I believe that trust starts with trusting yourself, with a strong sense of your core self. Trust has to do with your sense of confidence in your ability to figure out what you can control, what you can't control, and your ability to feel capable of responsible for and what you can control. If you have built confidence in your ability to handle stressful situations, you'll be more likely to trust yourself when new situations come along.
Actions speak louder than words. Trust is built with small gestures and actions. In business and in personal lives, with others, trust starts with that first glance and holding eye contact, a handshake, being tuned in and attentive to what the other person is saying. This is so important because everyone craves to be understood. Trust is then built over time and is strengthened when you are true to your word. Your pace of speech can build trust, too, by matching the other person's pace of speech. Trust grows when you are present and listening to the other person.
Trust is an important orientation to life, it's the opposite of fear. Fear fosters worry, anxiety, being overly invested in outcomes and wanting to control outcomes. Trust is positive thinking and self-talk. The ability to have confidence that you handle the situation appropriately, are able to allow for uncertainties and trust it will be OK. Being a more trusting person tends to foster more resilience in stressful situations. The opposite is being guarded and defensive in stressful situations.
I had a lesson in trust when the Flagstaff real estate market had an abrupt downturn. My income was dependent on selling houses and there was a lot of fear in the community and among fellow Realtors. Instead of focusing on all the bad news that was whirling around, I simply started focusing on what I could do each day, each hour to improve myself and my business. I focused on my Internet presence, taking continuing education classes, and speaking with people about their fears to better understand how their fears could be addressed. I focused on me. By doing this, it built my confidence that I was doing what I could and allowed me to trust, despite the uncertainty, that my business was going to be OK. This has paid off time and time again, and even though, there is less fear out there now, I still focus on myself and what I can do everyday to become a better version of the me I want to be.
This post is a submission to the ActiveRain / Adobe EchoSign Trust Contest. I could possibly win a prize. You can find out about the contest by clicking here
(photo courtesy of morguefile.com)
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