Unfortunately, just because we are social creatures does not mean living for others is a natural thing for us to do, let alone be effective at. In order to be effective in helping others, we need to cultivate trust. It may seem strange that to help someone, there needs to be an element of trust but let me prove it to you. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Let’s say I am at a restaurant with my wife and young daughter, and my daughter is crying as babies sometimes do. If my wife picks her up and attempts to comfort her, that is a positive gesture that my wife gives, and my daughter (River) and I can receive. River is settled and feels at ease, and I know River is in great hands with my wife. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

What if instead of my wife picking her up and comforting her, a stranger comes and picks her up and tries to comfort her. Even if the intent of the stranger was to help a small child and some struggling parents, the gesture completely misses the mark because we don’t know the stranger. Since we don’t trust the stranger, their ability to help is limited. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Unfortunately, we can’t know everything. Trust allows us to make decisions and survive in the world without perfect information. Trust is at the center of the reasons for buying the things we buy, the friends we have, and our interactions with others. If we want to be effective in helping others, we need to master the skill of cultivating trust. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Elements of Trust:<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Trust isn’t something you can simply check off a box and have with someone. Our intentions don’t affect whether someone trusts us, it’s something more instinctual. We can have “chemistry” with someone which is a form of trust and then we can immediately distrust another individual. Why? It’s because trust is a very human feeling that supersedes knowledge and experience. We all know people we consider reliable, yet we don’t trust them as far as we can throw them. Conversely, we have friends in our lives that may not appear to be trustworthy to the outside world but we trust them with our lives. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Trust fundamentally requires two things: generosity and authenticity. We like you because you are authentic which is the foundation of trust. We then ultimately trust you because we know who you are (authenticity) and we know you have our back (generous).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The bad news about authenticity is you can’t fake it. There is no shortcut to being more authentic. What’s funny about the world we live in today is, authentic is one of the easiest things to be while simultaneously being one of the rarest qualities we see. Feeling comfortable in your own skin gives others the confidence to do the same. That’s why we all crave authentic people in our lives even if we don’t necessarily agree with them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The reason generosity is so important is twofold. First people don’t trust takers, they trust givers. The quickest way to build trust is to do something for someone and not expect anything in return. We describe these people as “having our backs”. The second is it cultivates community. When we live generously, we create a community that can lift others up. Generosity breeds generosity. Authenticity breeds authenticity. When you combine authenticity with generosity, I can promise you your life will feel infinitely more fulfilled and your relationships will thank you for it. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

At the end of the day, you will value the relationships and people you helped more than the things you bought. It’s up to us to choose generosity daily. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

What is the real purpose of accumulating wealth? Does wealth give us a sense of fulfillment or…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":735,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"aside","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"WB4WB4WP_MODE":"","WB4WP_PAGE_SCRIPTS":"","WB4WP_PAGE_STYLES":"","WB4WP_PAGE_FONTS":"","WB4WP_PAGE_HEADER":"","WB4WP_PAGE_FOOTER":"","_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[34,32],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"\n