People You Can Trust
I have become convinced that finding people you can trust ought to be one of your chief aims in life.
Without people you can trust, life becomes difficult. It is hard to make big decisions entirely on your own. I am not advocating for you to abdicate responsibility over your own life, but I am suggesting that input from others can help you to be successful.
It can be a long process to find people you can trust. You might find that you can trust this particular person in this situation, but that you need someone else in a different type of situation.
When finding people you can trust, you need to be thinking about trust on three levels.
1. Trust that they want what is best for you
For the people that you are willing to learn from and listen to, you want to ensure that they are actually interested in helping you.
2. Trust that they will speak truth to you
This is closely related to the first point, but it is worth pointing out. Do not fall for the temptation of trusting people who solely tell you the things that you want to hear. If they never correct you when you need to be corrected, they are not doing what is best for you.
3. Trust that they know what they are talking about
It probably would not be wise to learn time-management habits from someone who is habitually late. It is possible that they could have some good insights, but you would need to examine them closely. When trusting someone's advice, it is generally better to work with someone who has a track record. You could even build a track record with the person. For instance, you might ask for advice for a small issue and see how it works out. If the results are positive, you can begin trusting them more and more.
Final Thoughts
Trust can be hard. Often, I think that we get caught up in trying to find one or two people that we can trust with everything in our life. It is a worthy goal, but do not pressure yourself to find the perfect people right away. Trust takes time to build. Start today. It is amazing what can happen in a few months and years.
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