Who's in your circle of trust?

Take a sheet of paper, and write down 5-8 people who aren't family members that you trust. These are people that you can't wait to share good news with, people who know the most about you, and people who you lean on during hard times.

Then mark off characteristics you have in common with your circle. This includes the following.

• Gender identity
• Ethnicity
• Religion
• Age
• Education Attainment
• Socio-Economic Status

The purpose of this is to see on how many levels you are similar to those you trust.

It's human psychology that we trust people who are similar to us, and this activity might help you discover how that has influenced who in your life you have strong relationships with.

Just because this exercise can help you become more aware of the close relationships in your life, doesn't mean you have to change any of them. It just helps shine a light on how our unconscious biases might impact how we view other people. Taking more initiative to build stronger relationships with people who are less similar could be a personal growth opportunity to celebrate our differences.