Stipulation based giving is for the birds.
“If it takes you having to ‘get’ to ‘give back’ or you give with expectation of something in return, you already lost.
Give not for the front or back end ‘reward’.
Give because the act itself is the gift.
Give because it is the right thing do.”
-Ray Zingler on X
“I just want to give back…”
You hear everybody say it.
It sounds noble at first, but then if you think about it, it’s pretty selfish.
It takes you getting something to trigger you to give something?
Stipulation based giving is for the birds.
If you have to get to give or you’re giving to get, you missed the whole point. You already lost.
And Steve Siebold said it best in his book “Secrets of the World Class – Turning Mediocrity into Greatness”:
“The Great Ones don’t ‘give back’. They just give.”
The World Class aren’t worried about the stipulations.
They aren’t focused on the front or back-end rewards.
They don’t need “motivation” to give.
They give because, the act of giving is actually the gift.
They give because they are generous.
They give to lighten the burden of another.
They give because it is the right thing to do.
They give because that’s who they are.
I assure you, my message isn’t coming from atop a soap box.
It’s coming from the exact opposite place that I’m “preaching” from.
For many years, I never understood any of this stuff.
I was the immature kid growing up flooded with presents on Christmas morning from my generous parents, and they still “weren’t enough”.
I didn’t want to share with you, why would I do that? That would take from me.
I was the guy looking to leverage situations to best benefit myself.
And then as I got older, I was willing to give, but I wanted credit for it.
I wasn’t going to tell you about it, but I wanted you to see me do it for validation purposes.
And then it hit me one day.
All this hoarding and leveraging for myself and giving, hoping for something in return, left me empty.
I realized I was the exact opposite of who I was trying to be.
I wanted selfless so damn bad, but I was actually selfish.
As I write this today, I am continually trying to better lead a life where I flip that script upside down.
Every day, I try to be a little less like me and a little more like Him.
I believe the world would be a better place if we all did the same.
