The Importance of Relationships!
The types of relationships you have in your life can be very telling as to the kind of person you are. If you have good relationships with those around you, it is most likely because you have chosen to surround yourself with good people and good people have chosen to surround themselves around you. Any good relationship has a few key components: care, communication (listening and sharing), respect, loyalty, etc.
Coach Seth recently spoke to FSL Board Member, Brad, about how relationships in business have affected his life and his career. Brad has been with Northwestern Mutual for many years and has built a successful business because of the long-term relationships he has built and maintained. Relationships are crucial to success!
“It’s important to slow your life down long enough to hear someone’s life story. Think about our culture today and how fast we move. To build a great relationship, you have to slow your life down a little bit. In society, we have not created a culture of listening and caring. It’s so important to take the time to learn someone’s story!”
Brad’s success did not happen overnight. In fact, he calls himself an “overnight success in the last 29 years.” He believes that most people’s overnight success stories span over 29+ years. By this, he means that you have to work hard every day and build the life you want for yourself.
“Every day, you have a brick in your hand and your job is to lay that brick according to the plan you have for your life. The vision that gets instilled in you by your parents, mentors, grandparents, Five Star coaches and volunteers, etc., needs to be laid accordingly. Life is all about laying bricks one by one.”
Brad doesn’t think that you have to have all the answers, but you need to know the direction you want to go. “You don’t have to have all of the answers, but with the right coaching, it allows us to design our lives the way we want to go.”
This doesn’t mean that life is supposed to be easy. “You live life, you experience problems, it’s how you choose to get through them that makes all the difference.” It is also important to understand that “being the best doesn’t mean you have the best score, it means you tried your best.”
Brad has been involved with FSL in different capacities for the last decade. He has chosen to invest his time, energy, and resources in the organization because he loves that FSL is helping students live their best lives. He sees the impact that FSL’s programming is having on students throughout the nation and he sees the potential for even more reach.
Brad was drawn to FSL because he saw FSL “digging into the space of caring and relationships.” As he continued from volunteer, to donor, to eventual Board Member, he has seen the vision for the future. “It’s all about the impact, and how many students we can reach.”
Relationship building has been a pillar in Brad’s life and why he continues to give so much to FSL. Brad, thank you for all you do for us! We are grateful for your support, guidance, and relationship to FSL.
Want to get involved and make a difference? It’s SO easy! To become a Five Star Life Coach, or to learn other ways to volunteer your time, please fill out a Volunteer Application on our website. In addition, if you have a Five Star Life story to share, go to the Share Your Story Page. Your story could be featured in an upcoming blog post!
