Jolt!, Phil Cooke [reading women txt] 📗

tight, even his own partner called me later to apologize for his stingy and unprofessional behavior.

He has reaped what he sowed all those years ago. Not long ago, I heard that his clients had grown tired of being nickeled-and-dimed, film crews won’t work with him, and investors saw too much money going into his pocket and not enough going into the TV projects. His tight-fisted attitude toward money has finally cost him his career as a producer.

But I also noticed something else.

His stingy attitude toward money extended to everything else in his life. Because he refused to be generous with money, he wasn’t generous with his time, his relationships, or his business. As a result, he was a lonely man with few friends and a miserable life.

You cannot live a perfect day without doing something for someone who will never be able to repay you.

—JOHN WOODEN, UCLA BASKETBAL COACH

The dictionary defines generosity as “liberality in giving” or a “willingness to give.” Most people think of generosity in terms of financial resources, such as giving to the poor or giving to church or charities. It is certainly that, but the most important thing you can learn about giving is that it’s a lifestyle.

» GIVERS ARE PEOPLE WHO UNDERSTAND THAT MONEY, TIME, LOVE, KNOWLEDGE, AND POSSESSIONS ONLY HAVE VALUE WHEN THEY CAN BE USED TO HELP OTHERS.

Thousands of years ago, teachers taught about giving and did so in terms of two possibilities. First, give to help others. Second, when you give, it comes back to you many times over.

But how can that be? How can giving something away benefit me?

I had a mentor early in my career who explained it this way: “When your fists are clenched holding something tight, you can’t keep them open to receive.”

Since working with that stingy producer many years ago, I’ve deliberately taken another approach. I’ve made generosity a vital part of our business and actively searched for ways we can help others through our limited financial and production resources. When we produce television programs or commercials— within the capability of our accounting procedures—we try to pay people as quickly as possible. I want them to feel that we value their services and appreciate their commitment to our company. As a result, I’ve not only seen a rise in the quality of their work, but I’ve also had freelance crew members and vendors completely rearrange other projects in order to work with us.

We also work with numerous nonprofits, religious ministries, and social service agencies. We donate as much of our time and resources as we can to help them produce high-quality fund-raising and promotional video programming. Even when a client refuses to pay us, we still make a point to pay our employees, crew members, and vendors—even when it hurts.

That attitude and commitment have created tangible benefits for us. When we are in a financial or scheduling bind, our people or vendors don’t hesitate to take less money, change schedules, or give far more time and effort than is normally required. They’re happy to repay our generosity by giving of themselves and their resources.

Many times we’ll approach them with a project we’re doing for free for a nonprofit or ministry client, and they’re happy to participate without charging because they know we’re people of our word, who are generous whenever we can be.

Only those who have learned the power of sincere and selfless contribution experience life’s deepest joy: true fulfillment.

—ANTHONY ROBBINS, MOTIVATIONAL SPEAKER AND TELEVISION PERSONALITY

How can you become a giver?

First, understand it’s not about the amount of money. Lots of people will say, “Well, as soon as I get rich, I’ll become more generous.” But some of the greatest givers I’ve ever met have the least money. Grandmothers on meager pensions are sending a few dollars a month to help build orphanages. People barely making it are giving financially to help feed the hungry. Retired employees are mentoring younger workers. And single people with few financial resources are spending their evenings working with the homeless or families in need.

No matter where you are financially, you can begin a lifestyle of giving. After all, you have money for dining out, movie tickets, dating, other leisure activities, or a nice car. Chances are, you can find something to give.

Second, money is only the beginning of a lifestyle of giving. What other ways can you help someone in need? There’s probably a retired person in your neighborhood who needs help cleaning house, clearing out the gutters, painting, or getting to the doctor. One man was mowing his lawn and decided it would only take a few more minutes to mow his recently widowed neighbor’s yard, and that act of generosity has continued for years, saving her thousands of dollars.

What about at the office? Could you spend a few hours a week mentoring a younger employee? Could you give some time to organize a company outreach in the community? What about helping a coworker who’s going through a particularly difficult time?

No person was ever honored for what he received. Honor has been the reward for what he gave.

—CALVIN COOLIDGE, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES

Third, take your generosity to a new level. Look around you. Want to make a real difference? Pick an area of interest and it’s not difficult to locate an organization working to change that particular area. Energy conservation, drug education and counseling, orphanages, arts programs, voter registration, church-based ministries, day care, literacy programs, youth outreaches, the environment, animal rescue, recycling programs, helping the elderly, global missions, feeding programs, mentoring, minority business consulting, and more. The list is pretty endless, and there are amazing organizations and ministries making a dramatic difference in the world.

But they need your help. Perhaps you can’t physically participate, but you can give financially. I know a young female executive who financially supports a charitable ministry building orphanages in Haiti. She’s never been to the island, but her monthly check is feeding hundreds of young children and providing them a place