Many of us are generous this time of year, giving to friends and family, sharing our homes and our food, but it doesn’t have to be Christmas for us to give to others. What if we were generous enough to do something lovely for one person every day in 2018?
Last night, I was lucky enough to hear Ronni Khan, founder of OZHarvest, speak about generosity. Ronni’s speech in itself was inspiring and generous, in the commitment to tell her truth without concern for our judgements. I rarely hear leaders speak so authentically.
She got me thinking about ways in which I can be generous day-to-day and contribute to others, without relying on money. Here are 3 ways in which I intend to be more generous from now on:
1) Listen generously. For me, this means truly being present with your attention fully on the person you’re listening to. So often we’re anticipating what they’re going to say, making judgements about what we think they mean and formulating our reply as they’re talking. It’s a very generous person who can embrace the other person totally – look them in the eyes, really listen to what they’re saying (and what they’re not saying), suspend judgement and just ‘be’ with that person completely in the moment.
2) Connect others. How many people are you connected to in your social and business networks? 1,000’s probably. Can you think of someone you know who is doing good in the world? Who could you connect them with to benefit them and their passion? Instead of being so caught up in our own worlds, what if we put ourselves in the shoes of someone else and thought – who do I know that can help them succeed?
3) Give when no-one’s looking. I believe that true generosity is linked to our intentions. Do we give to receive something in return or the recognition from someone else rather than simply giving because we can? The most powerful acts of generosity are often hidden. We might fix something for someone or place a little present on their desk to brighten a tough day and leave them wondering who did it. Have fun with this, it’ll make you smile!
Why not join me in my New Year’s resolution and introduce a little more generosity into your daily life?
