BUILDING THRIVING RELATIONSHIP (Part 2)

An interpersonal relationship is a social connection or affiliation between two or more people. Interpersonal relationships can include your partner, loved ones, close friends, acquaintances, co-workers, and many others who make up the social connections in your life.

Interpersonal relationships make up a huge and vital part of your life. These relationships can range from close and intimate to distant and challenging. No matter the nature of the relationship, different types of relationships help make up the social support network that is essential for both your physical and mental well-being.

Being able to maintain strong interpersonal relationships plays a critical role in both your physical and emotional well-being. Think about the qualities that you value the most in your relationships— such as trust, respect, friendship, kindness, and honestly—and work on showing others those same virtues.

SIX STAGES OF INTERPERSONAL RELATIONSHIPS

1. Contact

2. Involvement

3. Intimacy

4. Repair

5. Deterioration

6. Dissolution

1. Contact- Includes Perceptual & Interactional contact; perceptual-physical way you see the person; interactional is exchanging basic information.

2. Involvement- A sense a being connected develops; desire to learn more about that person.

3. Intimacy- Establishing a relationship resulting in closest friend, lover, or companion; includes interpersonal commitment phase & social bonding phase; inter.-commit to each other privately; social-commitment is made public.

4. Deterioration- Weakening of the bonds between the friends or lovers; Intrapersonal Dissatisfaction & Interpersonal. Deterioration; includes withdrawal, decline in self-disclosure, deception, and negative vs. positive messages.

5. Repair- A pause during deterioration to try to repair the relationship; Intrapersonal. Repair-analyze what went wrong and try to find solutions; Interpersonal Repair- discuss with the partner about the problems, changes you want to see, and what you're willing to do.

6. Dissolution- This has to do with cutting the bonds you tie together; Interpersonal Separation- move out and lead separate lives; Social Separation- Avoidance of each other and return to a "single" status.

Many relationships get messy sooner or later and that's not necessarily a bad thing. In fact, sometimes people need a good fight or a clearing of the air in order to get a relationship back on track. A conflict doesn't mean the relationship has to come to an end. Remember: we often fight with the people we care about the most and with whom we share our greatest hopes.

Business, Life, Personal and Professional Growth are about relationships. Focusing on authenticity will help you build relationships that work for everyone.

But How Do You Build Thriving Relationships?

When it comes to thriving relationships, the one tip to avoid is ‘Thinking about Yourself Too Much’. Relationships, like any other living thing, need care to keep them alive and healthy. So what do you do with them to keep them going?

1. Learn To Remember Names

Forgetting a name can be seen as rude and the other person may feel unimportant to you if you can’t remember their name. People love to hear their name and it helps you build relationships that thrive if someone feels important to you. This will help you associate them with their name.

2. Communicate and Be Open

In order to form and maintain strong bonds with others, there needs to be a mutual give-and-take when it comes to sharing information with one another. People need to open up to you, but you also have to be willing to let others in and share details about your experiences, emotions, and opinions.

People need to communicate. It's a good idea to set aside some time just to talk about the way things are going. When people don't have a chance to talk about important issues, misunderstandings can occur and tensions often build up. Communication is a discipline that has to be practiced regularly; it's like taking vitamins or doing push-ups

Good communication is essential in any relationship, but it’s important to remember that communicating well involves being able to listen. Do active listening

Active listening involves being engaged with what your conversation partner is saying. You're not just being quiet and letting them say their piece—you’re reflecting on their words, paraphrasing what they have said to show you are listening, and asking questions you may have.

Listening shows that you care. It shows that you are involved in the other person’s life and interested in what they have to say.

Listening is a great way to learn more about the other person. It also allows you to offer support and emotional validation, which can go a long way toward making the other person value you as a friend and confidant.

Tips for Active Listening

• v Don’t interrupt
• v Avoid voicing opinions or judgments
• v Maintain good eye contact
• v Ask open-ended questions
• v Paraphrase what the other person has said and don’t press phone

3. Maintain Boundaries

Being open doesn’t mean you should give others unlimited access to your thoughts, feelings, or time. Healthy boundaries are also a vital foundation of any strong relationship. It is important not only to establish these boundaries but to enforce them as well.

A boundary can be defined as what you are willing to accept in a relationship. These boundaries represent your values, expectations, and limitations.

A boundary in your interpersonal relationships might look like having limits on when you spend time together or expectations for when you will be there for one another. It can also involve how much you are willing to share about yourself emotionally, physically, and even digitally.

These boundaries are important in your relationships with other people, but they’re also important for your relationship with yourself.

4. Give without Expecting Anything in Return

This advice is timeless because it is the single-best way to build relationships and positively influence people. When you’re meeting with someone, show them what you can do for them. Don’t just tell them. If you want someone to experience meaningful value, give it to them and do so with maximum impact.

5. Show Respect

To maintain relationships, you should also show respect for others. This doesn’t mean you have to agree with everything they say or do what they want to do. However, it does mean you should show that you value their feelings, opinions, time, and interests.

When showing respect in relationships, you should:

• v Avoid disparaging the things they enjoy
• v Keep the commitments you’ve made to them
• v Show up on time
• v Be mindful of their feelings
• v Listen to them, even when you disagree

6. Be Empathetic

Empathy involves being able to put yourself in another person’s shoes and feel what they feel. It means you see things from their perspective and feel their pain as if it was your own.

Interpersonal relationships benefit from empathy in many ways. When you show that you feel what someone else is feeling, it helps the other person gain a sense of belonging. It helps others feel understood, and that understanding serves as a foundation for trust and closeness in a relationship.

7. Pay attention to people.

Check in with people when you need to. This may take only a few minutes a week, but those few minutes can make the difference in helping your friend or co-worker remember the importance of the work you are doing together. It could be just call or text. And don’t engage in the habit of “you just forget me oo”

8. Appreciate each other.

Everyone needs to be appreciated in order to keep relationships going. If you notice that someone did something for you, say so. If you enjoy working with someone, let them know. We are all human beings and appreciation helps us thrive.

9. Challenge each other to do better.

We all need a friend to help us stretch ourselves beyond what we think we can do. We can also build stronger relationships by challenging others to take on bigger challenges.

10. Back each other when things get tough.

Loyalty is essential to keeping relationships healthy. We may not agree with a co-worker or friend, but we can stand by him or her when they are in a jam. Be opportunistic. Keep an open mind and you will never go wrong. Live by values and LEAD with values. Be true to your word. Be a person of integrity.

I’ve created and cultivated powerful relationships by following these principles. They’re yours to use. You’ll flourish if you put them into practice.

Show the people around you that you care about them and that you’re willing to put them first. This is the mark of a true leader. Great leaders are vulnerable and unselfish. They build relationships. Ultimately, they thrive by exhibiting these behaviours and in so doing; they earn the respect of all.