DCL 6.6 Instruction | Relationships Influence Your Talent

You can trace your successes and failures in life to your most significant relationships. Surround your­self with people who add value to you and encourage you, and your talent will go in a positive direction. Spend time with people who constantly drain you, pull you in the wrong direction or try to knock you down, and it will be almost impossible for your talent to reach its highest potential.

 

Video Presentation: John Hull, President / CEO EQUIP

The Impact of Relationships

Almost all our sorrows can be traced to relationships with the wrong people and our joys to relation­ships with the right people. Relationships in our lives really do make or break us. They either lift us up or take us down. They add, or they subtract. They help to give us energy, or they take it away.

1.  Some relationships take from us.

All relationships require some of our energy. Relationships don’t cultivate and sustain themselves. You will certainly want to invest energy in your relationships with your spouse, family, co-workers and close friends. These relationships will also renew your energy. However, negative relation­ships will tend to drain you of energy all the time.

 

2.  Some relationships add to us.

Some relationships energise, inspire and validate us. They clearly make us better. These relation­ships are with people who:

  • Believe in your dreams.
  • Share your joys.
  • Dry your tears.
  • Give you hope.
  • Comfort your hurts.
  • Listen to you.
  • Laugh with you.
  • Show you a better way.
  • Pray for you.
  • Tell you the truth.
  • Encourage you.

 

3.  Some relationships are pivotal in our lives.

They lift us to levels of effective­ness we never dreamed possible. They are truly difference makers in our lives.

 

Five Signs of a Solid Relationship:

  • Mutual enjoyment
  • Respect
  • Shared experiences
  • Trust
  • Balance

 

Friendships are like bank accounts. You cannot continue to draw on them without making deposits. If either of you become permanently overdrawn, the relationship won’t last. Solid relationships must be beneficial to both parties. Each person has to put the other first, but both must have benefit. Relation­ships that continue to be one-sided will not remain solid.

If you desire to become a talent-plus person in the area of relationships – a person whose relationships influence him or her in a positive direction – then here are some important steps to take:

  • Identify the most important people in your life, the people with whom you spend the most time and the people whose opinions you most value.
  • Assess whether they are influencing you in the right direction.
  • If your friends aren’t really friends, make new friends.

 

Remember: Your relationships will define you. Choose wisely.

 

The Bible on Relationships

Proverbs, the book of wisdom, teaches about the strength of relationships:

1.  Friends are scarce. (18:24)

2.  Friends will not abandon you in tough times. (17:17)

3.  Friends will be available for counsel. (27:9)

4.  Friends will speak the truth to you. (27:6)

5.  Friends will sharpen you. (27:17)

6.  Friends will be sensitive to your feelings. (26:18-19)

7.  Friends will stick with you. (18:24)

 

Remember: In prosperity our friends know us; in adversity we know our friends.

 

DISCUSSION

  • Who has been a pivotal person in your life?
  • What has the person done for you and what has it meant? Consider how you could express your appreciation.

 
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DCL Instruction Media and Notes © EQUIP Million Leaders Mandate Volume 2