#BeInspired Mondays with IK: Trust, the Human Capital

There is a currency that isn’t tangible, but is able to generate the kind of (financial) wealth most people desire, and that is trust.

Firstly, people do not necessarily do business with the best (wo)man for the job, but with who they like and trust. This is not to say you must strive to be nice to people at the expense of your own happiness – that will be catastrophic. It is saying you should first, decide to be happy, and then share your happiness in the form of goodness to people.

Your actions are influenced by your thoughts, hence you need to think happiness, goodness, and positive at all times to be able act good.

For every goodness you exude, you deposit something in your “trust account” with the receiver of that goodwill and as time goes on, you can make demands on that goodwill, which can sometimes be tangible.

The goal is not to have overflowing goodwill in your trust account with people because you want to use it later, it however, is to train yourself to be good to people. There are so many negative things happening in the world, and the onus is now on each of us to reverse the trend, if not all over the world, at least in your life and your niche.

Goodness is an investment that builds trust, which can be converted to money. Imagine being able to get a loan from a bank, depositing trust as your collateral. It sounds far-fetched, considering the rate of fraud all over the place, but that can be a possibility, if not on a large scale but within a group.

There are business models, albeit informal, that rely on trust and are scaling. Retailers can get goods from manufacturers, sell to consumers, then pay the manufacturers and have their profit in their pockets.

In our personal lives, we should learn to make little deposits in our trust account with others. When you make a promise, fulfill it, when you owe, pay before, or as and when due, match your words and your actions, be faithful. Be good and loyal.

“Treat those who are good with goodness, and also treat those who are not good with goodness. Thus goodness is attained. Be honest to those who are honest, and be also honest to those who are not honest. Thus honesty is attained,” says Lao Tzu.

Cheers!