Students of any social science would be familiar with the term social capital. In short, the basic idea is that social networks have value. Building social capital can benefit not only individuals but also to the community where they live.

My first introduction to the idea was from Robert Putnam’s popular book, Bowling Alone. Here he describes “the decline in social capital”, a transition from a time where people joined bowling leagues and volunteered more to a more recent period when people have become increasingly disconnected. Although his ideas are not without criticism, he makes the unarguable point that engagement in ones community can reap a multiplicity of rewards.

No matter how you choose to get involved in your community – perhaps helping out at a charity bowling league would be an appropriate example here – it benefits you, it benefits the people you are helping, and it benefits your community. Your engagement is a like a high-yield investment in the community in which you live.

These days, investments like this are a rare find.