“Remember that the happiest people are not those getting more but those giving more”
– H. Jackson Brown Jr.
My choice of quote today may seem a very odd fit for a blog which primarily deals with success in business and achieving financial improvement. I assure you, however, that there is a method to my madness. Perhaps happiness has little interest to you. In fact, maybe you feel this way for all the right reasons – you’re trying to recover from debt and better your family, for example, and you expect to sacrifice and sweat for now. If this describes you, then you are likely perfectly contented to grin and bear for a time while your hard work now builds a better future tomorrow.
What Could You Be Giving?
Firstly, let’s deal with what giving is, precisely. Giving, logically, is the opposite of “getting”. Giving means you take something of your own – mental, physical, or other – and you allow it to belong to someone else. I suspect we’re all on the same page here.
So, how could this possibly relate to running a successful business? If giving is allowing someone else to have your possessions, then how would you ever get ahead? After all, business is about receiving. I can’t know your life situation, so I hope you’ll meet me halfway on this. Imagine you own a company – it can be literally anything you like. Regardless, you find yourself in need of an extra hand and decide to hire a new position. What are you looking for? Hard worker? Committed? Honest?
Likewise, imagine the same situation except now you require a service from another company rather than new staff. Again, what are you looking for? If your first contractor tells you that she’s in the business of making more money than anyone else, how likely are you to hire her? Conversely, if she insists she’ll work harder and go farther than any of her competitors?
Perhaps It Is Better to Give Than Receive
In both examples above, it’s clear to me, anyways, that I would always rather deal with the person or company that will give more of themselves to helping me progress and grow. It only makes sense. Likewise, it only makes sense, then, that the most successful way to live is to give. Giving of ourselves creates value for those who would receive. It only follows that, the more value you create, the more valuable you become.
This leads me to an interesting approach to doing business: perhaps the most important question that any company could ask is, “How can I give my clients more?”. When you stop thinking about how to best improve your own situation and instead focus on helping others, you’ll find your circumstances improve on their own. In every connection we make, as people, we’re looking for the greatest value for our dollar. Whether you are an employer or and employee, make it your aim to give more than anyone else, and I believe you’ll receive well more than you could hope.
Thank you for your time.
