Generosity and Wealth

Ever notice that the most generous people seem to maintain their abundant lifestyle long term? My friend Tim is one of those people. Tim is the life of any party he attends. We were at a corporate event in New Orleans and found ourselves at a pizza place at midnight. There were a dozen people in line, eight of whom we had never met before. Tim bought slices for everyone and made a bunch of new friends in the process. My brother Marc is also inherently generous. Even before he had much money he’d pick up tabs, not just for me, but for everyone around him. Both Marc and Tim are very successful; This is no coincidence. Generous people are well liked and usually fun to be around. These are helpful traits in business and in life. I believe there is a strong correlation between generosity and wealth.

Hoarders

Of the hoarders I’ve met, few are wealthy (although there are some). The challenge is, if you are hoarding you’re not spending. If everyone decided to hoard his money, the economy would come to a grinding halt. If we stopped purchasing goods and services, the people that produce those goods and services would no longer have jobs. When business picks up, more employees are needed. As it expands further, existing employees may get an opportunity to work more hours. As they work more hours, they gain experience and become more productive in their role. As their productivity increases, so does their value to the business. As value is realized additional compensation is justified. From there they can be promoted to newly created roles that are a result of the business growth. It’s people like Tim and Marc that magnify this effect and create more wealth for those they reach. This is the wonder of capitalism.

Circulation law of prosperity

The reason generous people so frequently thrive financially goes to the circulation law of prosperity. This law suggests that what you give away comes back to you with dividends. A few weeks ago I made a donation to a person in need. When I went to my mailbox hours later, there were 3 refund checks from the telephone company totaling exactly twice what my donation had been. I find that things like this happen continually when I give of myself. The key to making this work in your life is to give without expectations.

There is always enough

At times in my life I’ve operated from the standpoint of scarcity. I was afraid to spend money. I was reluctant to share for fear that I wouldn’t have enough. Despite what we may hear, there is no shortage of money in the world. People are creating more of it everyday. The challenge comes when we fail to see this and begin worrying about not having enough. It can become a self-fulfilling prophecy. We can see how this mindset affects the economy when we look at the Consumer sentiment index. This index is published monthly by the University of Michigan. They poll people to determine how people feel about business, the economy, and their financial situation. This serves as a good leading economic indicator. As people become more pessimistic, they spend less. As this plays out, economic growth slows and livelihoods can be negatively affected.

Remove your ceiling

Don’t judge yourself by where you now are and don’t settle for it unless you are where you want to be. If you make more it doesn’t mean that other people have to make less. You don’t have to take a bigger piece of the pie, instead put your energy into growing the pie. If you grow the pie, not only do you benefit, but you are able to take others along for the ride. Successful people understand this intuitively and refuse to acknowledge a financial ceiling.

If you want to become more abundant, consider the correlation between generosity and wealth. Do you feel like you could be more generous? Not only can it help your wallet, it can also help your soul.

I’d love to hear your success stories in this area. Please send them to me at [email protected]