If You Believe Your Network is Your Net Worth, Then You’ll Want to Know This Surprising Way to Connect More Meaningfully

I grew up in a loving home, where praise wasn’t given; it was earned. My parents had high expectations, and you didn’t receive an “atta girl” unless you exceeded them.

So it surprised me to realize that somehow along the way, I not only became attached to high expectations but further raised the bar and somehow mixed truth and honesty into the equation.

Photo by Eric Nopanen on Unsplash.

Let me give you an example. When I used to bump into someone I hadn’t seen in a while, I didn’t do that thing where you say, you look great because unless they truly looked great, I thought it was disingenuous.

Or if I saw someone working on something, I didn’t compliment their work unless it lived up to my impossibly high standards, which meant most people’s work wasn’t good enough to warrant a compliment. Best of the best was always the bar.

Or when people called me friend or sister or said things like, I love you, because that’s how they rolled, that’s how they related to others, closed a phone call (love you, bye) or an email or a text chain (love ya!) or shared kiss- and-hug greetings, it made me feel uncomfortable.