Generosity Day: Before Doing You Must Be
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Please allow me to start with a copy of Seth Godin’s recent blog post titled, “The sad irony of selfishness:”
More often than not, the selfish person is insecure, fearful and filled with doubt. The selfishness springs from his belief that this is his only good idea, his last dollar, his one and only chance to avoid failure. “I need this, not you,” he says, because he truly believes he’s got nothing else going on, no other chance, no hope.
The irony, of course, is that selflessness (not selfishness, its opposite) is precisely the posture that leads to more success. The person with the confidence to support others and to share is repaid by getting more in return than his selfish counterpart.
The connection economy multiplies the value of what is contributed to it. It’s based on abundance, not scarcity, and those that opt out, fall behind.
Sharing your money, your ideas, your insights, your confidence… all of these things return to you. Perhaps not in the way you expected, and certainly not with a guarantee, but again and again the miser falls behind.
Seth then referred to another blogger, Sasha Dichter, in reference to something called a Generosity Day experiment. Curious, I followed that link and was similarly touched by what Sasha wrote. I noticed that he (Sasha) had made a presentation to TED which was posted on his blog. Even more curious and a great fan of TED presentations, I watched.
That whole train of event-led thinking inspired the sub-title of today’s DG — Before Doing You Must Be. We all likely aspire to leave a legacy of generosity. But many of us seem to be “wired” to behave spontaneously selfish. Before our aspirations can become reality, we must change our heart (our subconscious) to be selfless rather that to be selfish. No easy task! It strikes me that the one day (or week, or month) experiment Shasha described could breakthrough to make that heart shift possible.
What do you think?
Links of the Day
Seth’s Blog : The sad irony of selfishness
Sasha’s Blog: Generosity Day – in graphs
Generosity Day 2012
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Jerry Graham, aka "DocJerry," is a professional lifestyle and leadership coach and a social marketing authority who coaches ministry leaders, small business owners, and network marketers, on how to properly capitalize on the current Internet trends. He is also a blogger, a charter member and guide at Renegade University, and one of the Super Guides at Marketing Merge. 
Sharon Graham, R.N., is a professional lifestyle coach and a wellness authority who coaches a broad range of clients from corporate executives, small-business owners, and other professionals, to stay-at-home moms and dads in how to achieve and maintain wellness. Sharon is also a blogger, a sought-after public speaker, and a great cook who is currently compiling a cookbook. 
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