Have you ever had your trust broken? If you have, it probably hurt and later made it hard for you to open up to others or be honest.

But what exactly is trust and why can it affect us so much? According to an article from Better Up titled, “How to build trust in the workplace: 10 effective solutions” written by Maggie Wooll talks about this quite a bit.

Wooll describes trust in the article as having a sense of security or confidence in a person, being able to predict someone, and finding them dependable.¹ While the writer focused more on trust in a work environment it can be easily applied in interpersonal relationships.

Building trust in another person whether it is a friend, coworker, or teacher is always important not only for the other person but for you as well. Wooll writes in regard to teams or individuals ,”You want to create an environment where people feel comfortable sharing their thoughts and helping each other out”, which is something that I wholeheartedly agree with.¹

Now that you understand what trust is, how do you grow trust in others? This of course goes both ways for you and the other party.

An article from Psychology Today titled ,“7 Ways to Build Trust in a Relationship” written by Andrea Bonior has some great suggestions. Mentions I thought that were the most notable was being able to give but also receive, respect, and honesty.²

To give but also receive mostly pertains to allowing yourself to not only be comforted but to comfort. Bonior describes this in her article as a balance and how it is important to open yourself when you are trying to create connections with others.

Respect is also another one and is relatively something that most people understand. However, when we get comfortable sometimes we show only our negative selves which is neither good for you nor the people you choose to be disrespectful too.

I personally believe in the ‘treat others how you wish to be treated’ rule and if you want to be respected and seen as an ally a little kindness and respect goes a long way. Now honesty is probably the most obvious trait someone would think of when building trust.
While honesty is important I don’t believe it is the number one thing you need to have a healthy relationship. It takes a long time for some people to share parts of themselves they are not sure will be accepted by open arms.

However, the honesty of communication is what I believe is very important. Be honest about your feelings and all the things that make you feel uncomfortable or something you want to change.

While you do not need to unload all your deepest feelings, it is necessary for any healthy relationship for things that bother you to be talked about and discussed. Even if there is a possibility that being honest can hurt the feelings of someone you care about unintentionally, it is important to be open and honest.

This also goes both ways and if you are ever confronted by someone like this you have the responsibility to listen and try to do better if there is room for improvement in your behavior and relationship. Another article I found with a similar premise to Bonior’s article was from Positive Psychology titled, “10 Ways To Build Trust in a Relationship” written by Heather Craig.

Though Craig listed 10 ways, I found two that were not already mentioned in the prior article including effective communication and acknowledging mistakes.³ When we talk about communicating effectively a part of it is feeling comfortable to share opinion and thoughts.

Just as communication is about feeling like you can discuss things with your friend, coworker, or partner without feeling like you have to beat around the bush and lie. The same thing can be said about admitting mistakes.

However, it instead helps to build trust and shows that you are willing to be vulnerable and admit your shortcomings as well. Even if it is embarrassing it goes a long way and displays to the other person that you are someone to trust.

The ability to believe in others is hard for everyone to certain degrees but we can not always shut ourselves away forever. Building trust applies to many things you have either experienced or will experience and while it may make your interpersonal relationships healthier it will also help you grow just a little more.

Cited Sources:
1- https://www.betterup.com/blog/how-to-build-trust
“How to build trust in the workplace: 10 effective solutions”
Written by Maggie Wooll from BetterUp
(What is trust? Why is it important to trust?)
2- 7-ways-build-trust-in-relationship
“7 Ways to Build Trust in a Relationship”
Written by Andrea Bonior from Psychology Today
(How to build trust?)
3-https://positivepsychology.com/build-trust/
“10 Ways To Build Trust in a Relationship”
Written by Heather Craig from Positive Psychology
(How to build trust?)