Like many, at some stage or another you’ve probably conjured up a range of money making ideas to lock in your financial goals.
That’s great. But if you’ve been fighting tooth and nail, totally focussed on making yourself rich, and your ideas don’t seem to be working, maybe it’s time to switch over to the road less travelled on your journey to success.
I started thinking about this recently in my own desire to make more money and get ahead financially. I had been giving a lot of thought to my career and some potential revenue streams when I started to hear it: everything was Me, Myself, & I.
A simple desire to make more money so often goes hand in hand with a me-first mentality, but that just doesn’t seem to be the right way to live one’s life…even if it does help you get ahead.
So I started wondering, Can I jump tracks and go about this another way? I wish there was a way I could get more in life by being charitable and kind. Can I?
I mean right here and now, in this life, perhaps even in the next 6-12 months? I mean I really want to step up my income, but there’s also a certain kind of person I want to be, and I’m not so interested in money that I’m comfortable being a jerk to get it. In fact, I want to be a better person as I go through life.
Judging by many of the people we’ve seen climb to prominence by stepping over anyone in their way, it’s easy to think that you have to be pretty cut throat in business and your career, that charity is for monks, weekends, retirees, the unambitious, or a suitable sentiment after you’ve made your millions and want to give a little back.
It’s certainly the prevalent notion: I can be a nice guy at home and with my friends, but I need to be a shark to get ahead in my career.
Granted, getting rich by pure self-interest and avarice has helped quite a few people get what they’re after. But for some of us, that doesn’t sit right. The end often doesn’t justify the means.
Our Perception of Financial Gain vs. The Way It Really Is:
Here’s the funny thing about financial gain. Often selfishness is NOT the most effective way to achieve more lucrative results.
Recent studies by organizational psychologist Adam Grant of Wharton University show that a surprisingly high percentage of the top performers get there while being givers.
One study in Grant’s book, Give and Take: A Revolutionary Approach to Success, shows that the worst performing salespeople were “givers.” They put so much emphasis on the customers that they didn’t make strong sales. They were outperformed by the more greedy group he calls “takers” and by the middle-ground group called “matchers” who value constant fairness and equal give and take. So the givers were the worst performers??
Yes, but that’s not where the analysis ends. Not all the givers ended up at the bottom of the food chain.
The absolute best performers were also givers, making 50% more in annual sales revenue than the matchers and the takers!
So people who were fairly selfish or had a give one get one mentality performed reasonably well. But those who were markedly generous had the potential to outperform everybody.
(The givers who underperformed looked out for others, but failed to take care of themselves.)
Grant draws from real life examples of altruism in action, such as wealthy venture capitalist David Hornik who takes this to such an extreme that he started his own blog to share his business ideas with other VCs. What?! If there’s one thing any venture capitalist knows, it’s that privacy is paramount if you want to make money from new concepts. But he goes against the grain with an unprecedented generosity among his fellow competitors.
And this openness cost him a lot of business, right? When you consider that a 50% signing rate is the VC norm, and over an 11 year period Hornik obtained 25 acceptances out of 28 term sheets, apparently it didn’t hurt him one bit.
Some acts of kindness don’t require money. Just a little time and thought.
Personally, I don’t think your charitable acts all need to be monumental. It can often be the little things that make a difference in someone’s life and eventually reward you in various ways, from a pay raise to a new career opportunity to unleashing a more powerful you. Whether you’re seeing rewards come to you now or later, you get the bonus of feeling good from opening yourself up to performing acts of kindness.
And feeling good often leads to an open mind, better health, enhanced work relationships, marital harmony, and being an inspiration to people around you.
I suspect this has a lot to do with the success of your various money making ideas: you become a better quality person as you attempt your strategies, making each strategy that much more effective!
Where to Begin with this Offbeat Money Making Idea?
That will vary from person to person. But I think finding a few micro victories each week inside and outside the workplace will help develop a more outward vision.
Try on one or two of the following in the next few days:
1. Make a charitable donation.
If you have any money to spare this is the easy place to start. But try to find something a bit more up close and personal than just going online and punching in your credit card details. Is there a community center, orphanage, church, or other program that piques your interest in your local area? This can be easier to keep tabs on the organization’s progress and might help you take more ownership after your initial donation.
2. Leave a big tip, and tell your waitress how great the service was.
3. Tell the manager about your excellent server.
4. Loan someone money.
Most of us have been there at one stage or another. And how grateful were you to the person who came through for you? Keep your eye out for people in your circle who might need help, but haven’t asked you for money.
5. Buy a drink for the stranger standing next to your group at the bar.
If they’re alone, they’ll appreciate the gesture and you’ll make a new friend. If they’re not alone you’ll meet several new people.
6. Strike up a natural conversation with someone who looks like they could be lonely or might appreciate the attention.
The elderly are an easy place to start!
7. Make the newest person at work feel welcome. Ask if you can help show him or her around. Offer insights and tricks of the trade.
8. Let your assistant (or staff) knock off early on a beautiful afternoon.
9. Do extra research on your competitors for your boss.
10. Adopt a pet.
Ok, it’s not a person, and it’s a bit unusual for this list. But the poor thing might be put to sleep if nobody takes any action.
11. Recruit the latchkey neighbor kid to help you look after your new pet and walk it a few nights a week.
See, number 10 does belong on this list. You’ll feel good having rescued an animal. And that pup will need to go for at least one walk a day, leading you to hundreds upon hundreds of new conversations and social opportunities.
12. Ask an out of shape workmate to be your gym partner.
And let them know it’s so you “can get a better rate” or whatever, so they don’t feel like such a charity case.
13. Stop smoking around non-smokers.
Many will notice and appreciate the change. If you normally smoke in a car, it’s bothering other people even if the windows are rolled down!
14. Forgo alcohol for a week if your partner or someone close to you has a problem with it.
15. Lend your expertise to the struggling company in your building.
Design a logo for the company next door. Give a free tax consultation to the guy who just started his own business. Build a basic website for your gardener.
16. Lend your expertise to a successful company in your vicinity!
This could have even more immediate rewards since they are already in a position of strength.
17. Take your kids camping.
Surprize them. Or spill the beans early so they can look forward to it all week.
18. Clean out your closet or garage, then think of people who could really use anything still in good shape.
19. Give a “mate’s rate” to your next client “just because he seems like a good guy.”
20. Volunteer a couple hours each week to a cause you really believe in.
Build a Quick List of Your Own
What else can you think of? Take a minute right now and jot down five of your own ideas. Try to do just two or three this week and another two or three next week. As Grant points out, many people find it easier to do all their efforts on the same day once a week, rather than spreading it out. The important thing is that on a weekly basis you’re putting it out there.
A few things to keep in mind:
- Be careful of looking to get something back from everyone you do something nice for. You’re definitely not going to get something tangible back for many of your acts, and when you do, it might be way down the track. The important thing is to create a pattern of paying it forward and being proactively generous. Do something nice and then just go about your business, keeping your eyes open for the next opportunity.
- You can’t be a pushover. You still need to be shrewd, hungry, diligent, discerning, strategizing, and keeping your eyes open for opportunities that are there for YOU. Get yours, but find great enjoyment in seeing people around you succeed.
Whether there is something actually happening on a spiritual or metaphysical level in the universe in regard to all this, I won’t claim to know that answer. There’s plenty of reason to believe there is. But what we can be sure of is that you’re creating a different kind of environment everywhere you go. People will be helped. Some won’t even notice, but many will be appreciative. You will feel better about yourself. And pragmatically speaking, it’s just a more effective way to make money.
Remember, being greedy, cold, and injurious might work for some, but it’s not the only way to get ahead. Just think, if you were going to give a promotion, offer a loan, or pay money for something, would you rather give it to the fully qualified person who is noticeably selfish or the equally qualified person who is noticeably generous? I certainly don’t speak for everyone, but I know who I’d choose.
Try adding generosity to your current list of money making ideas, and let us know if things pick up!
Care to learn more about Adam Grant’s book? Named one of the best books of 2013 by Amazon, the Financial Times, and the Wall Street Journal– as well as one of Fortune‘s must-read business books, and the Washington Post‘s books every leader should read.
