The Dangers of Isolating Yourself

There are so many work-oriented individuals today who ultimately find themselves in a state of isolation. It may seem like a rather extreme situation, but it is actually quite easy to do. You may be single, hard-working with some serious professional goals in mind and find that no matter what opportunities come your way, you always choose to work and isolate yourself from social interactions. There are many people who think this is healthy and simply a sign of their dedication to success and to wanting to work hard. However, isolating yourself in this manner can have some very serious consequences. It is not healthy to completely shut yourself off from friends, family and social interactions in this way and if you do then you may end up doing far more damage to yourself than you every thought possible. Here are some of the three biggest dangers of isolating yourself that every person needs to be aware of.

Your Social Skills Deteriorate

You may think that your social skills are a permanent part of your life, when in reality your social skills are just like any other skill: if you don’t use them, they can start to deteriorate. If you isolate yourself all of the time and don’t use your social skills you will start to lose them. It may not seem like a big deal, but chances are you may start to notice the changes the first time you are really out in a group of other people. Skills that you once had and abilities you had when interacting with others may be gone. You may have once been a social and likeable person who could interact with individuals in any new social situation, and find that once you are back in the game you are not as confident in meeting new people. In order to keep your social skills sharp, you need to keep using them.

You End Up Dwelling on the Past

When you put yourself in a socially isolated situation, it is easy to start focusing on the past instead of on your current interactions and on other people in your life. If you are only around yourself and no one else all day then you can end up dwelling on the past and thinking only about the past instead of the future. If you want to be successful and you want to be able to move forward in your life then you need to stop looking backward. This is an unfortunate side effect of social isolation and one that actually prevents people from reaching their goals and being as successful as they want to be.

You Become a Toxic Person

Having the positive influence of others around you is a great way for you to get the motivation and encouragement that you need to be successful. Unfortunately, many times when people live in social isolation they eventually become more toxic as individuals. The more and more time you spend alone, the more and more toxic you will likely become. It can be easy to get caught up in your own thoughts and ideas and start portraying this toxic and negative image to others. Having social interactions with other people can only help you become more social and extroverted, instead of toxic and introverted. There are many people who think that they won’t become more negative or toxic when they are isolated, but the truth of the matter is that even the most positive of people can be brought down by negative thoughts when they only have their own thoughts and ideas around them.

Keep these dangers of isolating yourself in mind whenever you find yourself in a pattern of shutting yourself off from your social life. Make sure that you are giving enough attention to your social life and avoiding these dangers whenever possible so you can continue to have a healthy, balanced life, no matter how busy you may be.