My PersonalTrust Initiative

We can each rekindle the trust.

If we take a step toward trust, others will follow our example. The world won't change overnight, but we can change it over time. Hopefully before we have to sign a waiver to have a meal at a restaurant. So I'm starting my own little trust initiative. Who knows, maybe it will rub off!

My Personal Trust Initiative

I'm going to step up myself and do the following five exercises to rekindle my own trust, and hopefully stimulate some trust in those around me.

1) Shake hands on the deal. I'm beginning a small project in my home. I've been waiting for a detailed estimate, but that's changing. I'm going to shake hands on the deal and let the work begin. I'm going to show my contractor that I trust him to do a great job and charge me a fair rate.

2) Get a haircut. I'm not going to tell my stylist what I want. He's probably going to faint - but I'm going to keep my mouth shut. He knows me, he does a great job. So instead of warning him about trimming too much and checking each snip of the scissors, or asking him for the 50th time if the color is the right blend - I'm going to walk in and trust him.

3) Trust a friend. I have someone in my life that I adore as a brother, but he's not exactly the most responsible person you'll ever meet. He lives in my guest cottage and helps me with my property. I tend to prod and remind him of chores and deadlines. He resents it and we snipe sometimes. Well, no more. I'm going to get over myself and change my attitude. I'm going to back off and let him see that I'm trusting him to do the right things.

4) Have a trust meeting with my associates. I'm going to put all the cards on the table and ask my associates if they have reasons to not trust me or my approaches. I'm going to listen to the feedback, and take actions to fill any holes in their trust.

5) Get back to trusting myself. I was a pretty fair pianist in my youth. Then I quit playing, for too many reasons to explain. I've tried to start playing again many times. I can't play like I did once. I can't even begin to read the music I played at the ripe old age of thirteen. Each time I start to play again - I stop. I don't trust myself to learn to read music, to start over. So I don't play. That's going to change. I'm going to play and trust myself to learn - again!

So there's my own personal plan to add a bit of trust back into my world. I just realized something pretty interesting. By sharing my five steps to trust, I took a sixth step.

I trusted all of you.

It wasn't really that hard, after all.