Finding Your Currency

Fast Company | Finding Your Currency: "If giving of yourself is crucial to building successful relationships, then the next question to answer is 'What do I have to give?'

'What if I don't have much to offer?' You know, I'm shocked and a bit sad by the number of people who ask that when I explain that to build strong relationships -- the kind that will consistently grow sales, boost your career, or just pack your social calendar -- you have to give, give, give, and not keep score .

So, I'm here to slap some of that 'not enough' thinking out of you. Everybody has a currency to give, or some capacity to help somebody else fulfill their mission or vision of themselves in some way. Trust me on this point: I've seen some pretty low thresholds for what counts as currency.

Jokes can be a currency. If you can make people laugh, you're helping them have a good time, and they'll be more up for doing business or hanging out with you. Heck, sometimes just being someone empathetic or decent to talk with is a currency in the right (or wrong) environment. Yet, I'm confident that you possess currencies much stronger and much more abundant than these simple examples. You've just got to know how to find them, something even I struggled to do for a while."

This is a really interesting article. Once you start thinking of your unique skills and attributes as currency other people value, a whole new way of thinking opens up.