Give and Ye’ Shall Receive…
I’m a firm believer in giving. I give of my time, I give of my knowledge and expertise and I give of my money.
As I mentioned in a blog post a while back (why do I blog), my belief in giving is one reason I share many of my test results here on my blog. While most other testers guard their data like it is gold. (Which it is!)
I’ve found, almost without exception that the wealthiest and most successful individuals are some of the most generous and giving people you will ever find.
A great example is my friend (and fellow 2%er), James Brausch. He is going on a cruise in March so what is he doing? He is offering to pay the way for one luck blog reader to go on the cruise with him. No strings attached. What a guy!
But, that’s why James is so successful. He is a giver. (In fact the word “giving” shows up 213 times on his blog! Click here for proof.)
Anytime I try and talk with 98%ers about “giving first” the reply is always the same…
“Sure! It’s easy for you to give, you have plenty. Plus, rich people only give to charity because they get a tax break!”
Or…
“I’ll start giving once I start earning more.”
That type of thinking will keep you broke!
My church asks members to tithe 10% of their income. This is something I’ve happily done since joining 12 years ago. I’ve paid tithing when I was broke, earning $1,500 a month in the Air Force and I’ve paid tithing when I’ve sold websites or businesses for high six figure amounts.
And I can tell you one thing for sure… It’s a whole lot easier to write a $150 tithing check on $1,500 income than it is to write a $60,000 tithing check on a $600,000 payday!
But I have a firm testimony that I would never have found myself in the position of writing 5 figure tithing checks if I had not written those 3 figure tithing checks for so many years.
Guess what? If you don’t give when you have little, you won’t give when you have much. (And you probably won’t “have much” ever.)
Money is simply a magnifier. Money magnifies who and what you are. If you are generous when you have a few dollars, you will be more generous when you have a few million dollars.
If you are a kind and good person without money, you will probably be even kinder and do more good when you have money.
But the flip side is also true… If you are a mean, stingy and unhappy person while you are broke, you’ll be even meaner, stingier and unhappier once you have money.
So don’t “wait until you have” before you decide to give.
Whatever it is in your life that you want more of… Give it away now.
- If you want more love. Give more love.
- If you want more money OUT of you business. Try putting more money INTO your business.
- If you want more time with your family. Give more time TO your family.
- If you want to learn more about what you don’t know. Teach more of what you do know.
And yes… If you want more money for your worthy desires. Give more money to worthy causes.
Happy Giving!
Eric Graham
PS ““ In his post about “Sponsoring” someone on his cruise, James said, “In your blog entry telling me why I should pay for you to join us on the cruise.”
So just for fun…
James, you probably SHOULDN’T pay for me to go on the cruise. After all, I can afford to pay my own way and I don’t need to “ask for time off” because I don’t have a jjjjjob (man… I hate even typing that word!)
But the ironic thing is… most of your blog readers (the 98%ers) who cannot afford to go and DO need you to pay their way, are not going to take any action. They don’t have a blog and they won’t even take 5 minutes and register a free blog. That’s why they can’t afford to go in the first place!
Actually, I’ve been thinking about joining you on the cruise since you posted about it a couple of weeks ago, but with so much on my plate right now I’ve been on the fence simply trying to justify the time commitment. (But, a “free” ticket would give me a nice kick in the butt off the fence 
So why should you buy a ticket for a 2%er?
http://scriptures.lds.org/en/matt/25/14-29
(And, of course when you are “talking shop” with your other blog readers that DO decide to join us… I’ll be more than happy to GIVE.)
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February 20th, 2007 at 1:27 pm
Nice post Eric! I found your site from a review on jamesbrausch.com. A couple of the topics that he has written about have literally changed my life for the better. I started tithing 10% a couple of months ago. It was a little painful in the beginning but the reward of giving and of making an impact through the tithe supercedes any initial discomfort.
I’m in the process of creating my first information product. I will most definitely be using your services within the coming weeks. They came off of a very strong recommendation
February 20th, 2007 at 2:12 pm
Al,
Welcome to the blog!
I’m so happy to hear about your experience with tithing. You are absolutely right… In the beginning it is difficult, but I’ve never met anyone who did not receive FAR more blessings (financial and otherwise) from adopting the practice.
Great job on beginning work on your new product. Taking action has already separated you from the “98%ers”!
I look forward to helping you make the most of your project.
Let me know what I can do to help.
All the best,
Eric Graham
February 21st, 2007 at 1:14 am
“I’ll start giving once I start earning more.â€
I hear that so many times. it’s a shame that people say that. You know what’s interesting though is when churche leaders and pastors say that we can’t give more to missions because we don’t get enough. It really puts the leadership and congregation in the same boat, IMO http://churchtithesandofferings.com
February 21st, 2007 at 7:06 pm
[…] Well… If you read my “Give and You Shall Receive” post from yesterday, you found out that James Brausch was offering to pay the way for one of his blog readers to join him on a 3 day cruise to Mexico. […]
February 21st, 2007 at 7:08 pm
[…] Give and Ye’ Shall Receive… […]