In a sales course, I learned to balance empathy with focus, or in other words, be a bunny and a shark.  The bunny is the super sweet bearer of customer service, and the shark sinks its teeth into the wallet.  Although the teachings taught me to close the sale and get the highest cut while making the customer feel they also got value, I can’t help but think of the following story.

The story is about an adult son whose father had a thriving business and gave generous servings with extra toppings to whoever dined at his restaurant.  But his son saw this generosity and panicked, warning his dad that it was a recession, and the business would go under with that level of generosity.  The dad wasn’t aware it was a recession, but he took his son’s advice anyway.  Now faced with stingy servings, the dad’s customers no longer returned to eat at the restaurant, and the business suffered.  The fear of the recession and subsequent stinginess led to the demise of the father’s company.  Generosity pays not just the bills but also goodwill.

There is a view that money is evil, but it’s not the case.  Money is evil if we use it for immoral purposes, such as exerting dominion over others.  Otherwise, money is a force of good.  It’s a means to give someone with no food a meal.  It’s a means to offer someone without video equipment the tools to do webinars worldwide to spread her story about seeing the afterlife.  It’s a means to cheer up someone whose YouTube channel is in crisis due to his surgery.  It’s a means to reach out to a senior whose legs are no longer functioning, providing comfort by offering financial support.  Having money is not evil.  And it doesn’t mean we need a lot of money to give generously; in fact, we can be in severe poverty and be more generous than many people with great wealth.

I was joyful when my beloved Papa gave me funds for my birthday, especially since I had nothing to spend the entire month otherwise.  I felt joy when he bought me groceries after I went a month with nothing but power bars and rice to eat.  In other words, money is a gift for both the giver and the receiver, and it’s a reason to “pay it forward.”

We can be generous with little or a lot of money, but generosity with great wealth is a fun prospect.  I want to acquire greater wealth, from six figures to a quarter million to half a million salary yearly.  It’s a goal; we can all have ambitious goals, as nothing is impossible.  So, why not indulge in goals of magnificent wealth? It just starts with setting the goal.

I love being generous with my customers, which I learned from my dad, who is retiring this year with a handsome nest egg.  Thanks to my dad’s role modeling, my generosity in giving a free product has led to me receiving over twenty times the dollar value in sales.  Also, when I do extra work for customers without any expected return, the extra time invested could get me in trouble; however, I’ve been delightfully surprised when the customer responds, requesting $30,000 in additional business.  As a result, I’ve learned that generosity comes back twentyfold or more; if it doesn’t, we still win, as we still feel that “high” that comes with giving.  Even the slightest kindness, such as offering a friendly hello, can change a person’s life trajectory.

Generosity is an ideal state; however, saving is essential, too.  Despite this, I read an article today that said not to save; invest.  This wisdom aims to encourage people to invest in startups, where the investor’s generosity may yield prosperity.  However, investing in startups leads to prosperity only once the business goes public or purchases part of the investor’s shares.  In other words, investing in startups seems reserved for those with a lot of disposable cash.  That’s not me yet.  So, I need to save enough to invest, not in startups, but in stocks and options, although success in the market requires considerable investor knowledge, experience, and skills, which I still need to acquire.  But once a person learns to save, invest, and generate wealth, the sky is the limit, where every act of generosity becomes a thrill of greater and greater magnitude.

So, no matter our income level, we have no upper limit on the wealth we can achieve or on our ability to generously give.  Even if our businesses go bankrupt, our jobs end, or our savings erode into massive debt, the tides will turn.  People end up millions in debt, only to turn it around to billions in wealth.  The goal is for us to skyrocket our wealth beyond our wildest dreams, even if we currently live in poverty.

If we keep throwing stuff at the wall, eventually, something sticks.  So, keep throwing stuff at the wall, whether during the highs and lows, as every angle etches the final pieces of art.  And no fine art is greater than the piece shared with others.