Wikipedia describes Trust is a ‘relationship of reliance. A trusted party is presumed to seek to fulfill policies, ethical codes, law and their previous promises.’ Trust is therefore deemed a prediction of reliance on an action, based on what a party knows about the other party. Trust is a statement about what is otherwise unknown, for example, because it is far away, cannot be verified, or is in the future. Trust is also defined as “reliance on the integrity, strength, ability, surety, etc., of a person or thing; confidence.”

As social beings, our modern lives are a constant stream of connections to others by ties of social and professional alliances. The ability to forge trusting relationships form the foundation for many of our more positive and rewarding experiences. When individuals are betrayed, they immediately lose their capacity to trust others and their ability to function productively or satisfyingly in an increasingly social world is limited. When we trust other people, we are not just extending our belief in them, we may also be allowing them to see our vulnerabilities.

David Straker suggests there are four key features that exemplify trust:

Definition 1: Trust means being able to predict what other people will do and what situations will occur. If we can surround ourselves with people we trust, then we can create a safe present and an even better future.

Definition 2: Trust means making an exchange with someone when you do not have full knowledge about them, their intent and the things they are offering to you

Definition 3: Trust means giving something now with an expectation that it will be repaid, possibly in some unspecified way at some unspecified time in the future.

Definition 4: Trust means enabling other people to take advantage of your vulnerabilities—but expecting that they will not do this.

A trustworthy person is someone in whom we can place our trust and can prove their trustworthiness by fulfilling an assigned responsibility and to not let down our expectations. The responsibility can be an intangible, such as delivering on a commitment, or as tangible as such delivering a product in good order. A trustworthy person is someone that we can put our concerns and secrets. In order for one to trust another, their worth and integrity must be consistently demonstrated over time.

The greatest show of trust is letting others know your feelings, emotions and reactions and having the confidence in them to respect you and to not take advantage of you. By placing confidence in others in the hope they will be supportive and reinforcing of you, even if show your weaknesses means they have earned your unequivocal trust.The ability to let others into your life so that you and they can create a relationship built on an understanding of mutual respect, caring, and concern to assist one another in growing and maturing independently is a sign of trust.Trust is the glue or cement of relationships that allows you to need others to fully express yourself.

According to Stephen M Covey Trust is expressed by a paradigm that includes five waves of trust. Self trust based on the principle of credibility, relationship trust based on the principle of proper behavior, organizational trust based on the principle of alignment, market trust based on the principle of reputation, and societal trust based on the principle of contribution).

Accepting who you are and what your potential is an important step in letting down your guard enough to develop a trusting relationship with others. If you are so insecure in your identity that you are unable to accept yourself first, how can you achieve the self-revelation necessary to develop trust? Self-acceptance through an active program of self-affirmation and self-love is a key to the development of trust.

The act of placing yourself in the vulnerable position of relying on others to treat you in a fair, open, and honest way.