Unleash Four MORE Proven Ways to Connect With Others

Table of Contents

Discover four more ways to successfully connect with others

A couple of years ago, I began making it a priority to cultivate relationships with friends. In fact, I made it a resolution for the New Year, 2018, to connect with others. (Click and read here to find out why this has been important to me). I previously wrote a blog about some of the ways I have been connecting with others and building on both old and new friendships. (Read that blog HERE). I felt as though I had too much to say in a single blog. So I decided to split it up and write two blogs. Below are four MORE ways in which you can start connecting with others and cultivating relationships.

You can also take Gary Chapman’s 5 Love Languages Quiz to find out what your love language is. This will help you utilize the love languages to connect with others and cultivate relationships.

Before diving into these tips and tricks to connect with others, I would love to hear your own ideas! Please take time to share in the comments below.

Take Time for Quality Time

One way to connect with others is to share quality time with them. Engage in an activity everyone enjoys. — Tea Time with a Friend!

I love having quality time with my friends! In fact, quality time is one of my two favorite ways to connect with others, and stay connected. This is because it requires conversation, and being intentional. It is through quality time that laughs are shared, tears are shed, things are spoken, memories are made, and people are healed (mentally and emotionally) from previous hurts. Sounds great huh! So what is quality time exactly? And what is it NOT?

Quality time may look different for different people. For some, it can be as simple as a friend coming over to hang out on the couch and chat for an hour. It can be a good conversation on the phone. For others, it can be a dinner out, a hike with a friend, a shopping trip, a fun painting or culinary class together, or a road trip. Quality time is NOT, however, an exchange through text messaging, or a watching a movie, or anything that is not conducive to conversation and engaging face to face with the other person. So, spending quality time with others should be a priority for all of us. Put it on the schedule, with no end time if possible.

Give a Hug

Don't be too conservative about giving hugs! They are powerful and are an instant way to connect with others.

Believe it or not, a simple gesture that requires physical touch, such as a hug, speaks volumes more than words. We are physical beings and have a great need for physical interaction. A good, good hug is such a great way to connect with someone and let them know you care for them. It just feels good and releases Oxycontin, (the feel good hormone). A hug can make someone’s day! Don’t be conservative with your hugs, and don’t hold back.

Speaking of being conservative with things, check out this other tip for connecting with others.

Say “I love you”

How often do you say “I love you” to those you love? I grew up in a very outspoken family. We spoke our minds freely and often, the good and the bad. And although there may have been some not so good verbal exchanges periodically, there were certainly a lot of “I love you” exchanges. Even to this day, we always say we love each other when having a conversation, my mom, my dad, and both my brothers. Why is this so crucial to our relationships?

Nix the Criticism

I’ve heard it said that every critical word said needs to be followed up with several (at least three) encouraging words. We can often get so defeated by the criticism of others throughout a single day, whether intentional or not. People can be so unkind, and thoughtless. Even I can be unkind and thoughtless, especially to those I love most. Therefore, a reminder to those I love that I do, in fact, love them can be so vital to the relationship I have with my friends and family. No matter what circumstances, arguments, criticisms previously happened, “I love you” is one sure way to connect with others, secure their affections, and to let them know you are still on their side.

Say 'I Love You' often. It is one sure way to connect with others and secure their affections.

‘I Love You’ for the Hundred-thousandth Time

One more thing about this, and I want to include this here because it is important. Many people live by the ideology that if you say I love you too frequently, it can take the sincerity and meaning away. I disagree in this case. I love you said to someone for the hundred thousandth time still holds the same weight of sincerity and meaning as it did when said for the first time. Even without the endorphins, without the feel good, without the butterflies, it can, and often still does hold the same sincerity. In fact, if a person has been loved by another long enough to hear I love you a hundred thousand times, then even if love is not felt in the moment it is said after all those previous I love you exchanges, I believe it carries a greater, more sincere, and more meaningful weight than it ever did before! So let it be said a hundred thousand more times.

One more things, and this is important, particularly for our friendships.

Leave Room for Spontaneity in Outings and Events with Friends

One day not long ago, a very dear friend of mine called me, stressed, upset, and overwhelmed by her present circumstances. She needed help with her car that morning. Of course, it was unplanned. But my husband and I loaded our son up in the car and drove to her home to help her. Yes, it took a little chunk of our morning, but it was important to both of us that we help a friend.

I understand life is busy. But life can only be full if you have room for spontaneity in your friendships. If you have ever heard the same friend say, “I’m busy” or any equivalent to that phrase more than a handful of times in response to your attempts to get together, and I have, you know it feels awful. You might conclude that your friend just doesn’t care, doesn’t like you, and doesn’t want to see you. You might eventually give up entirely. So let’s not give our own friends any reason to believe those conclusions are valid. Let’s leave room, in fact, let’s even pencil it into our calendars, for unexpected visits, good and not-so-good circumstances by which we can be available to help a friend in need. We need to be able to make room for changes in the schedule that allow us to connect with others, etc. Let’s leave room daily for spontaneity.