The Foundation for Every Relationship Is…

It is an essential and basic human need. And often gets overlooked. There is nothing more important for every human interaction.

Have you guessed it yet? Aretha Franklin sang a song about it. Yup, it’s

R-E-S-P-E-C-T.

When people feel respected, they feel valued. And when people feel valued, they feel that they matter, which improves self-esteem. (Self-esteem is the value you see in yourself.)

It also improves how people feel about YOU because they know you care.

Too often, however, people look to GET respect when, in fact, it is your responsibility to GIVE respect. And the most important person to give respect to is YOU.

When you learn to honor yourself, you honor others. When you focus your energies on self-respect, self-love, and making choices that honor you, you naturally treat others with that same level of respect. To do otherwise would be disrespectful to you. And if you are disrespectful to you, you cannot truly respect others.

~ from The Little E-Book of Wisdom

Respect is the foundation for every relationship because if there is no respect, there cannot be trust. And if there is no trust, there really is no relationship.

You do not need to like someone in order to respect them.

Respect means you acknowledge their right to be human, to make mistakes, to have their own thoughts, opinions and ideas.

You acknowledge their right to be different and to have different perspectives – this is what diversity is all about.

It means you separate the person who is wonderful and amazing from their behavior which may not always be so wonderful and amazing.

You recognize that each of us as human beings has the right to be who we are and to develop and grow at our own pace.

Respect means you focus on managing yourself and regulating your emotions and responses so you do not act in ways that are disrespectful and a poor reflection on you. It means you focus on changing yourself and being your best rather than being so focused on what is wrong with others.

More than anything, people want to be respected – they want to feel that they matter – and showing someone respect, which means ‘to admire or value’, makes a person feel that they are valued.

Value someone today. (Value yourself too!)

Give up your burning desire to ‘fix’ them or their problems.

Stop turning the conversation around to your issues or stories and be interested in what the other person has to say. You might learn something new about them.

Be respectful *always* and notice what starts to happen – your relationships will shift and change and you will start to feel people open up. They will start to treat you differently.

Your compassion and respect for individual humanness will create a safe space for people to be themselves. This respect – reverence – love – will open their hearts and allow you to move beyond the fear and self-doubt that creates walls and distance between us and bridge the gap so that together we can create great things.

Your partner for success,

Coach Julie, RN ~ Nurturing Your Success

PS Want to learn more about asserting yourself respectfully? Schedule your free  coaching session today. It will be the best 30-minutes of your day.