Why is respect given in the first place? It certainly can’t be because someone is trying to sell you something you don’t want. That creates distrust and disrespect. I’ve spent the last few days trying to figure it out and have come up with three things that contribute to someone’s willingness to provide respect:
1. You have a thing that others want to have
2. You have knowledge that others want to learn
3. You have a relationship that others want to share
If you are the possessor of a thing, knowledge, or a relationship that someone else finds interesting, intriguing or desirable, you will have their undivided attention when talking about how to get it. When you throw money into the mix the whole equation changes…UNLESS you add a proportionate amount of value. If they have to pay for the interaction without an understanding of what’s in it for them, disrespect soon follows. You begin having to prove not only yourself, but your value to them.
So what will make them WANT to follow you, seek you out, read about you, learn what you know, etc? It’s not really that hard: Show them not only how to do it, but that it CAN be done, especially when you’re talking about a dramatic change in how they will be pursuing goals, knowledge, or relationships going forward. As Zig Ziglar once said: “You can get anything in life you want if you help enough other people get what they want.”