Planners literally have a dedicated career to creating connection for others—but what about for themselves? Volumes of research, in fields including neuroscience, lifespan development and sociology, consistently show that quality social connections and community are one of the best predictors for a long, healthy and happy life.
Here are the science-backed insights into how you can build a community in work and life, and why it’s so important.
Community Makes You Healthy
The Harvard Study of Adult Development, one of the longest-running studies on happiness, found that warm social relationships and community connection are some of the most important behaviors linked to increased happiness across a person’s lifespan. Numerous studies show that social isolation and loneliness are linked to poorer immune function and higher risk of heart disease, cancer and diabetes. Couple that with a high-pressure, time-consuming profession. When you feel burnt out, flustered or just need some support after a long workday or trip, community lifts you back up.
Your Brain Loves Belonging
Social support has been shown to benefit people both emotionally and physically. And, it seems, the brain is built for it.
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Dr. Matthew Lieberman, UCLA psychologist and author of “Social: Why Our Brains Are Wired to Connect,” has conducted research that shows social pain, such as feelings of rejection, activates the same region of the brain as physical pain. His research also found that certain areas of the brain, like the medial prefrontal cortex, which is used in understanding others’ thoughts and feelings, are default active, which, he suggested, shows the brain is “wired for social thinking.”
According to an article published by the National Institutes of Health, social connection can help regulate the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis, which is involved in stress responses. With social support, executive function improves, cortisol levels drop and neural pathways for stress regulation, trust and empathy light up. Planners make decisions, it seems, every moment of every day. Feeling supported helps you make better ones.
Micro-Communities Have Major Impact
Building connection and support within your professional community is important, especially when your work requires leaving home and spending long hours with colleagues.
Greater Good Science Center, out of UC Berkeley, as part of a mixed-method study on the importance of social connection for health, recommends having three to five close friends to call on when you’re in need. Even one or two trusted colleagues can be a lifeline.
Developing this peer support network can feel daunting. Look to industry communities, associations and online groups, where you can meet planners who share your values. As you build your network, create supportive relationships through regular phone check-ins or post-event coffee chats. Building community is often simpler than we think. It happens in baby steps. Consider reaching out to a fellow planner to catch up or saying “I see you” to a teammate.
Community Is a Professional Asset
Developing community is not only good for your health, happiness and overall well-being; it is fuel for creativity, resilience and career growth. Peer support sparks ideas, sustains people through challenges, helps resolve issues faster and creates psychological safety. When you have community, you feel a greater sense of meaning and purpose, which contributes to lasting happiness, whether in your work, your personal life or both.
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As Harvard’s Dr. Robert Waldinger said in his TED Talk, “What Makes a Good Life?”—where he dives deeper into the Harvard Study of Adult Development—“This message that good, close relationships are good for our health and well-being, this is wisdom that’s as old as the hills. Why is this so hard to get and easy to ignore? Well, we’re human. We want the quick fix.”
The study’s findings speak for themselves. “The people in our 75-year study who were the happiest in retirement were the people who had actively worked to replace workmates with new playmates.” He concludes, “The good life is built with good relationships.”
This article appears in the July/August 2025 issue. You can subscribe to the magazine here.
