At first sight, it looks like a counter-sense to say that “giving” will make you more successful. In which way do you thing that “giving” can contribute to achieve your goals? Before jumping to the conclusions, let us start with the definition of “giving”.
“Giving” is to contribute to “others”, be “in” for your family, friends and colleagues.
“Giving” to family is educating, playing and proportionate nice moments and experiences to your children and nephews. Additional to that, love is “giving”. When you are in love with someone you are as well “giving”.
When you are helping your friends to surpass certain obstacles, when you are present whenever they need, you are for sure “giving”.
“Giving” to colleagues can be supporting new colleagues to be part of the company organization. Supporting colleagues in overcoming certain obstacles independent if it is your team member, responsibility or role. It can also be, sharing your knowledge within your organization, with peers or interns. You can give your knowledge and share your wisdom and support trainees or junior employees in unchaining their potential allowing them to become the best version of themselves.
“Giving” is not only contributing to people that you know. It can also be to others: people that you don’t know.
“Giving” to others is to hep monetarily or not charity institutions, to help homeless people, to help children with special disease or difficulties, …
What to give? You can give money or give time. At the beginning of your professional career, maybe what you can give monetarily will be low but as soon you understand how give can makes you more successful, your success will transform in wealth and then you would have more to give. Until that time, you can contribute by giving your time. Time is your most important asset because it is something that you cannot get back. Therefore, even if you don’t have money, at least you have time and, giving it, is honorable.
Now that the definition of “giving” is given, let me share how it can contribute to achieve your goals. There are three factors in which “giving” helps your life project to be successful:
- it gives you gratitude, by “giving”, you will receive back, gratitude. Gratitude will push you to earn more, so that you can give more. This cycle continuous, over again, into a positive spiral. Gratitude will increase your positivity.
- it increase your project responsibility, by defining in your project initiation phase that you will donate your project outcome into a charity organization, then your project success will impact positively the cause that that organization support. Increasing responsibility, will increase your commitment through the daily execution.
- it strengthen your project purpose, by connecting with the why. You should develop your project goal with a mission and vision statement that connects to your primary reason. Your primary reason is what do you want “to give”, whom do you want to serve and, most important, why is it like that? A strong project purpose gives you a WOW effect, increasing your resilience.
Considering that “giving” is a win-win situation, I defined, as part of my mission, that I would give part of the revenues of my book sales “Project Your Life” to the “Make-A-Wish” organization. My target is that every year I can make a kid wish come true. Saying that, not finishing my book writing and publishing, giving-up, would not impact only myself but as well kids that are waiting, indirectly for my project realization, and directly for their dreams to come true. By associating “Make-A-Wish” in my book project, it increased my responsibility and purpose and at the end I will feel huge gratitude.
Recently I joined the program “Move for Wish Kids”. The idea was to purchase a T-Shirt, which the money of the purchase would revert to help the kids from the association, dress the T-Shirt during any outdoor sport activity and share the “Move” in the social media. I send below the pictures of my “Move” until the top of the “Bom Jesus” – one of the best places of the city where I live.
I could take some important lessons from my “Move”:
- my original plan was to run from home until the “Bom Jesus” and come back home, that represent 17 km (2 hours), but on that day we had my nephew at home and my wife asked to not take so much time and get tired because there would be a long day ahead with 3 energetic kids at home;
- The “Move” program was to be realized during the month of June but my T-Shirt arrived too late.
Aren’t those good reasons to give up? We face several external challenges with our projects, each one of those could be a good argument to not go forward with our plan. In life projects, like in business projects, issues and risks will come, but what I learnt so far is that problem solving or compromises are always possible. We might not be able to do the big step that we planned but a small step every day is what will make a big difference in achieving our goals. My move was only 7 km and only in July. No problem, it is never too late! Better later than never.
I hope that you liked this post. if it is the case, please give me your “like” and please reply wityour comments.
Take aways:
21-days challenge:
- Define to whom you will “give” something. It can be a family member, colleague, charity institution, or it could be someone that you even don’t know.
- Feel the gratitude of your “move”. It can come back to you in a “smile” and/or in a simple but powerful “thank you”.
