Maybe it was where I grew up, maybe it was caused by incidents that occurred as a teen, but I had trust issues for a long time. I didn’t trust anyone and I especially didn’t trust myself.


My trust issues resulted in some very painful experiences and caused some uncomfortable moments as I gained more and more responsibility. As I’ve worked with individuals, teams and groups, I’ve learned how critical trust is.


Trust also plays a critical role in comedy, the audience trusts you to get to the edge…without going over. When a comic goes over, he or she is no longer funny.


In a team setting the results are similar. A team member can only go so far before he loses the trust and confidence of other team members. However, as a leader, trust plays an even more significant role. At the leadership level your actions, words and follow through are continually on view. How you act in your office, walking to your car and your actions in the community are always being evaluated. Are you being who you say you are?


It begins with you, do you trust yourself? I know it took a while for me to reach that state. I trusted that I would show up when I said I would, that I would follow through as I promised. I believed myself…not just believed in myself but believed myself, it made me felt powerful, strong and confident.


I admit that I would exaggerate when I was younger. I tended to make the story bigger and bigger. I wanted to feel important, because I didn’t feel important or valued. So I would paint a bigger and bigger picture that even I didn’t believe. The whole process backfired. It didn’t work; I didn’t feel important or valued. Honestly, it made me feel worse, a lot worse. It wasn’t until I began to live my life with truth that I began to trust myself. I began to uncover who I really was. I began to share my story and live my life.


I started with little things, for instance, saying I would show up and then following through. Stopping myself in the middle of a fabricated story and saying, “that’s not true, the truth is…” I had to finally face and tell my truth. Sometimes this made people uncomfortable, sometimes it made people angry, however, most of the time I found people drawn to me. I found they wanted to be with me.


I found my staff followed me and were inspired by me. I found that my marriage became stronger and my relationships improved. The more I trusted myself and my truth, the more I became trustworthy, and the more trusting I became.


I trust my staff, they do the best they can for me and I trust my colleagues. There are times when I find myself feeling untrustworthy of someone. I trust my instincts; however, I also need to determine if this is an old behavior of mine or am I really sensing a potential problem.


Life is better with trust. I’m happier. How about you? Are you trustworthy?

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Trust, Faith, and Courage Bring Miracles to Your Life and Business
~Pegine Echevarria

A Miracle....

Former Bronx girl gang member, Pegine Echevarria, joined a new “gang”, after being inducted into the Motivational Speakers Hall of Fame, its first Latina. Pegine’s fellow 58, “gang members” include such luminaries as Dale Carnegie, Zig Ziglar and Tony Robbins.

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