THE POWER OF SIGNIFICANCE
Grace Krobo - Edusei
Certified executive leadership coach, trainer and speaker. Executive program director at Maxwell Leadership team. I am passionate and well resourced to help lift growth driven leaders higher in purpose and excellence.
“If a man for whatever reason has the opportunity to lead an extraordinary life, he has no right to keep it to himself.” -Jacques Yves Cousteau.
Reading through John Maxwell's book Put Your Dream To The Test, I have come to realise that to have a dream worthy of my efforts and worth dedicating my life to, it must benefit others as well as myself. And that brings me to the question: Does my dream benefit others?
J. Paul Getty was named the world's richest man by Fortune magazine in 1957, yet anyone who knew him would tell you that he was also the most frugal. He wore threadbare sweaters and rumpled suits. Additionally, he placed a pay phone so that visitors could use his house. The event involving his grandson, however, served as the clearest illustration of his reluctance to deal with money.
In 1973, an Italian gang abducted 16-year-old Jean Paul Getty III. Getty refused to pay a ransom of $17 million, only agreeing to a small portion of $2.7 million. The boy was later found alive but had been held captive for five months.
J. Paul Getty was therefore frugal with his funds. Is that truly important to know? He earned it, didn't he, and he was entitled to retain it? Don't you have the right to keep any money you make, or receive as an inheritance, anyway?
You do, of course. However, it is not the purpose of what you are entitled to do.
Strangely, J. Paul Getty Jr., one of Getty's sons, had a viewpoint that was very dissimilar from his father's. Despite giving away millions of dollars, he only earned a small portion of the Getty inheritance. He declared, "I consider myself to be the custodian of that money for the benefit of people who need it more than I do. I am privileged to be the heir to enormous wealth."
How about us? What is the best way for us to give? For what reason should we give generously? There are other reasons but these are my top three:
1. GIVING CHANGES YOUR PERSPECTIVE.
Being around selfish people is not something that anyone enjoys. On the other hand, almost everybody likes to be around generous individuals. Literary critic and biographer Van Wyck Brooks said:
How delightful is the company of generous people, who overlook trifles and keep their minds instinctively fixed on whatever is good and positive in the world around them? People of small calibre are always caring. They are bent on showing their superiority, their knowledge or prowess or good breeding. But magnanimous people have no vanity, they have no jealousy, they have no reserves, and they feed on the true and solid wherever they find it. And what is more, they find it everywhere.
A person's focus naturally shifts when they give to others, especially if such giving is habitual. In actuality, being generous is as simple as shifting one's attention from oneself to others. Selfishness is banished when you're focused on assisting others and supporting their success. And that brings happiness to the donor as well as improving the planet. "No man can live happily who regards himself alone, who turns everything to his advantage," as the Roman poet Seneca once stated. If you want to live for yourself, you have to live for others.
2. GIVING ADDS VALUE TO OTHERS.
Helping others is one of the most important things a person can do in their lifetime. In this life, a person's worth is determined by how many people they assist, not by how much money they accumulate or how many followers they have. You are enjoying a greater life the more you give.
U.S. President Woodrow Wilson said it this way: “You are not here merely to make a living. You are here to enable the world to live more amply, with greater vision, and with a finer spirit of hope and achievement. You are here to enrich the world, and you impoverish yourself if you forget the errand.” No one stands taller in the climb to success than when he bends over to help someone else.
When you add value to others, you do not take anything away from yourself.
“A day lived without doing something good for others is a day not worth living.” -Mother Teresa.
Few people would dispute the impact that Mother Teresa made in her lifetime. She inspired millions of people, sat with presidents and kings and modelled servanthood to the world. Yet, as you can see, her dream of helping others started small, intending to affect one unhappy home, one innocent child, or one dying person.
Nelson Mandela, another person whose dream benefited many other people, also grew into his dream. At first, he was motivated by dreams of freedom for himself. But long, his dream expanded to include others.
“I never perfected an invention without thinking in terms of how it would benefit others.” -Thomas Edison.
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3. GIVING SUPPORTS THE GIVER.
"Give, and it will be given to you. Good measure, pressed down, shaken together, running over, will be put into your lap. For with the measure you use it will be measured back to you.” The Holy Bible (Luke 6:38)
?Greatness is not defined by what a person receives but by what that person gives. A panhandler approached a woman and asked her for money, she reached into her purse and produced a $1 bill. "I'll give you a dollar—not because you deserve it, but because it pleases me," she corrected him as she went.
"Thank you, ma'am," he answered, "but why not make it ten and have a great time while you're at it?"
When you help someone else, don't you feel good about yourself? Don't you feel particularly appreciative when someone is in dire need? "Even though you have earned your money, you have not lived a perfect day unless you have done something for someone who will never be able to repay you," stated Ruth Smeltzer. That's one of the reasons so many individuals jump at the chance to help during a disaster. Givers are compelled to provide aid to those in need when natural disasters like earthquakes, famines, storms, or wars strike—and they never ask for anything in return.
One cannot fail to gain by helping others. Without first illuminating your path, you cannot illuminate that of another.
“We should not receive anything without giving and we cannot give anything without receiving in return.
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Sources:
The King James Bible
Today Matters by John C. Maxwell
Put Your Dream To The Test by John C. Maxwell
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Check out these links to learn more about Grace Krobo-Edusei and her work as a Maxwell Leadership certified coach, trainer and speaker.
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Owner at Adolyn Group
9 个月Very insightful and true