I spent this past week at a training for real estate business owners. For the first time in over 2 years, the company our coaching business is partnered with PLACE held an in-person training. Over 120 PLACE partners were together in one room.

I learned a lot. I have notes on business, wealth building, personal growth, even some health & spirituality sprinkled in.

What stands out above all of the lessons I learned from speakers & panelists are the connections we made together.

We see each other a few times a week over Zoom. That’s fine. Yet, you don’t realize the true power of connection until you feel the physical energy of someone else. You get to laugh together more, shake a hand, hug, look into someone’s eyes and have them look into yours. It’s magical when you can learn from someone when there’s no meeting agenda.

We need connections. Humans are biologically wired to connect with each other. The more we feel connected to our tribe, the more success we’ll experience and the happiness we’ll have.

The Harvard Happiness Study is the longest longitudinal study to look at human happiness. It began nearly 100 years ago and is still going. It tracked the lives of then Harvard students and some of the poorest people in Boston. Now it tracks their families. The purpose is to see what contributes to health, success and happiness.

Dr. Robert Waldinger is the study’s 4th director. In all the data collected from the original participants and their families, he says the  study shows the biggest determiner of our health, happiness and even longevity in life are the strength of our connections. Our connections are more powerful than money, fame, status, or any other marker looked at.

Connections are not just important for happiness in life, connections are critical for business success. In his book “The Power of the Other” Dr. Henry Cloud says that our connections help us get on the right track in business. He tells the story of a big business failing that he had when he trusted someone to run his business operations. Dr. Cloud admitted that he didn’t give the proper oversight. After a few months with this person running the operations Dr. Cloud’s business was out of revenue and cash reserves.

In the middle of that storm Dr. Cloud had conversations with a close mentor of his who was a successful businessman. Dr. Cloud credits his mentor for providing him the listening ear and advice to tackle the problem head-on. Dr. Cloud goes on to say that it’s our close connections that give us the “two ingredients essential for breaking out of the cycle of decline: new sources of energy and intelligence.”

The question in business isn’t will you fail. You will. The question is can you bounce back. Our connections with others help us bounce back more quickly, stronger and better.

And all that is true for me! In the past week I was the recipient of love from many people whom I’ve only known through Zoom. I know my happiness peaked. And, I got advice and support for my business from incredible business people.

How strong are your connections? Look for ways this week to strengthen the impact you can have on others and the impact they will have on you.