Just Start: Trust

Dear Andre, (6 min read)

There was a bird trapped in my house this morning.

I wanted to help it escape. I could see exactly where the opening was, just move the sliding glass door a few inches and it would be free. But every time I got close, the bird panicked. It slammed itself into the glass seven, maybe ten times before it finally found that small opening to freedom.

I kept thinking: "If you'd just trust me for one second, this would be so much easier."

Then I realized (that's exactly how God feels about me most of the time).

Trust Reminds Me of Proverbs 3:5-6

"Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge Him and He will make your paths straight."

Paths. That word stuck with me as I walked the green paths near my home this morning. The grass doesn't worry about where the water's coming from. It just grows. It's a system of natural enforcement and encouragement that happens without the grass being the bottleneck.

That's Matthew 6 territory: "Look at the birds of the air and the grass of the field - they don't labor or spin or store away in barns, yet your heavenly Father cares for them. How much more valuable are you?"

Here's what I'm learning: Trust isn't just a nice idea. It's the infrastructure everything else is built on.

The Two Sides of Trust

Being Trustworthy:

I've optimized my entire life around systems and structure because I want to be someone whose word means something. In my detailing business, I’m gaining clarity about what needs to happen daily and weekly. For myself personally, I know the functions, the roles, and who owns what.

Why? Because trust is built in the simple things:

• Showing up when you said you would

• Doing what you said you'd do

• Being early (or at minimum, on time)

I'm still growing in this. To say yes to the right things means saying no to many things. And with all the ideas swirling through my brain at any given time, it's challenging to keep them straight. But it's worth it to have my yes be yes and my no be no.

Trusting Others:

The flip side is harder: giving people (especially people close to you) the ability to become better versions of themselves without holding them hostage to who they used to be.

There are patterns in people. But people can also change, grow, and develop. It's hard to let go of who someone was. But if you can't trust that people can change, you'll never see the best in them.

The Drummer Principle

I play drums at my church. The number one role as a drummer? Be reliable. Keep time.

That's it. You're the foundation everything else is built on. If you're inconsistent, the whole band falls apart. If you're steady, everyone else can shine.

Trust works the same way in life. When people know you're reliable, they can build on what you provide. When you're inconsistent, everything else crumbles.

Context Is King

I've been thinking a lot about context this week. In an AI training, I learned that the quality of output depends on the input three things:

1. Industry expertise

2. Competence in the specific skill

3. Context for your situation

The more accurate context you can give about who you've been and who you're becoming, the more helpful the advice.

But here's what's fascinating: Context is also the most important thing for understanding Scripture and the Bible. Context is king in both places.

And you can't trust the outputs if the inputs aren't aligned. You can't trust advice if there isn't expertise in that domain and sufficient context.

The Physical Side of Trust

In human relationships, touch creates trust. A hand on a shoulder. A hand on the arm. Giving hugs and handshakes when you first meet people or see people again. That all really matters.

Being honest (lowering your filter by just one degree) creates trust. Whatever level you normally filter yourself, just lower it by one degree. That level of honesty and transparency is really helpful.

The Strategic Levels of Trust

I was listening to a training about the different levels of leadership this week:

• Level 3 (Strategic): 2-20 years out

• Level 2 (Tactical): 30 days to 2 years out

• Level 1 (Operational): 0-30 days out

Trust operates at all three levels. But the longer the timeline, the more trust is required.

When you're building for 20 years out, you're essentially saying: "I trust that investing in people today will have returns I can't fully see yet."

My Conscious Bet on Trust

I'm consciously trusting that investing in people, in my own education, and helping as many people as I can with what I have will eventually come back to me.

It's not guaranteed. That's what makes trust both wonderful and challenging (there's no guarantee)

But here's what I've seen in my life so far: When you combine being trustworthy with being skilled in a few specific areas, people will choose you even if you're not the most skilled person available.

They'll choose you because of who you are and the character you've developed.

It's two things:

• Having enough skill

• Being the right person (a person of trust)

The First Impression Strategy

First impressions matter because they set the trust baseline. People around you (they love you, they care about you, and they want the best for you).

Being someone who does what you said you would do really matters. That's where being on time or early matters. It's probably the thing that holds relationships together in the healthiest of ways.

Trust in God, Trust in People

I have a level of trust both in the future and in the people around me. I'm doing the best I can to invest as much in people as possible and do all the good that I can.

I also have trust in God that investing in people is the most important thing.

People > Everything. (if we’re made in the image of God, then people are the most important thing)

I'm giving freely, trusting that eventually all these things will come back to me.

That bird this morning? It finally found freedom. But it had to trust that the opening I created was real, even when it couldn't fully see it yet.

Your Assignment This Week

Build trust in the simple things:

1. Show up early (or on time) to everything this week. Build buffers into your day so your yes can actually be yes.

2. Lower your filter by one degree with someone close to you. Share something honest you normally wouldn't share.

3. Do one thing you said you'd do that you've been putting off. Your word needs to mean something.

Trust is built in the boring, consistent moments. It's broken in the small inconsistencies that add up over time.

Be the person whose word means something.

welp that’s all for now,
Daniel

P.S. If this resonated with you, send this to a guy in his 20's who needs to hear that their word can mean something again.

P.P.S. Joe Gorman recently share this about my book: “Your book was fantastic and one of the few books that I’ve picked up and could not put down!”