Building Relationships, Commitment, And Love - R Is For...

We continue our series on how to build interpersonal relationships, whether with family, coworkers, friends, or that special someone.

Commitment and love are important to all of us; they are worth fighting for; they are worth working for. You also should know that in spite of many promises there is no secret for success, no checklist of things to do, and just as importantly no checklist of things not to do. But we do have suggestions, now continuing with the letter R. We actually have a double series of articles for the letter R. The focus here is on rational, reach out, and recognize.

R is for rational. Be rational. And don’t ration your rationality. Things don’t just happen; they happen for a reason, or more precisely for reasons. When you understand why things happen you have an increased chance of influencing the outcome. And perhaps outfluencing your income. Which is better: to be irrationally rational? Or to be rationally irrational? Enough pun ishment. Be rational, you won’t regret it.

What is going on in his mind?

R is for reach out. Reach out and touch someone. Wait a minute, don’t reach out and touch someone or you may be in for a sexual harassment lawsuit. And rightfully so. People don’t want to be touched by just anyone. So let’s rephrase. Reach out but don’t touch anyone, except the touchables such as your spouse and some family members. Make the effort of going to people instead of expecting people to come to you. Reaching out is more than simply physical. It requires emotional effort as well, in other words lead with your head. When you reach out to others they may reach out to you. Just make sure that you don’t butt heads. That would be touching.

Dr. Barry Zuckerman, co-founder and CEO, Reach out and read, and a new reader.

R is for recognize. I have said it before, I’ll say it again (maybe not since we are nearing the end of the alphabet and this series of articles), recognize people’s achievements. Just a little pat on the back, perhaps a figurative one as explained in the previous paragraph, can do wonders. One little positive comment, especially if it is justified, can make someone’s day. A big one might make their week. Recognition is often a two-way street. People will recognize that you are a recognizer and consequently recognize your recognizables. Did you recognize that previous word? I reckoned that it was nize even if it and nize as well are not in the dictionary. Yet.