Mitt första gästinlägg!

Jag följer en blogg som heter Fun Life Development. Jag har hängt med den så länge att den hette Amazing Mind förr, och fortfarande heter den så i min RSS-feed. Det är intressanta psykologiska funderingar på saker och ting.

Förra veckan hade författaren ett inlägg där han skrev att vem som helst får be honom om ett gästinlägg om vad som helst, och han ska skriva ett! Jag hoppade på den chansen på stört, och mailade och berättade vem jag var. Att jag hade en liten blogg på svenska hindrade inte. Och ämnet jag valde var ett juligt ett om att ge. Mina besöksväninnor var här i förrgår och pratade om att hjälpa andra. Det är också en sån där sak som blir större än summan av sig själv.


How Giving Makes You Richer

Imagine you're sitting at a table, with a huge pile of cash in front of you.

You decide to give some of it away. Do you now have more, or less cash?

Okay, second scenario. You're feeling really happy with a big smile on your face. You have plenty of happiness, so you decide to give away some smiles, and smile at a few random strangers.

Now, do you feel happier, or less happy?

In economics or mathematics, things are simple. You give away, and you have less. But psychology works in all sorts of funky ways. Giving away smiles make you have more! (And that's just the beginning...)

Today, I'll show you 3 reasons why giving makes you richer. We already covered the first one:

1. Giving intangible things (like smiles) make you have MORE of them

And for example presents are more about the thought behind them than the physical present itself.

Now if you're thinking that I'll keep going on about how giving makes you spiritually richer and happier, and all that airy-fairy over-the-rainbow reasoning... nope. The other two points are all about how giving makes you actually, physically richer, in real money terms.

Abundance mentality

There's a funny thing called abundance mentality, and its counterpart, the scarcity mentality.

Scarcity mentality is when you believe that there isn't enough to go around for everyone. In order for someone to HAVE, someone else needs to HAVE NOT. According to scarcity thinking, rich people are taking away from the poor, because in order for them to be rich, someone else needs to be poor. Bastards :)

So let's say you have scarcity mentality. Then you get a better job, start gaining money, until you could say that you're... *gasp*... a rich person!

But you believe that rich people are evil, because they're taking away from the poor! On the other hand, you also believe you're a good person! Aaaaargh! To resolve that dilemma, you subconscious will start sabotaging you in all sorts of sneaky ways, just to make you lose that money and maintain the consistency of your beliefs.

You might get mysteriously ill, or procrastinate needlessly, or even waste all your money gambling.

On the other hand, with abundance mentality, you believe there's enough to go round, and you simply have plenty of money because you have added that much value to other people's lives. So you are free to use that money in the most beneficial way possible. Or gain more money, since that only means you're contributing even more to other people's lives!

And this is where giving comes in.

The quickest way to develop a belief is to act as if you already believe it. ("Fake it till you make it.") Your mind can only maintain a certain level of inconsistency between your actions and beliefs. And if you keep doing abundance mentality actions, guess what belief is going to change?

And giving is one of the best abundance mentality actions! If you believe there's enough to go around, you'll have no problems giving away all your savings to charity. Hey, you can always make more!

So here's the second reason giving makes you richer:

2. Giving develops your abundance mentality, which then subconsciously works to help you become rich and happy.

And now for the last point.

How giving makes you richer through other people

No, I won't mention karma. And neither am I talking about giving stuff to people just to make them like you. That's manipulative, uncomfortable, and doesn't work.

What I mean is - we all surround ourselves with people similar to us. If you love dogs, you will like hang out with other dog-lovers. If you're a geek, you'll hang out with other geeks. And if you have abundance mentality... you will naturally surround yourselves with abundant-minded people!

(And they'll be drawn to you the same way you'll be drawn to them.)

So here's the final reason giving makes you richer:

3. Being generous (both with money and intangible things) attracts generous, positive people into your life.

And there you have it. Giving makes you richer. It might not make sense mathematically or economically, but it makes perfect sense when you look at the psychology!

Now get out there and give :)