A very useful quality that anyone can possess is reliability. It is true that hard work is good, intelligence is good, even talent and skills are all important, but they are not enough on their own. You will agree with me that you will be more likely to trust and build friendship with someone who you can rely on than someone who is only talented. It is by being dependable and reliable that will become the foundation upon which confidence, friendship, and relationships, are built. It also creates opportunities, and opens more doors. I have come to discover that if someone can rely on you, they will entrust more responsibilities into your hands.
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Being dependable and reliable means that others can count on you to do what you said that you will do. Even beyond keeping your words, it also means that you take responsibilities for your actions, you fulfill your promises, and you stand by your good values even when the situations seem a bit tough. In your place of work for example, as a leader, you may not even need to constantly supervise a staff who you have proven to be reliable and dependable. A lot of people succeed in life, not because of talent alone, but because of reliability. Let us take a look at some practical ways to become a dependable and reliable person.
The first one is to keep your promises. A very potent sign of reliability and being dependable is keeping your words. When you say something and stick to it, people will trust you more and they will believe your words more. But if you are the person who always fails to keep to your words, they will not believe the words you say. If you must make a promise, then be sure to keep it. Before making a committal statement, consider if you have the time, resources, and ability to keep to it. Trust me, people will always remember if you always keep to yours words or break them. So do not use broken promises to destroy the trust that you are building.
Another practical way to become reliable and dependable is to respect time and be punctual. You have to understand the value of time. I once had a friend who would never keep to time. In fact, if she tells you she will come by 9:00am, you may stay till 11:30am waiting for her. It became a regular occurrence that each time she gives me a time to come out, I will add about 2 hours to it. You should know that time is of utmost value and people value their time. You cannot continue to be careless with time and expect to be reliable. Always try to arrive early to appointments, work, events, and have respect for time. If you are respectful for someone's time, you are also respecting the person.
The next way to become reliable and dependable is to take responsibilities for your actions and do not trade blames. No one is absolutely immune to making mistakes. But when you do, being dependable means that you will take responsibility for it, and not blame others. That is; admit when you are wrong, learn from the mistake, and then work to become better. When you take responsibilities, you will earn trust. Because people always like to deal with someone who is honest and accountable even when faced with difficult situations.
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The fourth way to become reliable and dependable is to be consistent in your character. It is not doing good today and doing bad tomorrow. It is not enough to have high standards, but learn to maintain the high standards over time. Whether you are motivated or not, there are standards that you are not expected to go below. Being consistent in honesty, attitude, your work ethics, and in honesty, will help you to develop confidence in your character. If others know what to expect from you, they will be comfortable to trust you with far greater responsibilities.
The final point is to communicate honestly. The way you communicate with people can show if you will appear reliable or not. You do not talk to people the way you like or talk rudely at them and expect them to see you as dependable. Learn to communicate professionally and with good ethics and etiquettes. All these are part of what make people to see you as reliable.
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