The Giving Edge: How Generosity Leads to Career and Financial Triumph

Dear High Performer,

Whatever you can let go off, you have mastered.

Whatever you can't let go off, has mastered you. ?

Have you ever heard of the term 'inflection point'?

The first time I came across it was last year when I saw the show, Pantheon.

It's a beautiful sci-fi animated series.

If you are a sucker for sci-fi movies and series like me, then you need to see it.

My own giving has already started 4 paragraphs in ??

An inflection point is simply a turning point.

A point of significant change.

All of us have had such points in our lives.

A point when we either read, heard, thought about, or experienced something...

That lead to a 180-degree turn in the course of our lives.

It's like we could feel the dial of our hearts move completely in the opposite direction.

And when your heart changes, you change...

Positive or negative.

My Giving Inflection Point

I had such an inflection point the day I was with my mentor while visiting his mum.

His mum had told him of some things that had come up which needed to be addressed...

And without her asking, my mentor made a transfer of a large amount to her.

The catch though was I knew he couldn't necessarily afford to give such an amount...

Because of the things he also was dealing with at the time.

But to see him do that...

To be that generous with his mum... ?

To witness that first hand, forever shifted something in me.

The Power of Understanding

To understand something is to see the thing.

To see the power of the thing.

Eyes that look are common...

But the eyes which truly see are rare.

It's one thing to read about giving and know it's important...

But it's another to see how giving transforms a person's life.

Reading about something is the not the same as seeing the thing.

The reason why many people struggle with generosity is because they haven't seen how giving can transform their lives.

You can't truly see the benefits of something, and need to be cajoled or motivated by others to do it.

Another good example is fitness.

The reason people struggle on their fitness journey is because...

They haven't really realized how tired and low in energy they really are.

The day they discover the significant shift in energy, working out brings to their lives...

That's the day everything changes.

How Giving Changes Your Life

Giving Changes your life because it changes your heart.

The heart is so powerful that the wise Solomon says,

'Guard your heart with all diligence, because that's where life starts*.'

Another way to say that is...

The heart of every matter is the matter of the heart.

Still another way to say that is...

It is the state of your heart that determines your place on the earth.

These are not just fancy, feel good words.

Nothing changes in your life until your heart changes.

Just like your physical heart is the most important of your body.

The heart of your soul and mind is the key to your behavior and subsequently your results in life.

Just like your physical heart is important and valuable...

The heart of your soul and mind reveals what your values are.

And it is your values that make you have value.

'Where your treasure is, there your heart will be also**.'

This is why giving is so important.

Giving reveals what you value.

When a person pays for a product or service...

What that person is indirectly saying is...

This product is so valuable to me that I will rather have it than keep my money.

So when we give, we reveal by our actions that we value what or who we have given to, more than the thing we have.

Value is proof of respect.

What you value, you respect...

And what you respect, you attract into your life.

That is why Solomon says...

Sell everything and buy wisdom***.

You can read about wisdom.

You can talk about how powerful and how valuable wisdom is to you.

But the only way we know you truly value wisdom is when you give your treasure of time and money to it.

This is what makes you a magnet for wisdom and not just talking about it.

This is why giving is so powerful and life-changing.

It reveals your values...

And your values are what make you have value.

Our natural, seen world is controlled by spiritual, unseen forces...

So you want to make sure you are giving to things of value.

Don't just spend time and money just on things you can see - food, clothes, etc...

Invest your time and money in things you can't see like wisdom, your faith, honoring your parents, the future....

These intangible things are the things that will put you in command of the tangible things.

Giving is proof that you have mastered greed.

Whatever you can let go off, you have mastered.

Whatever you can't let go off, has mastered you.

You and I are created to rule and have dominion over earth.

When we hoard anything, we go directly against our purpose.

To hoard something is to be a slave to that thing.

This is why life feels like such a burden to people, because we are going against our very purpose for living.

To rule is to live.

To live is to give.

Living is giving.

Whatever a person hoards, they are a slave to.

This is why people are frustrated, stressed and generally unhappy.

Because we are created, our purpose is to rule and dominate...

And not be slaves to anything.

So people get what they want...

But they hate what they get...

Because they had to make themselves slaves to get the thing.

Giving is living.

A man's life doesn't consist in the abundance of things he possesses...

A man's life is made what by what he gives****.

This is why giving is so transformative.

What You Should Give

Give Full Spirit

Anything worth doing is worth giving your best to.

I have to keep reminding myself on a regular basis that there's nothing like a special occasion...

We make every moment special by giving it our full spirit.

So no more waiting till birthdays or anniversaries to give our loved ones our best...

We give them our best in the moments.

Excellence is not a one-time event,

Excellence is a moment-to-moment event.

When we are casual in the way we do things..

When we have just one toe in the water...

When we go through the motions in our work and relationships, we are being greedy.

We are holding back which is the opposite of generosity.

Don't hold back.

'Fully show up. Full presence, heart and soul in our work and relationships. That's generosity.' - Brendon Burchard

Give Credit.

Generosity is appreciating people for their contribution in your life.

What we appreciate, appreciates.

This is why, honoring our parents is a principle that attracts blessings.

Because they are the ones who took care of us when we couldn't take care of ourselves.

They way we respond to them is the way God responds to us.

So many people came into our lives to teach us something we didn't know...

Let's acknowledge and praise them.

It's so easy to take people for granted.

To the extent that someone who out of their own initiative offered to help us out and have done so consistently...

It doesn't take long for us to see that help as normal...

We even get upset when the person doesn't do it.

It's important that we make a conscious effort not to get familiar.

Let's give credit, and where possible, reward our family, friends, teachers, and mentors for their contribution to our lives.

Give Grace.

When that driver cuts you off in traffic...

Do you secretly wish something bad would happen to them...

So you can drive past and give them the eye that says, 'serves you right'

Or do you give grace?

We are all on this journey called life...

None of us is a finished product.

If God treated you and I based on what our actions deserved, we would be telling a different story.

God has treated us generously...

Let's treat other people with generosity.

It doesn't take any effort to speak ill of people...

To criticize people for their mistakes...

To judge people who are struggling.

But we can make up our minds, starting today, to travel the road less-traveled.

We can choose to give people grace, instead of jumping on their faults.

They forgot your birthday... Give Grace.

They didn't come for your special event... Give Grace.

Let's be an example of grace.

People look at us and they see a reflection of God's love for them because we live a life of grace.

It is this love and grace, not criticism and judgement that helps people make sustainable changes in their lives.

Give Empowerment

These days I find myself praying, Lord, thank you for using me to inspire people,

Right now though, my desire is that you use me to change people's lives.

Empowering people can feel scary because it means the people don't have to depend on you anymore.

But this is what generosity is all about.

The goal of empowerment Is to empower people to become more...

Through coaching, mentoring, knowledge, resources and training.

When we give empowerment...

When we help and do good to people that they can't do for themselves...

We are operating at our highest potential.

When we empower people to live their best life...

We get to live our best lives.

Gratitude Through Generosity

'If you think well, you will thank well,'? Dr David Oyedepo says.

And if you 'thank well,' you will 'give well.'

A grateful person is a generous person.

So, if we're struggling with generosity we need to check our gratitude.

We need to pay a close attention at our lives and recognize all the great things we have going for us...

That we take for granted.

Once we recognize how truly blessed we are, we will find it ridiculous to hold back.

You are blessed.

You have abundance in your life right now.

Remember...

Give your best.

Give credit.

Give grace.

Give empowerment.

YOUR GREATNESS IS VERY SURE.

NOTES Proverbs 4:23 (KJV)? **Luke 12:34 (KJV)? ***Proverbs 23:23 (MSG)? **** Lukew 12:15 (KJV)

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