How to Build Positive Relationships

By John Teng

Positive relationships are good for you in so many ways. They are good for your heart, they keep you young, they can help you live longer and they work as a buffer during emotional times in your life. However, many people go through their life not knowing how to build positive relationships, and thus they fail to. They socialize with only people who want to use them, or they remain in toxic friendships and they do not know of the benefits of fostering positive relationships. Sometimes they do not even know how to build something positive if all the relationships they have ever had have been negative. If you happen to be one of these people, good news, you do not lose the ability to build positive relationships. If you are on the receiving end of too much negativity, it’s not too late even in middle age to surround yourself with positive friendships.

Here are 6 tips to help you build and maintain positive relationships in your life:

Put Away Your Phone

Although mobile devices can be a great form of communication and they offer an abundance of knowledge at your fingertips; they may not be helpful in fostering healthy relationships. One thousand “cyber friends” will never replace one solid confidante in your life who has your back when you really need help. And building that level of friendship takes more than just sending them an email or text once in awhile.

Trust More

This is extremely important in any relationship. By trusting someone you will tell them more about your private life. The more you emotional support that you give, the more emotional support you can receive. By trusting someone they will also learn to trust you, which forms a deep bond. No, you do not have to trust everyone, but many positive and healthy relationships have a significant amount of trust in them.

Develop Your Communication Skills

Communication doesn’t just relate to being able to speak well, but also listening well. Poor communication can lead to misunderstandings which can be detrimental to any type of relationship. Make sure that you are speaking clearly and never assume that you are being 100% understood; allow questions.

Learn To Listen

Have you ever heard the joke about why we have two ears and only one mouth? Listening is a very important part of communication because if you are not really listening to the question then how can you provide an informed answer? And if you are willing to listen to others they will most likely also be more willing to you. Listening well lets people feel valued and helps to raise their self-esteem. Listening effectively also makes you trustworthy; which is again important to positive relationships.

Celebrate Differences

One of the most difficult things about having any type of relationship is how seemingly every person in this world is so different. But on the other hand, imagine how boring this world would be if everyone was the same? The best “people persons” know how to identify common ground with any new person, despite how different their backgrounds may be, and then to start with that in order to build a relationship of trust and friendship. If you’re willing to dig deep enough, you’ll see just how similar we all are to each other!

Develop Empathy

People may forget what you did for them, but they will never forget how you make them feel, good or otherwise. Have empathy and try your best to give advice based upon your own experiences and do not belittle someone’s feelings.