Rise by lifting others: Power of Giving

The Holy Quran has got around 200 verses?on ‘compassionate’ living. In one such verse, Allah says: “Help?one another in acts of piety and righteousness. And do not?assist?each other in acts of sinfulness and transgression. And be aware of Allah. Verily, Allah is severe in punishment” (Quran?5:2).

Happiness?begins from the moment you do something for others.?Giving one’s time, money, or energy to help others doesn’t just make the world better place to live, it also makes?us?better. Studies indicate that the very act of giving back to the community boosts your happiness, health, and sense of well-being and?those who consistently help others, are happy, and do not come across any obstacles in their lives, they are less stressed and experience improved mental health.

The?purpose of life?is to serve others, as the renowned Urdu Poet?Mir Dard’s poetry illustrates:?

???? ?? ?? ????? ???? ??? ????? ??

???? ???? ?? ??? ??? ?? ?? ??? ??? ? ?????

Translation: “Mankind was created to console each other. Else, angles were more than enough for God’s worship”.

However, when doing so, one should not expect something in return; our intention should be to lessen other people’s misery.?Let’s think for a while. Do any trees eat their own fruit? No. This teaches us that human beings should not only use their?body, mind and belongings?for themselves, but also to serve others. When you do this, nature, in turn, rewards you.

1. Volunteering Time?

Time is valuable and most people understand that.?When you take time out of your day to help a friend, they remember it. I try and do a guest webinar every couple of weeks for contacts so they know I’m willing to take time out of my day to share my experience with the community. Even if it’s not something as public as a webinar or podcast, set aside some time to help a contact. It could be as simple as helping them move to a new home.

2. Sharing Feedback?

Candid or transparent feedback can be tough because some people don’t take constructive criticism well.?There is a difference between telling someone that they annoy you and telling them with examples of how they can improve.?Some people won’t take it well but, in the long run, you will help the people that you want to work with and improve the efficiency and success of your company as well.

3. Sharing Knowledge

One of the easiest ways to help others is to simply share your knowledge. In the existing technological age, one doesn’t have to be in front of a classroom to teach. Every day there is an opportunity to educate someone about your area of expertise. The key is to keep educating yourself so you can stay ahead of the curve. Remember, knowledge is the only thing that gets enhanced while giving it out.?

4. Sharing Resources?

Think about the resources you’ve invested in and be mindful of whether they can help someone else. Maybe an MS Excel expert on your team has some extra time and your finance team needs help or, maybe you have a language expert in one of your team’s and try to connect them to people who can use them.

5. Giving is Contagious?

One?study?found that people are more likely to perform feats of generosity after observing another do the same. This effect can ripple throughout the community, inspiring dozens of individuals to make a difference.??

When one person performs a good deed, it causes a chain reaction of other altruistic acts. One study found that people are more likely to perform feats of generosity after observing another do the same. This effect can ripple throughout the community, inspiring dozens of individuals to make a difference.??

Last Word

Helping others should be a natural extension of every business leader’s responsibilities. Unfortunately, it doesn’t come as easy as you would think. As leaders, we often get too caught up in operations or our own issues to give people the help they need. However, living in a community setup for decades, I’ve realized that most of my relationships have come from me helping someone and vice-versa.

Helping others isn’t always easy. It can sometimes derail your schedule and cost you time, money and other resources. It can even be interpreted the wrong way. However, keep the above tips in mind for some easy ways to show your connections that they truly matter to you.

Related Article:?Click hereLearn how sometimes smaller things in our lives make huge impact and you can take some learnings on a personal and professional level by following me on?LinkedIn?and?on our official?website.?Also follow us on social media:?Facebook,?LinkedIn,?Medium,?Twitter,?Instagram?and?YouTube.

Muhammad Sajwani?is the Founder, Managing Director and Principal Consultant at?Evolve HR?which aims at transforming,?enriching and evolving Human Capital of Pakistan. At Evolve HR, him and his team thrives in challenging assumptions that hinder organisational aspirations, by creating innovative solutions that yield maximum impact, scalability & benefit to a wider base of stakeholders.As a Business Coach and Organisational Consultant, Sajwani knows how to combine business insights with people insights to transform organisations and put them on the path to growth