EXPOSED: TWO THINGS THAT TURNS YOUR GENEROSITY INTO A LIFETIME INVESTMENT.
“No one has ever become poor by giving.” — Anne Frank
According to a study conducted by Harvard Business School, individuals who engage in regular charitable giving tend to experience a greater sense of happiness and life satisfaction.
This positive mindset can contribute to improved decision-making and increased success in various aspects of life, including financial endeavors.
Giving physically decreases your wealth, but in the real sense, it actually increases it. Any reasonable person understands this principle. If you want to grow your wealth faster, then consider giving more from the little you have.
Unfortunately, most people don’t reap this benefit because of the way they give. Hence, they feel giving is decreasing their wealth and eventually give up giving.
As a result of this, most people resort to other forms of wealth building, such as savings and investment, to grow their wealth.
In this piece, I want to show you two things you should do to turn your giving into a lifetime investment.
Before then, I would like to share with you a short story of what happened to me yesterday.
I was in a car with a man, and we got talking. He asked me a number of questions in our conversation and later advised me. He said, “Don’t build the habit of giving people too much from your wealth because you will need it in the future.”
He went further to say that “most people will just keep taking and taking while you keep working like a donkey.” My conversation partner didn’t stop there; he shared a part of his personal experience to support his advice.
He said, “When I was younger (he is about 15 years older than me) and working, I used to send most of my money home (to my brother) because at that time, I wasn’t married.
Therefore, I didn’t need a lot of money. I continued to work like a donkey and send the money to them, only for me to return and find nothing. They would use the money to drink (I don’t know if he meant water or something else) and party.” Now, he has no good job and has nothing.
Upon getting this unsolicited advice, I knew it was the wrong advice for me because, although I can’t be described as a giver, it’s a type of attitude I would like to build in the future when I am ‘wealthy.’ Hence, it got me reflecting.
I know a lot of promises that are made for givers, I know givers never lack, I know giving doesn’t reduce wealth, I know many stories of successful people whose success is based on the premise of giving, both from religion and outside of it. So, I know I am with the wrong person.
As a result of this reflection, I remembered a story that was told to me by a friend who got his Ph.D. from Malaysia about a Malaysian man who built his wealth from nothing and is able to grow to become one of the wealthiest people in Malaysia due to his habit of massive giving. The man is the founder of Albukhari University in Malaysia. You can read about him.
Thinking about this, it occurred to me that if you do the following, you will enjoy giving, and you will reap its benefits. For you, giving will become a lifetime investment, and you will never regret it.
1. Be an intentional giver
Give consciously. Make up your mind that you want to give. Be intentional about who you give to and why you choose them. Understand the difference between giving and gifting. Don’t give simply because you are under pressure to do so. Give to people who will hardly have the opportunity to say thank you. When you give intentionally, you will immediately feel the sweetness. When you do this, the next one becomes immediately easier.
2. Give only for the sake of Allah.
Don’t give for any other reason rather than to seek the pleasure of Allah. This is one of the best ways to multiply your wealth in a jiffy. This is very important if you want to gain the benefit of giving. Give secretly and never expect your beneficiary to pay you back in any form.
Finally, make duaa to Allah to accept it from you and reward you abundantly.
Dear brethren, giving will never reduce your wealth but will rather multiply it. Therefore, give happily, give handsomely, give sincerely.