For most people, the ability to experience of building trust in relationships begins in childhood. As we grow older, the way we build trust doesn't change much.

You Will Need

Open lines of communication

Risk

Listening skills

Time

New connections

Steps

STEP 1 Maintain open lines of communication

Make sure the lines of communication with the person whose trust you wish to acquire are open. Trusting relationships require that each party in the relationship be able hear the other the other.

The relationships formed in a strong team, in an enduring marriage, and in healthy families are held together by mutual trust.

STEP 2 Recognize the need for risk

Recognize that the extension of trust always involves an element of risk. There is no guarantee that the other person is deserving of your trust, but once the trust has proven well-founded, it can create even greater levels of trust.

STEP 3 Improve your listening sills

Work on improving your listening skills. Give the other person your full attention when they are speaking, and stay focused on what they are saying. Give feedback aimed at showing you understood what they said.

STEP 4 Share your thoughts and feelings

Take time to share your thoughts and feelings with the other person.

STEP 5 Spend time with the other person

Spend time with the other person, and be open to offering special time if the need arises.

STEP 6 Look for new ways to connect.

Look for new ways to connect with the other person. After all, building good relationships to begin with is a better way to inspire trust than trying to win it back.

According to the social anthropologist Keith Hart, confidence in a relationship is based on strong evidence, while trust rests on limited evidence.