When someone Trusts something, they believe that that something will act a specific way. Whether that something is a person or business or item or thing. People have an expectation for what it will do.
This trust is basically a belief. A belief to perform a specific way.
When you drink water from your water fountain or water from the sink, you believe that the water is water and not some sort of poison or lead infested water.
When the water comes out to be poisoned, you will no longer trust the water source. The people in Flint Michigan no longer trust their water source, nor do they trust the ones that poisoned them, namely the government and that governor.
This is one of the takeaways from the idiom adage ‘poisoning the well’ where everyone can be suspicious or paranoid or skeptical of everything. Once bitten, twice shy.
When you buy a good product from a reputable brand, you have a certain degree of trust behind your purchasing decisions. The trust in the name brand is a trust in the name. When you buy a product, you expect it to work a certain way, and if it doesn’t, you expect a certain warranty or guarantee of a good functioning product or a refund or some other negotiable instrument.
Trust and faith in names whether they be business corporations or local mom n’ pop shops or a person. Is a trust in the name, in the person, the identity, the brand, the brand identity.
So when we trust in the idea that the sun will rise tomorrow, we have faith that the world will work the same as we once know it does. It’s still trust. A trust in a new day.
Thusly, Trust can be measured by evidence to prove trust. Proof of trust is what we call ‘credit’. Proof of distrust or to trust not trusting someone or something is called ‘discredit’. When the news slanders or mocks people, that can be derision and cause discredit or distrust. When the gossiping circles praise someone, their reputation may precede them in a positive light, thus crediting the trust of that person.
When we have enough credit based on our own values and our own arbitrary standards, we can have enough credit to trust the use of something or the word of someone. How much is ‘enough’ depends on the person.
When people or items work as true, or in alignment with truth, then trust can build.
Some people have a really low bar for trust, or are very forgiving and are often fooled or mistaken multiple times.
Other people have a really high bar for trust and often don’t lend out a chance for trust, and once broken, that bridge will be burned and never restored.
Thus, Trust and Truth are integral with eachother.
You can only trust what you believe to be true.
And you can only believe to be true what you trust to listen to or give a chance for.
If you don’t give a chance for someone to prove themselves trustworthy, then you won’t know if you have enough data to ever trust them.
Sometimes you may even give trust to companies or people based on nothing at all. This could be considered a leap of faith. When there are more risks associated that are known to you, the leap becomes larger, and the hesitation before the leap would be fear or worry or some other anxiety.
Some Practices and thoughts to build trust;
Do what you say, say what you mean, and be clear on it. Saying ‘maybe’ does not count as a yes or no.
Make promises that are definite in time, a never ending promise is something that will be broken in time. A promise to deliver by a set date or time can be measured and fulfilled.
A deal is a promise, so ensure that there are set time and due dates on the deal. Also, to help build trust, you may have to put up a down payment, a security deposit, or even collateral at stake to build initial trust as a guarantee or insurance of the deal.
Money and finance is all built on energy and trust. The universe is also built on energy and trust, you’d do well to remember that.
The most important person to trust is yourself. If you don’t trust yourself to do certain things, you can either build trust within yourself, or avoid doing certain things that you say to build trust.
Technically you can’t distrust something, because you trust that the something will operate differently. Technically trust is only a positive direction, from 0 (no trust) to infinity (absolute blind faith). So if you don’t trust someone to watch your kids, that means you trust that there is a high enough chance that something bad will happen if they watch your kids. When the risk and uncertainty exceed comfort, then you trust in bad outcomes.
Trust what others show themselves to you as. If someone is a liar, trust that they will lie. If someone cheats or steals, trust that they will cheat or steal.
Being stable and consistent builds trust. Just as the sun rises everyday, we often don’t doubt that it won’t rise tomorrow.
You can give chances for others to prove their trust by using small tasks or favors. If they follow through, then they may be able to accept bigger tasks or favors in exchange for negotiable instruments. Essentially, make low risk chances for people to prove themselves, and if they fail to deliver, then you’ll know where they stand. Don’t blindly trust someone with all of your money or possessions. You’d be gambling it all on black at a roulette wheel doing so.
Jokes and lies can bring down trust. So you have to be careful with what lies and jokes you tell. Some jokes can be said without having to lie. Truth is important for trust. Out of season pranks or lies outside of April Fool’s day can yield a damage to trust, or your reputational credit. Especially if the joke or lie exists a day later or months later, out of season is as good as out of context.
There is a time and place for everything. Build trust within yourself, and then show others that same amount of trust you have with yourself. They will see it as competency, this trust stems from your own belief. If you believe in yourself, even if others doubt you, with enough proof, they will eventually believe in you too. Many people who achieve greatness were not believed by others, and still many more achieve no greatness and are still doubted. So your delusions have to be precise and ever building of proof to convince those around you to trust you and your acclaim. Give them more proof to trust you, and like the wright brothers, you may take flight.
Pretend you’re building a small tower with bricks. Each brick is a proof of trust. Each action that discredits or damages trust can take down more than one brick. Perhaps akin to a wrecking ball or explosives. Your goal is to build the biggest tower of trust one brick at a time. Reputation is something that can be made over many years and lost in a few seconds. Make sure you build the tower of trust for yourself, and then show others the same tower you’ve built.
Awards and accomplishments, from degrees to certifications, and actionable items are something that builds trust. A badge of honor or proof of doing something or committing to a termed contract can prove trust. A testimony or recommendation from someone or some institution is a leverage of trust. A Cosigner on a deal or collateral is an extension of trust.
Epilogue;
Trust and Truth are essential when working with relationships, whether in a family or community setting, or a business relationship with people in the same industry or field.
If people expect a certain degree of performance and don’t receive it, they will trust you less. If you break promises, oaths, or vows, then they will trust you less.
In fact, the word ‘warlock’ comes from ‘were-logos’. Prefix ‘Were-‘ meaning ‘change’ like in ‘werewolf’. Thus a Warlock etymology stems from ‘change of words’ meaning ‘oath breaker’. Someone who is initiated in a right or rite and have broken their faith or changed their words, a renunciation or an exiled and denounced person from society. Technically, people who divorce that break their vows are technically warlocks. That doesn’t mean these people are bad, it just means that they have a blemish on their track record for what ‘trust’ is, and trust is something that you have to rebuild over time.
Everything is risky, there are no safe bets, so do what you can with what you have and build trust in as many things as you can while avoiding the scenarios or instances in which makes you lose trust as much as possible within your degree of control. Especially when it comes to the trust of yourself, your own self-trust.
Your belief system, your trusted names, are something you’ll have to curate through life. Whether they be items, brands, corporations, states, governments, countries, or even friends and family. Your connection and relationships are all built with trust, so do be careful with conduct and how you word things.
When you value the specific words ‘truth’ and ‘trust’ and dive deeply into how societies and empires are built on these simple words, then you may come to agreement that there is a sort of metaphysical authority or even a ‘spiritual’ transcendent meaning to words. As if there are these archetypical themes or narratives driving our nature or the universe. But that’s for you to discern if you decide to dive deeper.
Afterall,
Words Mean Things
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