Credibility is the Foundation of Personal Development…
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“Try to become not a man of success, but try rather to become a man of value.”
—Albert Einstein
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Written by Jimmie Burroughs – Email this article to a friend
A friend recently told me that credibility was a key success formula. I think that he is right, and I know for a fact that he has built up considerable credibility over the years with his website.
A good definition of credibility: Credibility refers to the objective and subjective components of the believability of a source or message. Traditionally, credibility has two key components: trustworthiness and expertise, which both have objective and subjective components. Trustworthiness is based more on subjective factors, but can include objective measurements such as established reliability. Expertise can be similarly subjectively perceived, but also includes relatively objective characteristics of the source or message (e.g., credentials, certification or information quality). Secondary components of credibility include source dynamism (charisma) and physical attractiveness.
Without doubt, credibility is the foundation of personal development. One’s personal development is a revelation of right precepts and principles. It becomes a guide to avoid the pitfalls of greed, self-promotion, and deceit that are so prominent on the internet. In essence, it is a direction away from one’s self and to the higher values of integrity, dependability and compassion. I think that there is a realization today that using tactics that only benefit one’s own financial gain instead of adding value that is sustainable and of real value to others is going to have to change as more people become wise to underhanded, self promoting tactics.
Being branded as a person of credibility will ultimately win over any tactic. It establishes a trust that cannot be bought or transferred through some course of study. It comes through building character and a desire to add to others lives those things that will be of great value.
The person who is developing this kind of trust is also a person of expertise. He has something genuine to offer. He knows what he is doing because he has paid his dues and has learned his craft and wants to share it with others, not for personal gain but to make a contribution to the lives of others.
I’m not saying that there is no place for self gain because we all need to earn a livelihood and earning is certainly in order as long as it is based on integrity and not deceit. Good helpful products are always in demand and those who offer only products intended to be of great value will persevere in my opinion. A person who’s only purpose is to generate more and more wealth using anything that comes along to do so will also be branded for his tactics.
I’m on several mailing lists and I think it is fair to say that I receive value from less than 5% of those lists. For the most part, I’m bombarded with offers. I’ve been on one mailing list for a couple of years now and I stay out of curiosity. This person has not one time offered any value but is constantly informing me of the latest way to get wealthy by taking advantage of their offer. This person is one of the top earners on the Internet and emails me as much as three times in one day on occasions. It forever puzzles me as to how they became so successful. Perhaps there are a lot of gullible people out there just waiting to be taken advantage of by some predator on the Internet.
It needs to be said that credibility is not a self-proclaimed virtue. The fact is the more one proclaims himself to be credible the more skepticism that is aroused. Credibility is earned as others get to know someone through some media of communication and perhaps a blog is a prominent way to develop credibility and trust because it reveals one’s thoughts and gives others the opportunity to see the heart of the blogger.
At any rate, the best success formula is to care for the welfare of others and to express that care through your actions and your articles. That will draw more who are willing to follow your articles and develop trust than anything else you can do. As for me, I want only to be involved with those who have proven their credibility and are trustworthy and an expert in their field.
About the author: Jimmie Burroughs is a motivational speaker and author who’s been involved in teaching Christian Personal Development for more than 30 years. He is a dedicated believer in Jesus Christ and considers helping others his calling in life. His websites contains over 600 articles on preparing yourself for success and better living through personal development.
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