Build Meaningful Relationships That Nourish You & Help You Succeed In Life
Do you want to feel powerful and successful in your life? Then build meaningful relationships with others who are committed to the same goals. If you want to thrive, surround yourself with people who are better at whatever you aspire to do! They can give you advice, guidance, and practical examples for living the kind of life and choices you want.
People who know and care about you are your greatest teachers. They’re your role models and your most truthful mirrors. They’ll be the ones you turn to when you’re confused, need help, and feel emotionally fragile. These “low” times will occur in your life, and if you only have “fair-weather friends” the low times will be hard to take.
You are only as strong as your support network. And as Jim Rohn says, “You are the average of the five people you spend the most time with.”
Why is it so hard to build meaningful relationships?
Many people struggle with this because they keep themselves too busy out of fear of intimacy or vulnerability. So they don’t allow themselves to make that deeper, stronger connection. Life coaches seem to fall into this trap easily. Because they expend so much of themselves while connecting with clients professionally they don’t have the time or energy to make their own nurturing connections.
Another reason people don’t open up is they don’t trust or like with whom they’re associating. If that’s your truth, perhaps it’s time to upgrade your social support network. How do you do that?
Why you must build meaningful relationships to become the best YOU possible…
As we grow and mature, the relationships that we find nourishing also evolve. For most of us, for example, the kinds of relationships and activities we shared with friends in high school are not what we find most rewarding now.
Holding onto relationships that no longer work creates short-term comfort at the price of long-term pain. Toxic relationships put your health and well-being at risk. The sooner you identify your needs and preferences, the sooner you’ll distinguish between the relationships that support you and those that do not.
Once you can tell the difference, it’s time to advocate for what you want by saying “yes!” to some relationships and “no!” to others. As you do this, you’ll gradually build a social network that truly supports you.
Setting these limits and reaching for what you want is hard. Grieving for the people and relationships you’ve released is hard. Letting relationships go to make room for new ones is part of becoming more yourself. You are worth it. If you do the work, you’ll reap outstanding benefits.
Four primary skills will help you forge meaningful relationships with the important people in your life:
- Practicing mindfulness and awareness of body sensations – be present and fully aware of the other and your internal reactions.
- Conveying understanding – ensure she knows you got the message and that her feelings are validated.
- Allowing yourself to be moved – be emotionally open so your mirror neurons help you resonate emotionally with the other person. Feel the feelings to perceive their point of view more accurately and increase the sense of rapport.
- Conveying caring – acknowledging how the other person feels emotionally. Convey that this is important to you. Often this is shown nonverbally.
As with everything worth doing, these not-so-complex skills take practice. If you’d like to delve deeper into how you can build meaningful relationships, please contact me and schedule a 30-minute complimentary consultation by phone or via Zoom, to see which approach is best for you.
Thank you for the photo Hannah Busing.
