SOCIAL CURRENCY

Alec Zaffiro
8 min readApr 25, 2023
Motivation visuals on Unsplash

“Social currencies” motivate us.

In this story, I define 5 types, explain how they’re relevant to well-being/motivation, and share practical insights on how to achieve them.

  1. SOCIAL
  2. SPIRITUAL
  3. FINANCIAL
  4. ESTEEM
  5. INTIMATE

1. SOCIAL CURRENCY

Social currency is intrinsic value gained by being responsible (able to respond), likable, and empathetic.

Ultimately, it’s your reputation.

A person without social currency lacks influence or fails to establish credibility across social domains.

Typically, they struggle to water medium to long-term relationships because they lack ability to think, speak, or listen — or some combination of all 3.

If you can’t communicate, you struggle socially, which is not good. If a person never learns to socialize, they’re likely to become lonely, apathetic, and resentful overtime.

On the other hand, a sociable person connects within multiple networks.

They’re integrated because they know how to find common ground, they’re loyal, trustworthy, and genuinely care about people. Typically, they’re agreeable and open, which is why they’re so easy to get along…

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Alec Zaffiro
Alec Zaffiro

Written by Alec Zaffiro

I write to think and organize my ideas. I like psychology, philosophy, and self-improvement—em dashes are my specialty. Not an expert.*