If You Want to Wake Up Eager Make Sure You're Strong in These Free Relationship Test Areas

How Are You Doing?

All Spirit & Well-Being Wake Up Eager items are like a free relationship test, helping you assess how you are doing in this important Wake Up Eager area: personal and professional connections.

This page is dedicated to help you answer Wake Up Eager Secret #11 as true for you:

If you've not taken the 22 Wake Up Eager Secrets Quiz yet, you can take it here.

As the statement above shares, having a strong support network with others is an important part of happy and healthy life.

When you're really busy, you don't always notice its' lack, that is until you want to celebrate (or commiserate) something important with someone who cares.

That's the time you might begin wishing you had stronger, deeper and more informal "I can call you anytime" relationships with colleagues.

Close and comfortable connections with others won't happen on its own. Cultivating true friends takes time and requires focus from you. That's why it's included in the free relationship test part of the Wake Up Eager Secrets quiz.

Building Your Support Network:
How to Make Friends
Free Relationship Test Advice

I've had to work at this area too. As I moved forward in my career I found myself not taking time to forge strong and comfortable friendships with colleagues. Here are some of the things I've done to reverse that trend with success. Some of these are very easy, but if we were all good at this, a page like this would not be necessary!

• Volunteer for a project or work on the Board of an industry association. Working with others in this way cements strong and special connections AND you are building your skill set, a win-win-win all the way around.

  You can also make professional connections in less obvious places, like: your neighborhood association, non-profits organizations that you care about and small group ministry meetings at church. (At my church we had something we called Conscious Living Circles at my church - it was a great way to get to know people and make friends.)

Don't overlook the power of volunteering.



• Seek opportunities for formal communication among colleagues at staff meetings, brainstorming sessions, follow-up meetings, etc. Don't wait around for someone to talk to you, reach out and begin the conversation by asking questions and starting a dialogue.
• Focus on noticing the people who make you smile, laugh and generally lift your spirits. Find ways to spend more time with those people. This sounds simple, but if your network is looking kind of slim, you've not been doing this. I do this and it works.

  When I meet someone I find interesting I immediately find a way to connect - either by lunch, at a meeting or I get them involved in my website. These small reach-outs initiated by me have helped me cultivate a broad network of friends and colleagues. It works - try it!

• Attend events, lectures, forums or gatherings that interest you. Keep your eyes open for other attendees you can reach out to. For more insights on the how, why and what of networking at meetings, check out this What is Networking article.
• Spend time really getting to know your parents, grandparents, siblings or extended family better. They say 'you can't pick your family,' but you do share a bond that should not be taken for granted and that can be strengthened. Think of a favorite relative you've always liked, but don't know every well and spend more time with that person.

  Yes, certain family members could become a part of your professional network. Who else knows you better and has your best interests at heart?

• Create annual traditions with people you know, around shared interests. If you love NASCAR (like I do) plan to go to the local track every year. Or celebrate each others birthdays at a favorite spot or pay golf every other Sunday.

  Face it all close-knit professional or personal relationships require trust. What better way is there to build trust and connection than to spend regular, quality time with someone doing something you both like?

• Don't be shy about asking people for advice. People love to give advice and asking for their input will help you and at the same demonstrate that you respect and are interested in that person. And you'll learn something! If you don't know what to say, ask questions.
• Seek opportunities for informal communication with colleagues - monthly luncheons off-site, brown-bag lunches in the break room, loosely structured "meetings" with others where they can choose the topics for discussion, etc.
• When meeting people ask more questions and listen more. Practice being an aggressive listener.
• Get this book: Vital Friends(Opens a new window.)

  This book is about the power of friends, networking, sharing. If you scored lower on the free relationship test and you're not convinced that friendship & support is important to finding motivation and inspiration as a leader and professional, this book provides solid evidence.

  It also include access to a Vital Friends assessment, a longer, free relationship test. It will help you develop strategies for helping you develop the power of friendship.

• Free Relationship Advice: Power of Support Interview

  Check out this interview with Meredith Bell, a colleague and coach friend of mine for over five years. She is the President of Performance Support Systems and Small Business Expert.

  In this interview Meredith shares why professional and personal connection are crucial to success in your Wake Up Eager Life. She shares her strategies for waking up wager and passing along advice for of the free relationship test items.

  Meredith is a great person to know and has been someone who's helped me answer this question on the free relationship test: I have a close group of professional contacts with whom I can discuss challenges and celebrations, as very true.

“Are you upset little friend?
Have you been lying awake worrying?
Well, don't worry...I'm here.
The flood waters will recede,
the famine will end, the sun will shine tomorrow,
and I will always be here to take care of you.
---Charlie Brown to Snoopy

You might look at some of the above suggestions as basic, I know.

But, I also know that a lot of Wake Up Eager readers score low on this portion of the free relationship test portion of the Wake Up Eager Secrets Quiz.

The Bottom Line: Lack of support from professional colleagues leaves a void. If you scored low in this area on the free relationship test: take time to cultivate this area.

Next time you're having fun with your friends, you'll be soooo glad you made the effort!

Creating strong bonds with people, the kind that makes others want 'be there' for you, you must first be a good friend. Use these communication skill builders to help you be a better friend - these resources are focused on sharpening your listening and 'tuning-into-others' abilities.

• Of all the people you know, how many are excellent listeners? This is THE skill to develop if you want to create more
  connection with others. Listen more.

  Read this article: Relationship Communication Breakdown: The Greatest Hindrance

• Another reminder about the power of listening: My Best Relationship Problem Advice: Stop Giving Advice!
• Tools, an audio example and more in this article: The Forgotten Charismatic Leadership Skill: Listening Aggressively
• A mini-workshop helping you lead your team AND develop relationships with colleagues. What is Communication? Four Skills That Make or Break All Leaders

• A mini-workshop with a communication plan template - great for use in all conversations What Everybody Ought to Know About Effective Workplace Communication
• Review all the Wake Up Eager Secrets in the Managing My Career Area More tools for developing in this free relationship test area.
• Measure your Communication Stlye and understand the differences with others.Behavioral Style - Communication Skills Builder Assessment
• Free relationship advice eBook download - Situational Leadership Skills
• Not sure which friends are drainers and which are strong? Test it by Taking the New Online Relationship Quiz - Three Universal Truths and Takeaways About Friends

There is something you must always remember:

You are braver than you believe, stronger than you seem,
and smarter than you think. but the most
important thing is, even if we're apart...
I'll always be with you.”
---Christopher Robin to Winnie Pooh

“Life is partly what we make it,
and partly what it is made by the friends we choose.”
---Tennessee Williams

Share Your Comments,
Tips and Resources Here:

What challenges do you face in creating strong and close professional relationships? What's working? What is not working?

Do you have any tips that would benefit others who are seeking to improve this area? Have you found answers you'd like to share? Don't hold back, let us hear about it...

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