I did a survey on Facebook, asking, “What is the biggest challenge you have with people?” Guess what – “trusting other people” ranked third-highest on that list. Unfortunately, that’s really not hard to believe. After all, think about how many times you’ve heard someone say, “I just have a hard time trusting people.” (Or maybe you have said it yourself.)

When I was younger, I did not trust anyone. My parents were welfare recipients who lied, cheated and stole from the government. I was physically, verbally, sexually and emotionally abused on a daily basis. When I was nearly 18, I found out the man I thought was my dad was actually not my biological father. Turns out, my biological father was from Nicaragua!

At 17, I got pregnant out of wedlock, and then four years later, at 21, met a guy and married him only 7 DAYS after we met. (I know, REALLY STUPID!). Not too long after, he left me for another woman, homeless, with $2.03 to my name and $37,000 in debt.

So, can you see why I had a hard time trusting people? My past experiences taught me other people could not be trusted. Believe me, I had major “trust issues,” but today, I want to show you how I broke through that barrier.

And it truly is a barrier. If you cannot trust and others have no trust in you, you will never succeed in your business, career or relationships. My distrust turned me into a bitter, hateful person. And to be completely honest with you, if I had not learned how to deal with that bitterness and resentment, I would not be alive today!

If you have a hard time trusting people, look at why. What experiences taught you not to trust others? Who told you not to trust people? Take the time today to get to the bottom of it. Forgive those people! Once you identify your barriers to trust, you can move past them through forgiveness and begin building trust.

There is one guarantee in life: People will disappoint you. They will take advantage of you, gossip about you and hurt you. Embrace the Law of Forgiveness to move forward, grow and reach your destiny.

It’s a fact – whatever you sow, you will reap. If you sow distrust, you reap distrust. If you do not trust others, they will not trust you. A few key things will help you build mutual trust with others:

• Honor is the number one key to successful relationships. People love to be honored. They love to feel special and important. When you make a consistent effort to honor everyone around you, you’ll find it becomes easy to build trust when you honor others.
• Become genuinely interested in other people. When people see your interest in building a relationship – and not looking for what’s in it for you – they begin to trust you. Manipulation destroys trust, where genuine interest builds trust.
• Humility builds trust. Humility means putting the needs and desires of others higher than yourself. Hear me on this – it does not mean putting yourself down to make the other person feel better! It means taking the focus off yourself and shining a light on other people. True humility gives credit where credit is due!
• Consistent follow-through proves you are trustworthy. Your word should be your bond. Making a promise and then honoring it speaks volumes. We’ve all heard “actions speak louder than words” and this is so true!

Whether trusting any other person scares you, or trust comes as second nature to you, these simple tips will help you build even stronger bonds of trust with your family, friends, coworkers and clients.

Do you know someone struggling with trust? (Probably more people than you realize.) Go ahead and Like and Share this message with them today! And leave your comments below letting me know how you’ve struggled with trust.

Let’s continue the discussion later today! I’ll be on The Dani Johnson Show at 12 pm ET/11 pm CT. You can tune into the show on either your TV or radio and please remember you can always stream today’s show right on our website.

In great faith,

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