Building relationships and creating deep connections is important in business and with friends and loved ones. If you really want to connect with people, then you have to be ready and willing to open up to them and let them see a part of who you really are. Authenticity helps connect on a deeper level and when we let go of all superficial identities. We can be authentic with others and this can encourage them to do the same.
We can learn to listen to people on an emotional level, to really connect with someone. It is when we go beyond the concepts and reach into the feelings behind those concepts and ideas. For example, if a client or friend is sharing with you a stressful situation but you yourself have not personally experienced, you can still share a time when you felt similar emotions. We’ve all gone through different things but chances are, we’ve all felt the same emotions. In order to build deeper connections, we can share moments in our life where we’ve felt the same emotions.
When we listen to someone emotionally, we are showing empathy. When we emphasize, we recognize that someone else is just as real as us. Empathy is one of the most genuine, true and resonating emotional connections we can have with someone else.
A true gift to another is when we can empathize. The following tips below can help provide empathy and create deeper, more meaningful connections with others.
Give your full presence. When we specifically create the time to connect with someone we can offer our full presence. When we give our full presence to others this shows respect and that what they have to share with us is important. It is in our full presence we can listen from the heart and hear what is not being said as much as the words being spoken. Failing to read and respond accordingly to other peoples emotional cues can derail a relationship.
Allow the other to speak and be heard. Every one of us needs to be heard. Everyone’s ideas, needs, desires, and opinions, deserves to be heard. Really let a person express themselves, without interruption and without judgement. Become deeply interested and curious about their perspective – why do they see things in a certain way? Why is their perspective so different than yours? Their response could be enlightening or very fascinating.
Acknowledge their personal experience/perspective of life and show you are curious about them and that you would like to learn more about their life, goals, interests, thoughts and views and perspectives. What are their fears, concerns, challenges and joys? How do they really feel about things? How might you be able to help guide them or provide a resource or just be a good listener? A person who builds great relationships puts focus on what they can give. Giving is the best way to establish a real relationship and a lasting connection.
Focus on listening, observing, learning and asking questions. I hope these tips can help you to develop empathy and that you will experience deeper, more meaningful relationships!
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