Teaching and Guidance Counseling

The Emotional Bank Account is a useful way to consider the relationships which contribute to your success. Think of it in the same way that you would an actual bank account. If you deposit money in the bank, the bank pays you interest and your account continues to grow. If you withdraw money from the account too often, your account will shrink quickly. 

In the same way, your relationships with teachers, teammates, coaches, parents and friends can be thought of as individual bank accounts. You can either make deposits to build and strengthen the relationship or you can make repeated withdrawals from the relationship and cause it to fall apart. This is the idea behind the Emotional Bank Account.

 Relationships take time to build, and strong relationships are based on many Emotional Deposits over time. What is an Emotional Deposit?

Unfortunately, it is much easier to damage or destroy a relationship than it is to build and improve one. Making one withdrawal from a friendship can erase many months of hard work making deposits. Some Emotional Withdrawals might include:

We all want to have friends, and we all want to be well liked. Understanding the Emotional Bank Account and making repeated deposits in your relationships is the key to being trusted and liked. And when you are trusted and liked, your Circle of Influence expands!

Please comment to me about your experiences applying the Emotional Bank Account Concepts. 

 This information is adapted directly from the Seven Habits of Highly Successful People, by Steven Covey. Please read the real book, or one of the many companion books in the series.

Tags: , Deposits, Emotional Bank Account, Guidance Counseling, Relationships, Teens, Withdrawals