguous because quite often I'll, I have people in my life that'll say that, oh, we should get together. And yet they never suggest a time or an activity or a date. And it's just kind of, I don't know, it falls flat, I think, in the realm of relationships. So it, and it shouldn't always be one-sided. You shouldn't always have to be the one to do that. But for this habit for today, I'm going to say, I'm gonna put that on you to make that challenge to just reach out to somebody that you miss, that you wanna catch up with, that you wanna see and make some plans. And so that is today's habit. As always, the research behind this, uh, if you wanna dig into it a little bit more, you'll just find that is so related to many aspects of health, and I think you might really enjoy reading that if you need any, uh, encouragement about staying in touch with people. Because it doesn't have to be a big group, you just have to have somebody that's got your back, somebody that you can rely on. And you know, you have to create that, you have to put some energy into it. So that is it for today's habit, and I will see you again tomorrow.
This has been the Heal, Nourish, Grow podcast. Again, I'm Cheryl McColgan, founder of Heal, Nourish, Grow. You can find show notes for this episode at healnourishgrowpodcast.com. If you have feedback on today's episode or questions about the content, please email us at podcast@healnourishgrow.com. We'd love to hear from you. Be sure to sign up for our email list at healnourishgrow.com and subscribe to the show with your favorite podcast player so you never miss an episode. Join us next time for more information that helps you live your best and healthiest life. Thanks for listening. Content on the Heal, Nourish, Grow podcast does not constitute medical advice. Content contained in the Heal, Nourish, Grow podcast is not intended as medical diagnosis or treatment. Neither the company nor its owner, Heal, Nourish, Grow LLC, nor any of the company's employees, agents, or guest speakers provide medical advice. The content provided on Heal, Nourish, Grow podcast is for educational and entertainment purposes only. Please consult your medical provider with any questions about what health practices are right for for you.
