4 Ways To Know Who To Trust

AAlex Hormozi
경영/리더십결혼/가정생활정신 건강

Transcript

00:00:00Why don't you trust me, right?
00:00:01Something that we might say to somebody
00:00:03or you might say the reverse is like, just trust me.
00:00:05And that word, people have a very hard time
00:00:08of knowing like, what the hell does that even mean?
00:00:10What does trust even mean?
00:00:12And so this is a departure from my normal business content,
00:00:13but I think you will like it, or at least I do.
00:00:15And so I was thinking about this
00:00:16because someone recently was like, hey, trust me.
00:00:18And I was like, huh, that's an odd command.
00:00:21What does that even mean?
00:00:22And so I wanna break down, number one,
00:00:25what does trust actually mean
00:00:26from a behavioral perspective?
00:00:27How can I look at someone and say,
00:00:28trust has occurred here, right?
00:00:30And then are there different types of trust?
00:00:33So that, which is what confuses this whole thing
00:00:35because there isn't just one, there's actually four.
00:00:38And this was after actually thinking about this one statement
00:00:39that a friend made to me.
00:00:41And so the four types of trust
00:00:43actually correspond with two big variables,
00:00:45which is who's at risk and who does the punishing.
00:00:49So whoa, whoa, whoa, slow down.
00:00:50So you're saying trust is about punishment?
00:00:53The answer is yes.
00:00:54So if I trust someone,
00:00:55it means that I make myself punishable by them.
00:00:59So for example, if I say,
00:01:00I'm gonna share a secret with you,
00:01:02then it means I give you something
00:01:03that you can punish me with.
00:01:04And the idea is that I believe I'm making a bet
00:01:08that you're not gonna punish me.
00:01:09And that's the risk, right?
00:01:11And so the idea is we have you who are at risk,
00:01:14so you risk,
00:01:16and then we have the other person punishing, right?
00:01:20That's the first type.
00:01:22The second type of risk
00:01:23is that someone else does the risking with you
00:01:26and they say,
00:01:27I'm gonna give you a secret,
00:01:29I'm gonna give you a knife
00:01:29and I can point it at my back
00:01:31and I'm gonna bet that you're not gonna stab, all right?
00:01:33So now you're the one who can punish them.
00:01:35That means that you are being trustworthy to them.
00:01:38I'm gonna give you prescriptions
00:01:38on how to actually do this
00:01:40because this has been so helpful
00:01:41for thinking about this through like a relationship.
00:01:43Like imagine Layla and I were married
00:01:44and I want her to trust me more
00:01:46and she wants me to trust her.
00:01:48So it's like,
00:01:48how can we actually prescribe,
00:01:51do these things to gain trust?
00:01:53And this is what I wanted to talk about
00:01:54and that's what we're gonna do.
00:01:55All right,
00:01:56let me just cover the other two.
00:01:57So if you're at risk,
00:01:58who else is the possible punisher?
00:02:00Well, it's the environment.
00:02:01So that means that reality punishes you.
00:02:03So what does that actually look like?
00:02:05That would be,
00:02:07hey, can I trust you to pick my kid up tomorrow, right?
00:02:10Sure.
00:02:11How would that happen?
00:02:12Well, I'm going to give them something,
00:02:14two different things,
00:02:15that I value a lot.
00:02:16They could punish me.
00:02:17They could kidnap my kid.
00:02:19That would suck, right?
00:02:20Or they could not pick up my kid.
00:02:22Also would suck.
00:02:23Are they the one doing the punishing?
00:02:25Well, kidnapping, yes.
00:02:26But if they just didn't keep their word
00:02:28and just didn't pick the kid up,
00:02:30the environment would do the punishing, right?
00:02:32Now, to the same degree,
00:02:33someone can trust me
00:02:34and it can't just,
00:02:36doesn't always have to be about action,
00:02:37like me doing something for someone else.
00:02:39It can also be about advice.
00:02:41So if I'm like,
00:02:41man, I really trust her.
00:02:42I trust her advice.
00:02:43She has good insight, right?
00:02:45Then I might follow that advice
00:02:47and a bad thing would happen
00:02:48and then I'd be like,
00:02:48I don't trust her that much.
00:02:49She gives terrible advice, right?
00:02:51And so these are the four conditions.
00:02:52So you basically have secrets or information, right?
00:02:56That someone can give you
00:02:57or you can give someone
00:02:58that they can use and hurt you.
00:03:00Or you give someone your word
00:03:02that you're going to do something,
00:03:03either make it happen
00:03:04or that they should do it
00:03:06and in either of those scenarios,
00:03:07the environment does the punishing.
00:03:09All right?
00:03:09Here's the thinking process around,
00:03:11should I do this?
00:03:12So two questions.
00:03:14Number one,
00:03:15do they have a track record
00:03:16of protecting what they've been given?
00:03:18The things and information
00:03:19that you've given to them, right?
00:03:20Have they had a knife before,
00:03:23pointed at your back
00:03:24and not used it?
00:03:26And does burning you
00:03:28cost them more than protecting you?
00:03:31AKA, is betraying you
00:03:32a bad deal for them?
00:03:34And so if both of those scenarios,
00:03:36meaning they gain more
00:03:37from protecting you,
00:03:38number one,
00:03:39and number two,
00:03:39they have a track record
00:03:40of not burning you,
00:03:41then it makes sense
00:03:42to go forward with the trust.
00:03:44Now, why would you trust to begin with
00:03:45if we define trust
00:03:46as allowing yourself to be punishable?
00:03:48Because the ceiling
00:03:49of a relationship with potential
00:03:50is based on the shared context
00:03:52that both people have
00:03:53about each other.
00:03:53If I had a stranger
00:03:54as the completely opposite extreme,
00:03:56there's a limit
00:03:57to how much I can help someone
00:03:58if I don't know anything about them.
00:03:59And so every single thing
00:04:00that we volunteer about ourselves
00:04:01gives the other person context.
00:04:02Now, the more someone knows about you,
00:04:03the more they can hurt you, right?
00:04:05And so the idea is
00:04:06a perfectly trusting relationship
00:04:08would allow both people
00:04:09to best serve one another.
00:04:10The difficulty is that
00:04:11humans oftentimes
00:04:12have short-term incentives
00:04:14that are adverse
00:04:15to their long-term goals.
00:04:16I'll give you an example.
00:04:17So if I trust my wife
00:04:20and I say,
00:04:21you know,
00:04:21I don't like my mother,
00:04:23I'm making this up, all right?
00:04:25And later in a fight,
00:04:28my wife uses
00:04:29what I told her about my mother
00:04:30and it could be tomorrow
00:04:32or it could be six months from now.
00:04:34If she uses that against me,
00:04:36then I'm going to be
00:04:37way less likely
00:04:38to trust her again.
00:04:39But it means that
00:04:39the calculus that my wife
00:04:41has to make in the moment
00:04:42when I've given her
00:04:42something valuable
00:04:43is that she has to say,
00:04:45me winning this argument
00:04:47in the short term
00:04:47is not worth the cost
00:04:49of losing the relationship.
00:04:50And so what's really difficult
00:04:51about trust
00:04:52is trust
00:04:52almost more than anything else
00:04:54is based on
00:04:55zero punishment.
00:04:57So what does that mean?
00:04:58So it means that
00:04:59you give someone
00:05:00a little bit thing
00:05:00and they don't do
00:05:01anything bad with it.
00:05:02You give them a little bit more,
00:05:02don't do anything bad,
00:05:03you give them a little bit more,
00:05:04you give them a little bit more
00:05:04and they'll eventually,
00:05:06the incentive for them
00:05:07is so high
00:05:08to wrong you
00:05:09that they do.
00:05:12And that sucks.
00:05:14And so
00:05:14when they do that one time
00:05:16and people,
00:05:16I mean think about it,
00:05:17think about the relationship
00:05:17with the marriages
00:05:18where it's like,
00:05:18I trusted him for 20 years,
00:05:19you know,
00:05:20and then like,
00:05:20boom,
00:05:20he did that one thing
00:05:21and that was it,
00:05:22could never trust him again.
00:05:23Right?
00:05:23It's because
00:05:24the punishing event
00:05:25of betraying someone
00:05:27will literally undo
00:05:29all the reward
00:05:30and reinforcements
00:05:30like as you did beforehand.
00:05:31Which is why
00:05:32if you want to be trustworthy,
00:05:34you have to do
00:05:35zero punishment.
00:05:36And that means both
00:05:37at when they disclose
00:05:38the thing,
00:05:38someone says,
00:05:39hey,
00:05:39I'm coming out of the closet,
00:05:40I'm gay now,
00:05:40the moment they give you
00:05:41the thing for sure
00:05:42is a reinforcing event
00:05:43to make sure that you
00:05:44not only want to be neutral,
00:05:45but like,
00:05:45thanks for sharing that,
00:05:46your secret's safe with me,
00:05:48it's your news,
00:05:48whatever you want me to do with it,
00:05:49I'll do with it.
00:05:50All right?
00:05:51The second thing
00:05:51is that it doesn't get used
00:05:52in the future against them.
00:05:53So not like necessarily
00:05:54talking to them,
00:05:55but like,
00:05:55if you share it with somebody else
00:05:56and then that person hurts them,
00:05:57they still don't trust you
00:05:59and won't want to trust you
00:06:00and then you get a reputation
00:06:01of something
00:06:01whose loose lips,
00:06:02loose lips sink ships.
00:06:03Right?
00:06:04And so,
00:06:05if you want people to trust you
00:06:06and you want to trust them,
00:06:09then you need to make sure
00:06:10that they are trustworthy,
00:06:11which means,
00:06:12have they followed the prescription
00:06:13of becoming trustworthy
00:06:14that I just outlined?
00:06:15And this,
00:06:16the reason that I think
00:06:16you have to do it
00:06:17with every time
00:06:17you share something,
00:06:18especially if it's material,
00:06:19obviously you're not calculating
00:06:20every single decision,
00:06:21right?
00:06:21But when it's a material thing,
00:06:23calculating it independently
00:06:24and thinking,
00:06:25wait,
00:06:25if I give this thing,
00:06:26the incentive is way too big.
00:06:28Like,
00:06:28what do I gain from this
00:06:29versus what do I risk?
00:06:30And fundamentally,
00:06:31this is,
00:06:32some people see this
00:06:33and think,
00:06:33oh,
00:06:33this is just so transactional
00:06:34and I think,
00:06:35I think you're wrong
00:06:35and I think you're dumb.
00:06:36I'm going to be
00:06:37really honest with you.
00:06:39We all make this appraisal
00:06:41of pluses and minuses
00:06:42in our minds
00:06:43on some level.
00:06:44I'm just trying
00:06:45to clearly define it
00:06:46so that I can recognize
00:06:47and I'm like,
00:06:48I don't trust this guy.
00:06:49I can actually
00:06:49ascribe a filter
00:06:50being like,
00:06:51why don't I trust him?
00:06:52Oh,
00:06:53when did I make myself
00:06:54punishable
00:06:54that he used against me?
00:06:56Oh,
00:06:57in these specific scenarios.
00:06:58And then that way,
00:06:59when the person's like,
00:06:59why don't you trust me?
00:07:00It's like,
00:07:00well,
00:07:01here's four reasons.
00:07:01I told you this
00:07:02and then he used it this way.
00:07:03I told you this
00:07:03and he used it this way.
00:07:05And so the equal opposite
00:07:06is like,
00:07:06I want to be
00:07:07a trustworthy person
00:07:08because gaining trust
00:07:10with other people
00:07:11gives you a lot of stuff.
00:07:13So number one
00:07:13is it makes you
00:07:14more influential.
00:07:15If you have trust,
00:07:16you haven't used anything
00:07:18that someone else has said
00:07:19to hurt them,
00:07:21then they will trust you
00:07:22with more things,
00:07:23which means that your ability
00:07:24to have context on them
00:07:25is higher.
00:07:26Number two,
00:07:27if they trust your advice,
00:07:28the other type of trust,
00:07:29and they follow
00:07:30your prescriptions
00:07:31and good things happen,
00:07:32the likely they follow
00:07:33the future prescriptions
00:07:34goes up.
00:07:35If you say,
00:07:36I'm going to pick up the kid
00:07:37and then you do,
00:07:38the likely that they'll trust
00:07:39you to pick up the kid
00:07:40in the future goes up,
00:07:41which also means
00:07:42that we have to
00:07:43keep our word.
00:07:44And so whenever
00:07:45you have the opportunity
00:07:47to break your word,
00:07:49that is at a short-term
00:07:50benefit to you,
00:07:52realize that you do not
00:07:53harm the relationship,
00:07:54you likely end it.
00:07:56It just doesn't die immediately.
00:07:57It's kind of like
00:07:58cutting a tree off the vine.
00:07:59The tree's still there
00:08:00for a long time.
00:08:01And sometimes there's
00:08:01a hollowed out dead tree
00:08:03on the inside.
00:08:03It's still there visibly,
00:08:04but we all know
00:08:06it's dead on the inside.
00:08:07The stream of nutrients,
00:08:09which we can see truth
00:08:10as nutrients in a relationship,
00:08:12it gets cut off
00:08:13the moment someone
00:08:13betrays somebody else.
00:08:15And so I would use this frame
00:08:17and I'm using this now
00:08:18because I'm giving a presentation
00:08:19tomorrow to my company
00:08:20sharing something
00:08:21that they could use
00:08:22to hurt me,
00:08:23but I'm trusting them
00:08:25by making myself punishable,
00:08:27which gives everyone else
00:08:28in the business
00:08:28the opportunity
00:08:29to earn more of my trust.
00:08:31Which to be fair,
00:08:31I've already given it to them.
00:08:32It's really theirs to lose.
00:08:34Real quick,
00:08:34I'm going to show you
00:08:34the exact 10 stage roadmap
00:08:36from zero to 100 million plus
00:08:38that less than 1%
00:08:40of companies finish.
00:08:41I've now done multiple times.
00:08:42And so I can say
00:08:43with a lot of confidence
00:08:43that these are the stages
00:08:44as headcount increases
00:08:46that you need to get through.
00:08:48And I broke each of these down
00:08:49by eight different functions
00:08:50of the business,
00:08:51what the constraint feels like,
00:08:53like what are the symptoms
00:08:54of it when you're going through it,
00:08:55and then what steps
00:08:56we actually took to graduate.
00:08:57And we've done this
00:08:57across software,
00:08:59physical products,
00:09:00service businesses,
00:09:01brick and mortar,
00:09:02all of this,
00:09:03and it works.
00:09:04And it's my gift to you.
00:09:05It's absolutely free.
00:09:06And so the link's
00:09:06in the description,
00:09:07but you just go
00:09:08acquisition.com forward slash roadmap.
00:09:09Just enter your info
00:09:10and it'll spit it right back
00:09:11to you all free.

Key Takeaway

Trust is a calculated, transactional act of making oneself punishable by others, and maintaining it requires consistently avoiding the use of shared information for short-term gains.

Highlights

  • Trust functions as a behavioral mechanism where one party makes themselves punishable by another.

  • Four types of trust exist, differentiated by whether the person at risk or the environment acts as the punisher.

  • Betrayal in a relationship functions like cutting a tree off the vine, ending the connection even if it remains visibly present.

  • Trustworthiness requires a track record of protecting provided information and ensuring that betrayal remains a disadvantageous deal for the trustee.

  • The depth of a relationship is limited by the amount of shared context, which necessitates the transfer of potentially damaging information.

Timeline

Defining Trust Through Risk and Punishment

  • Trust entails intentionally making oneself punishable by another person.
  • There are four distinct types of trust based on the variables of who is at risk and who controls the punishment.
  • Risk involves either giving someone secrets they could expose or following advice that could lead to negative outcomes.

Trust is not an abstract concept but a behavioral state where one party provides something of value that the other party could use to cause harm. Whether it is sharing a secret or relying on guidance, the trusting party bets that the other will not exercise their power to punish. In cases where the other person does not act directly, the environment itself may serve as the punisher when expectations are not met.

Evaluating Trustworthiness and Long-Term Incentives

  • Assess if the other person has a history of protecting what they have been given.
  • Determine if betrayal acts as a net negative for the trustee compared to the benefits of a maintained relationship.
  • Human behavior often conflicts with long-term goals by favoring short-term incentives like winning an argument.

Deciding whether to trust someone requires a calculation of two main factors: their past behavior and their current incentives. Even if someone has been reliable for years, they may choose to betray that trust if a short-term incentive, such as winning a conflict, temporarily outweighs the long-term value of the relationship. Protecting shared context is essential for building a deep connection.

Maintaining Trust and Avoiding Betrayal

  • Trust requires zero punishment, meaning shared information must never be used against the giver.
  • Betrayal permanently cuts off the flow of nutrients in a relationship, effectively killing it even if the relationship persists in name.
  • Gaining trust increases influence and allows for higher levels of context sharing between people.

Maintaining trust requires a commitment to never using disclosed information to cause harm or gain a tactical advantage. When a person uses a shared secret against someone, they destroy the foundation of the relationship. This process is cumulative; repeated disclosures must be met with consistent protection to foster deeper influence and better, more collaborative outcomes.

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