Serve Each Other: Affect Change Through Giving

When I was still in grade school, I heard a quote that altered forever the way I viewed my actions toward others. That quote was from Zig Ziglar, who said, "You can get everything in life that you want, if you help enough other people get what they want."

As I incorporated Zig's concept into my actions, I started to look at every situation as an opportunity to find what I could do to help make other people's lives easier. I was not always successful, but by making an effort, I began to see the positive effect those actions had on other people, and ultimately for myself. My first inclination was to limit this to personal interactions. But, once I realized the value of this thinking, I soon applied it to all of my business interactions as well.

What would happen if each of us took the idea to heart and truly applied it to each interaction with others? Imagine how effortless our lives would become, and what we would have in our lives in return. If we were all looking out for and caring about how the other person would benefit, imagine how our work lives would improve.

The key is to do everything with no expectation of something returning. Then you will truly enjoy the affect on your life because it'll come back to you when you least expect it!

I'll give you an example of how this happened to me. One day at work, I had one of those days where it seemed everything was going backwards and upside down. My administrative assistant had not showed up for work, and I was deluged with phone calls from the corporate office and from customers. There was a sale in the store and we were short-handed due to the flu bug.

My assistant finally arrived, looking harried and preoccupied. After giving her a few minutes to get settled in, and when I had a break in the action, I stopped by her office and stuck my head in her door. I asked if there was something going on that I might help her with. She explained that she had been dealing with a custody fight for her granddaughter and there had been some major developments that had left her emotionally drained.

I realized that in comparison, my problems weren't that significant and decided to listen and give input if asked, but in the end did not mention how my day had been. By the end of the conversation, she had worked through much of her stress and sounded much calmer and somewhat relieved. She thanked me for listening to her situation and said she felt much better having talked to someone. My own problems with the day had also melted away during our talk.

The next day, I found a package on my desk from a customer. In it were both a compact disc of music and a thank you card with a quote by Woodrow Wilson: "You are not here merely to make a living. You are here in order to enable the world to live more amply, with greater vision, with a finer spirit of hope and achievement. You are here to enrich the world, and you impoverish yourself if you forget the errand." My "reward" had come to me in a totally unexpected way that was truly gratifying and uplifting.

One of the most profound ways that you can affect change is to come from a place of giving. Love is something you do for someone else; not something you do for yourself. When an action doesn't come naturally to you, it is an even greater expression of love.

To paraphrase Jacob Needleman, author of A Little Book on Love, all of us carry within us great possibilities, along with a great obligation. When we open ourselves to a life of consciousness that goes beyond our experience of happiness, knowledge, or meaning, we begin to understand what our lives are meant to serve. This consciousness allows us to see universal connections, and from that consciousness, the capacity to love.

Jesus said, in what many believe was his greatest sermon, "Give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over, will be poured into your lap. For with the measure you use, it will be measured to you." ~ Luke 6:38

Be like the ripples of water from a pebble dropped in a pond. Each person you touch, touches another, and outward unending. As Anne Frank said, "How wonderful it is that nobody need wait a single moment to improve the world." Start now. Smile, lend a hand, cheer someone on, talk to a team member about what's going on in his or her life. Thank those who are working for you for their efforts. Do it when least expected. Do it frequently. Do it with sincerity. Find out what someone really wants, and then help them get it.