It is easy to form relationships when you genuinely care.
I was one of nine children born and reared in the southern United States. My parents were loving, honest, caring and hard working. We were taught true southern hospitality, to ‘care for our neighbor,’ not be selfish and to love our brothers and sisters (even when we did not want to). We learned by example.
My mother was extremely wise, gentle and very soft-spoken. In fact, during her lifetime she never raised her voice to any of us no matter what mischief we were up to. (We really believed that she had eyes in the back of her head and kept them covered with hair just so we couldn’t see her looking at us.) Lying was not tolerated nor was the mistreatment of any human being. We learned to genuinely care for one another, tell the truth and be sincere. We applied those teachings and carried them with us into our adult life.
The saying, “People do not care how much you know until they know how much you care” has stayed with me. The results of that teaching have helped me to be warm and sincere with people I am around, and I attribute my success to my parents for that teaching since I have been successful with both my chosen careers.
Warmth and sincerity is such a part of me that I do not think about it—I just project it and I am so thankful for those qualities. The results are that I have met a lot of acquaintances and friends of many years. It is easy to form connections when you genuinely care. There are many people who are looking for someone who genuinely cares for them. When someone is standing off by themselves, or acting shy, it is hard to tell if they want to be by themselves or have had a bad day or if they are longing for someone to talk to; someone to show a little interest or just wishing someone would speak to them.
It doesn’t take a genius to tell if one is sincere or just pretending to be. I am successful because I sincerely want to help people. I keep the person’s best interest in front of me. Our connection helps me show them the best way to make money and to strategize a successful future for them.