How to be successful by being a GIVER?

In recent decades, the world has witnessed Jews dominating America's top 10 billionaire list. Surprisingly, Jews constitute just less than 5% of the American population. I wonder how they could be so successful in life. Their success mantra is to give back to society indefinitely by adhering to their holy book, which preaches the art of giving.

The common belief is that we live in dog-eat-dog world, where only greed, hate and selfishness can lead to success. On the other hand, there are certain communities, such as Jews, that are the most generous people in American society, contributing a minimum of 10% of their income to philanthropic causes.

Why do rich, successful rich people donate their wealth to noble causes?
I happened to check the various attributes that contributed to the success of the rich people. They all share one common trait: they give back to society, a highly noble activity. "The more you give, the more you move towards reaching the level of stratospheric success."

Citing the quote of Warren Buffet, "If you are in the luckiest 1 percent of humanity, you owe it to the rest of humanity to think about the other 99 percent."

As a philanthropist, Warren Buffet donated millions to various institutions. Take the case of D. Rockfeller, the founder of national oil, considered the wealthiest American of all time, highly influenced by a meeting in 1893 with Swami Vivekananda, who enlightened him on the virtue of helping the needy. As his wealth grew, so too his giving, primarily to education and health causes. In India, we are fortunate to have the magnificent Tata dynasty, generation after generation, contributing their wealth to the philanthropic cause.

Surprising but true, these philanthropist's fortunes were neither sapped nor slumped for giving to a noble cause; rather, they were far more richer through the karma earned from giving.

Larry King, one of the greatest interviewers of all time, who interviewed many powerful and successful people, was once asked a question: Are your guests as genuinely nice as they seem to be ? His remarkable answer was, "The bigger they are, the nicer they are." Nicer, in the sense that they give more value to others.

How on earth can the common man be a giver and successful at the same time?
Ingrained into our memory, to give others, you need to be financially stable and successful. No wonder too many people think "be a giver" means writing a cheque to provide financial assistance to charities. This is one specific facet of giving. There are other ways of giving—one who gives thought, gives attention, gives care, gives time, and gives value to others.

Most of us laugh when we hear that the secret to success is giving, but it's the hard truth. To receive the benefits from someone, "be a giver" first. When you are the ones who focus only on receiving and shy away from giving, then typically, the harder you work to achieve your goal, the further away it seems to be. Your income is determined by how many people you serve and how well you serve them.

Remembering the famous quote from Deepak Chopra, " When you want something, give it".

In his early stages of his career, when Rockfeller worked as a small clerk, he used to donate 10% of his income to charity. The rule of thumb for giving is to donate at least 5–10% of your income to some good cause.

Bob Burg and John David Mann, authors of "The Go-Giver", mentioned in their book, there are 3 universal laws for man - "Survive, Save and Serve". Survive - to meet your basic needs. Save - to go beyond your basic needs and expand your life. Service - make a contribution to the world around you. Unfortunately, most people spend their lives focusing on the first, while a smaller number focus on the second. But those rare few who are successful-not just financially, but successful in all aspects of their life-keep their focus squarely on the third.

Conclusion
Giving doesn't sabotage your wealth. I was brought up with the belief that one could not be rich and do good at the same time. To contradict the belief, there are countless examples of eminent rich people who added greater value to the world around them.

Mahatma Gandhi, once said, "To give pleasure to a single heart by a single act is better than a thousand heads bowing in prayer".

Thank you for your precious time spent over reading the article.

Reference:
"The GO - GIVER" - Bob Burg and John David Mann
"The JOYS of Compounding" - Gautam Baid