Photo of a group of upraised and the word volunteer written in the sky above

Go ahead, be selfish: VOLUNTEER

Doing good for others is good for you – and the fact that you’ll benefit from it personally doesn’t make it count any less.

Here’s a compiled list of the benefits to YOU from volunteering to help others — it probably covers a lot of your own New Year’s “resolutions”. Over and over, research has clearly demonstrated these wide-ranging benefits when you volunteer.

More of the good stuff:

  • Greater happiness
  • Improved self-esteem
  • Increased social connections/friendships
  • Heightened sense of life purpose
  • Enhanced psychological resilience
  • Greater sense of control in one’s life
  • Feeling that you have more spare time, not less
  • Activation of the brain’s “motivation” center
  • Release of endorphins, the body’s natural painkillers

Less of the bad stuff:

  • Breaking out of the cycle of complaining/worrying
  • Decreased feelings of loneliness/isolation
  • Less physical pain
  • Fewer symptoms and feelings of depression
  • Decreased stress and anxiety

How to find opportunities to volunteer? Easy as A-B-C:
A) LinkedIn’s For Good program
B) Catchafire.org
C) VolunteerMatch.org