Trust is the foundation for all successful relationships. Whether it’s your marriage or a relationship with a client, there has to be trust. Unfortunately, many people lack the skills needed to build trust.
Stephen Covey wrote in his book, The Speed of Trust that one of the most overlooked ways to build trust is by working on “self-trust.” Do you trust yourself? Most people would say, “yes.” But if you think about things that people do to erode trust, like not following through on commitments, how many times have you let yourself down by not following through? If you are in the habit of making promises to yourself that you don’t keep, you probably, deep down, lack self-trust.
When you tell yourself that you’re going to lose 10 pounds, do you follow through? When you set the alarm clock for 5:30 a.m. because you’re planning to workout, do you get up? Or do you hit the snooze and put it off until tomorrow?
If someone you knew told you that they’d be over for dinner at 6:00 p.m. but didn’t show up, wouldn’t that erode trust? So why should it be any different when you do it to yourself? We’ll, it’s not. And here’s the important part…when you lose trust in yourself, so do others. To begin building trust, make personal commitments and keep them. Then work on making promises to others.