By nature, we trust people.
I believe most of us assume the best in those we meet. That’s not always the case, but often it is. The most important part of this trusting thing is that others need to know they can trust us.
In this post I’m going to give you several reasons why gaining trust with people is essential for relationships, growth, and (really) life all the way around.
Hopefully, this will help guide us into a discussion as to why trust is so important today.
5 Reasons to Build Trust
- Character. The core of who you are depends on what you do with your life. That means that we need to have set morals and ethics that we never stray from. We all make mistakes, that’s part of life, but those mistakes should rarely, if ever, be morally or ethically out of practice for us.You’ve likely heard the phrase “it’s a test of character” or something along those lines. People should know what choice you make based on who you are a person. To the extent that you do not make one that’s in line with your character, prepare to lose trust.
- Career. We have to face the simple fact that our personalities affect our careers these days. In the past, we could leave work, go crazy, and no one would know unless you told them. With social media, that simply is not true. Sooner or later, you will be ousted not only as mayor of Starbucks, but as a fraud of who you thought you were.Your career path will reflect that of your choices.It think back to Tiger Woods’ fiasco a few years back. His entire life was affected due to the fact that he lost trust with so many people. Some will give it back over time, others not. His career was affected and he didn’t play well for a very long time. Losing trust is a real shot to all of us and often times we don’t realize the people we affect until it’s too late.
- Future. This goes right along with career, but your future is highly important. This includes your family, job and online presence. The simple fact is that if you’re online, you’ve got a presence and people are making judgements about you. Don’t neglect your morals or you will suffer consequences in your future.
- Ministry. For those of us that are spiritual, this is huge. I say spiritual because the term religious doesn’t really describe the internals feelings of a person and who they are.It simply describes their outer actions.If people don’t trust you as a person to whom they can come to in a time of need or who they can look up to during a difficult situation, your ministry to them will be affected.There are people I know that, even though I don’t believe the same way they do, I still respect them and trust them because I know where their heart is.
- Self-worth.For some reason people tend to think less of themselves than they should. I can’t speak to this as to why because I was raised to think highly of myself and believe in the things I can do.Of course, I understand as I grow older that those things really come from God, for me. I can only hold myself up because He holds me up. And people respect that regardless of whether they believe the same as me or not.Self-worth is important to show others that you care about yourself enough to take care of yourself for your family and friends. Those people that don’t want to learn, grow or thrive, lose trust with those of us that do. We know we can never truly rely on them when important things come along.Think highly of yourself, if for no other reason, because God made you, and He doesn’t make mistakes.
Trust is huge in our society. Social media is probably the one key thing that has brought that out more over the past few years than anything else. We are living in a time where we can no longer hide ourselves. Accountability is around every corner and it can be a very good thing.
What are some other reasons to build trust with people? Are there any specific instances in your life where being trustworthy has helped you or someone else?
(Photo credit: Trust Word Made by Letter Pieces via Shutterstock)
