I was reading Jim Rohn’s 7 Strategies for Wealth & Happiness and he said the following:
“In fact, I made a great deal of money. But the most gratifying experience was sharing those ideas with my business associates and employees.”
— Jim Rohn
This is just one example of a very successful, happy, and wise man whose most gratifying experiences in life went beyond his material successes in life. It is true that the happiest people who achieve success, often realize that the most fulfilling experience in life is helping others.
Why We should help others
Enlightened self-interest
The environment in which we live is not only affected by us but we have also affected it. This applies both to the health of the planet and its ecosystems, and also to the moral fabric of society.
It makes sense then that if you were to treat others more kindly, then that would result in a change in your immediate environment; in your community.
Not counting any possible cosmic laws like that of karma, there is a direct cause-and-effect relationship to you helping others in your community.
Sure you may not see a huge difference, but it is there. Maybe your kindness, compassion, and helping others doesn’t have a recognizable movement of the needle in the health of your community. But if everyone acted, it makes a massive difference.
That’s why it makes logical sense that everyone (or most) should play their part. Even if everyone doesn’t, you know that it is enlightened self-interest, so you take responsibility and you do it regardless of how everyone else acts. You know that your generosity, your kindness, and compassion will have a positive effect on you, both directly and indirectly.
Benefits of helping others
- Happiness: This is a great benefit to helping others. Helping others brings joy into your life. Is this spiritual? Is our species being wired for altruism? Who knows. But what we do know is that many people receive a lot of joy in helping others.
- Mental health: It can be soothing for your mental health to help others. For example, if you are depressed, it helps to focus on others and the positivity that comes with that rather than stew with your internal negative thoughts.
- Stress: It can also be fun helping others. It helps you feel good about yourself, and reduces stress.
Why is it better to give than receive?
Giving Money
When you learn to give, you also learn to receive
“One gives freely, yet grows all the richer; another withholds what he should give, and only suffers want. Whoever brings blessing will be enriched, and one who waters will himself be watered.”
— Proverbs 11:24-25 ESV
I believe this bible quote is talking about mindset. Do you notice how it says “gives freely” and “withholds”? To me, this sounds like a result of an abundant vs scarcity mindset. If you have a healthy mindset around wealth and abundance, then you are naturally more inclined to want to donate money to the less fortunate.
So why do this? Well, it’s because those with a money mindset see through a lens of abundance.
Once the reality of abundance is seen, it is hard to unsee. And once the reality is seen, it is natural for one to want to help others, either by giving a fellow human being a fish, or teaching them how to fish.
When people have a negative money mindset, they are constantly focused on lack, on scarcity.
Someone is less likely to joyfully give money away if they are focused on their own scarcity of money. Maybe they have faith in God to give them back what they donated, or maybe they have faith in their own earning ability – either way, they have confidence that they will have plenty of money.
Though there are people who think in terms of scarcity and still donate. But if they don’t have some type of faith attached to it, there is usually some trepidation about it. Others simply won’t donate because they believe they can’t afford it.
An abundant mindset is more compatible with that of giving. So if you don’t already have an abundant mindset, best you start learning how to give so you can learn how to receive. As Jim Rohn said:
“Giving is better than receiving because giving starts the receiving process.”
— Jim Rohn
You can always start small. Just start somewhere. This is so you can start to learn to have an abundant mindset to match your generosity.
Giving Time
You can also donate your time by volunteering to help others.
This is great because it builds character, and self-esteem and helps bring joy to your life because you are actively involved in the altruistic process of helping others. You get the benefit of actively seeing your deeds make a difference in someone else’s life.
But this may not be for everyone. Some choose to specialize in their careers and thus could leverage their skills to their own specialty and use the income to offer help for those in need.
How to help others?
Here are some easy ways we can help others:
- Kindness: Be kind to those around you, and kind to strangers you meet. Be kind to those who serve you in service industries. Be kind to those that are less fortunate than you. You can be kind by lending a hand, sparking a conversation, or simply giving them a smile.
- Compassion: It’s easy to live in our own little worlds. But often if you take a minute to imagine what others who are less fortunate or in need, or in pain, what their life is like, it will put a different perspective in your mind. You will be much more willing to help if you just utilize your human capacity for compassion.
- Gratitude: Building off the last point about compassion, having gratitude is an easy thing to do when we realize the pain or suffering someone else is going through, and how much you yourself have in life.
- Small ways: You can help others in many small ways. If helping someone is easy, and doesn’t take time or money, why not just do it? Don’t hesitate! If you see someone in need, help them!
- Generosity: For some, they find it beneficial to donate up to 10%+ of their incomes. This is great because it is a habit. But it’s your life, you get to make that decision. You can also donate food, old clothes, old items in your garage, etc.
- Help others Succeed: if you’ve learned how to be successful, you can teach others what you’ve learned!
How can you help others change or succeed in life?
Teach them to fish
A fisherman who has come across an area of water that has an abundance of fish is much more likely to share a fish with his fellow man, than one who is struggling to find fish himself. And when one has found the secrets to fishing, due to the boundless nature of the ocean, it is more efficient to teach others how to fish.
If you find abundance in your life, one great way to increase your happiness is to teach others how to find abundance or change for the better.
Help yourself
This is even more important to help others by giving them a fish or teaching them to fish. In this case, you want to become a better fisherman yourself, so that you have the opportunity to give others more fish, or be able to better teach them how to fish.
As Jim Rohn says, it’s better to “put your mask on first” so that you can then be more empowered to help others. According to him, this is the best gift you can give to someone else.
