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Nolwazi Mnikwa
It’s a new year and I’m back with the relationship conversations designed to help improve your relationships at home, in the workplace as well as in society in general.
It would be good to assume that you had a restful and wonderful festive period and have entered the new year with a vision, goals, hopes and aspirations.

Hard work coupled with working smart will go a long way in getting you your desired results. There’s however one secret ingredient that’s the cherry on top in getting you quality results in your goals and it’s that of relationships. When you’re working towards the attainment of a goal or vision and you have that one person providing you with moral and emotional support, you’re not only motivated but you also develop a deep sense of confidence within yourself.

This confidence is a fuel that propels you towards the attainment of your vision or goals. That one person providing you with emotional and moral support can be your spouse, partner, parent, child, grandparent, aunt, uncle, brother, sister, cousin, friend, colleague, pastor, neighbor, mentor and even your business associate.

You may be reading this part and probably thinking, ‘you’re a self-starter, a self-motivator’, so you don’t really need someone to motivate you to success. Well, I’ve some news for you and after reading through this article, you’ll view the impact of relationships to your growth and success from a different angle.

As an individual, if you can have good, healthy relationships, invest in them and value them, you’ll be doing yourself a favour. You see when you genuinely value someone, they’ll trust you. As a result of this trust, they’ll open up to you, share ideas with you, contribute to an initiative and also assist you in resolving issues whether personal or business related.

If a business associate opens up to you, he/she can share business opportunities or strategies that can help scale up your business with you. If a colleague or your employer opens up to you, he/she can share vacancies that have opened up even before they are advertised. If a spouse, partner, parent, colleague or friend opens up to you, he/she can provide you with constructive feedback that is much needed towards the attainment of your vision or goals. I remember a few years ago, I attended a training session after which I went over to greet one of the organisers who was also a former employer.

During the brief two-minute greeting, we exchanged pleasantries and the former employer went on to inform me that there was a project the company was about to embark on, I was the ideal person to lead the project and I should get in touch for more details.

Long story short, the gesture I made in greeting this individual (showing value in the relationship) contributed to landing a lead role for a project. The point I’m basically putting across is that if you take the time to genuinely invest in healthy relationships, your efforts will not go to waste. Note the word genuine there. Some people tend to build fake relationships just so they can benefit from these relationships and this is wrong on all levels. One can only be fake for so long, so if you really want to see the success that comes from good, healthy relationships, you have to be genuine in building and investing in those relationships.

I remember when I was pursuing my Bachelor’s degree, the time for work-related learning came and I honestly had no clue where I was going to start. I had never applied for a job before.

Well, the job I had before that was obtained from a friend so I didn’t know how to even begin looking for a place for my internship. I just shared with a friend I had served with in the Bulawayo Junior City Council that I was looking for internship and my friend directed me to see a relation of theirs. In a nutshell, what I had expected to be an interview turned out to be my orientation as I began my work-related learning journey. After my term of office had lapsed in the Bulawayo Junior City Council, I remained in contact with a number of colleagues I had served with.

Bulawayo City Council (BCC)

I had not invested in those relationships in order to get something out of it, but investing as a way of building friendships and as a result through that investment the process of searching for work-related learning was shortened for me.

One of the young ladies I look up to has also shared how relationships have contributed to her success. She attended a young people’s fellowship program overseas and developed a couple of professional relationships as she networked. As fate would have it, one of the networks she established has business ventures in the country. Long story short, through her ability to build professional relationships, she got to know of a vacancy in one of the companies, applied for it and landed a good job. I could tell a story of how two cousins I know of continually share opportunities with each other that uplift them financially. I could share of how a set of twins motivate each other to advance their studies and go to the gym.

There’s so much to share concerning how good healthy relationships are pivotal in helping an individual achieve their vision, goals and dreams.  If you notice, I keep emphasizing good healthy relationships because toxic relationships have a reverse effect. They’re draining, cause depression and they’re not ideal for the growth and progress of an individual.

In essence, each healthy relationship is important and it should be invested in.
I would love to hear your thoughts, comments and feedback as well as relationship topics you would like to have covered. You may send these to [email protected] or WhatsApp +263775978857. Keep safe and be blessed.