- Image by [ r ♥ c e y t ♥ y ] {I br♥ke for bokeh} via Flickr
Trust IS the most fundamental element in all relationships. It is essential to business performance, sales, managing people or even just relating and sharing with loved ones. To build your trust-worthiness, here are some things that you really need to keep in mind.
1. Trust starts from a perspective
It starts from the very perspective that you have of other people. If you view people with suspicion most of the time, the chances are that you had a very bad experience in your past with people. You tend to treat most people with suspicion, whether they are trust-worthy or not. However if you have a perspective that most people are trustworthy, you will tend find them and people will reciprocate your view points. Ralph Waldo Emerson, a great poet, shares “Trust men and they will be true to you; treat them greatly, and they will show themselves great.”
2. Trust means to say what you mean and mean what you say
Trust basically starts from yourself. If you want people to trust whatever you say, you have to first start with being consistent with your words and then honouring them at every moment. Our personal character is the first place to start before we start on our relationships. Here are some questions that have to be answered: Is my character solid? Do I follow through in what I say? Am I honest with the way I live my live?
3. Trust knows no boundaries in the different areas of your life
Cheryl Biehl once said that if you can’t trust people at all points, you can’t truly trust him or her at any point. There are many times in my life where I find it a struggle to be consistent. One of the earliest problems I had was being late every time I meet people and it became a trust issue to other people. They could not believe that I could ever come early. It was only after a long struggle, that I learn to honour peoples’ time and strived to always arrive early. My take on this is that if I cannot even honour my punctuality in meeting with people, they will find it difficult to trust me in other areas of my life.
4. Trust is like an emotional bank account
Trust is like a currency that we deposit with other people’s emotional bank account. Everytime we honour our words, we make a deposit. Every time we dishonour our words, we withdraw with (with interest) from them. The problem is that deposits are usually very small, while every withdrawal tends to be very large. Therefore, strive to make frequent deposits every day, while avoiding withdrawals.
Let me leave you with a quote:
“You may be deceived if you trust too much, but you will live in torment if you do not trust enough.” Frank Crane
