Synopses & Reviews
Synopsis
It's the great paradox of the digital age, what Radha Agrawal calls "community confusion"--the internet connects us to hundreds, thousands, even millions of people, and yet we feel more isolated than ever, with 1 in 4 Americans saying they have zero friends to confide in. Where are our people? The answer is found in Belong, a highly energetic and beautifully illustrated guide to discovering where and with whom you fit.
After suffering her own bout of community confusion, Agrawal embarked on a journey that ultimately resulted in cofounding Daybreaker, a transformative phenomenon where thousands of people get up at the crack of dawn, meet in event spaces in 22 cities around the world, and dance. Now she's distilled her experience for finding meaningful connections into a two-step process.
The first step is GOING IN. This includes determining what we want in a friend and community and what we offer, becoming intentional about our relationships, gauging the type of energy we emit and respond to, and understanding how we do--or don't--show up for others. Then comes GOING OUT--how to find a few special friends who feed our soul; or how to find a fully engaged group with similar business, artistic, and social aims; or both.
Connectedness is the most significant factor in human happiness-- Belong is a creative blueprint for bringing this most important dimension back into our lives.
Synopsis
Get ready to focus on the single most important thing you can do to live a happy, healthy, and successful life: BELONG. "Read this book, do what it says, and discover exactly where you fit in."
--John Mackey, Co-founder and CEO, Whole Foods Market
"If you want to belong, read this book."
--Deepak Chopra, MD
"From the moment I opened this book I was hooked. This book is caring and tender, challenging and action-driven. It is now on my recommendation list."
--Esther Perel, author of Mating in Captivity and The State of Affairs, host of Where Should We Begin? podcast
How is it that the internet connects us to a world of people, yet so many of us feel more isolated than ever? That we have hundreds, even thousands of friends on social media, but not a single person to truly confide in? Radha Agrawal calls this "community confusion," and in Belong she offers every reader a blueprint to find their people and build and nurture community, because connectedness--as more and more studies show--is our key to happiness, fulfillment, and success.
A book that's equal parts inspiring and interactive, and packed with prompts, charts, quizzes, and full-color illustrations, Belong takes readers on a two-part journey. Part one is Going IN--a gentle but intentional process of self-discovery and finding out your true energy levels and VIA (values, interests, and abilities). Part two is Going OUT--building on all that you've learned about yourself to find those few special people who feed your soul, and discovering, or creating, the ever-widening groups that align with your aims and desires.
As the Co-founder and CEO of the popular global morning dance community Daybreaker, Radha Agrawal developed an immense offline community with her team of Community Catalysts in 25 cities and on a dozen college campuses around the world by creating a physical space for people to connect, self-express, sweat, and dance. Now, Radha offers the life-changing strategies, tips, and tricks for making friends that will light your fire and give you the exhale of "Ahh, I'm home."
"Radha has written a book that's fun to read, easy to digest, and embodies deep wisdom. This isn't just a book I'm endorsing. This is a book that I want to buy multiple copies of because I have so many friends and acquaintances that will benefit from it. It's the first book I couldn't wait to finish reading it so I could give my copy to one of my friends to read the same day."
--Tony Hsieh, CEO of Zappos and author of Delivering Happiness