This project deals a lot with trust, the tiniest expression of trust in the $1 being given and in the person listening to my journey.

I’ve started thinking a lot about how to build elements of this trust as I go up to people in real life. I avoid going up to people in parking lots. I use shopping carts at Target and Walmart to create space and a safety zone between me and the person I’m speaking with. I think about how I would like to be approached by someone and what makes me feel safe/unsafe. 

I looked up the requirements for building trust and found a resource (Price, 2017) about building trust in the workplace with the following list (eliminating a few items that don’t apply to my project so far): 

1. Tell the truth
2. Admit when you don’t know something
3. Admit when you’re wrong
4. If you say you’ll do it, do it
5. Explain your thought process
6. Extend trust to others
7. Include others
8. Watch your reactions
9. Give others a chance to talk
10. Listen with intent

This blog is the space where I get to explain my thought process and build trust by telling the truth. I can admit that I don’t know how the million dollars will be spent, but that it will go back into the community in some way. 

This entire project is about extending trust to others and including them in the process. If there is interest in the project I let the other person ask questions (allowing them to speak) and listen intently to what they want to know or what their comfort level is (one woman today didn’t feel comfortable giving a dollar over Venmo or CashApp, but wanted my website information and thought the project sounded interesting). 

Watching my reactions as I go, my goal is to post a blog entry once a week (if you say you’ll do it, do it) and I’ll admit when I’m wrong or explain my thought process with my ideas (especially as this project goes, fingers crossed, viral). 

I’ll keep showing up and explaining where I’m at for the day or the experience. 

One of my favorite parts of this project is that I get to find all these ways to express myself. There’s no wrong way to show up and I get to know more about myself as I continue on this journey. 

Price, H. (2017, November 8). 12 practical ways to build trust at work. Retrieved January 16, 2021, from https://blog.jostle.me/blog/ways-to-build-trust-at-work