Give Back to Gain Momentum

If you’re looking closely, you will find an underlying theme of almost all motivational, inspirational self-help guides is giving back – to other people, to neglected animals, and to the environment in general. What is it about giving back that inspires people to propel themselves forward in their own lives? Why does one instance of giving back seem to have such a profound effect when students work tirelessly day in and day out to be their best student?

This article from Psychology Today gives some very good reasons to volunteer:

·         Volunteers live longer and are healthier. That sounds good, right? And while this may not hook you if you’re in your late teens or twenties, it will definitely spark your interest by the time you’re forty or fifty and a little creakier in the joints and grayer in the hair!

·         Volunteers build strong relationships amongst themselves and, therefore, volunteering is good for your career. You and I both know that it’s not always easy to find like-minded people in the world, but if you are put together in a big group of people who think like you do and share similar values, that’s definitely a recipe for success! Building this network eventually pays off in your career as you are building relationships as well as a reputation for being someone who works hard to help others and has a good attitude (these are typical attributes of someone who gives back freely, so we’ll suppose that they also apply to you!). 

U.S. News & World Report printed this article that talks about two different types of benefits volunteers reap by giving back:

·         Self-focused benefits such as understanding, better self-esteem, and personal development. There have been many times when I volunteered simply to try something new (in that case, it was making dog beds and dog toys), and there are so many opportunities to learn while volunteering (gardening and planting with Master Gardeners and Master Naturalists, building with Habitat for Humanity). We can probably all agree that volunteering gives you a boost in self-esteem as you have literally done something selfless for someone else with no reward.

·         Other-focused benefits such as developing a sense of community and putting your humanitarian values to work. When you think about it, giving back by working without pay to help others is the most basic form of community and humanitarianism there is (at our house, we call things like this “good humaning”).

In this article, the Huffington Post adds a few extra reasons to give back:

·         You become a glass half-full type person.

·         Helping others will make you feel like you can take on the world.

·         You’ll feel a sense of belonging.

·         It will make you feel thankful.

·         It gives you a sense of renewal.

·         Helping others will spur others to pay it forward and keep the cycle of happiness going.

I really don’t know of any other free-time pursuit from which you can garner such great gains for so little an input of effort. If you’re looking for a way to spend your free time, in tomorrow’s blog we’ll talk about ideas for different volunteer efforts so you can find the one that best fits you! I can’t wait to hear how your efforts to give back make a difference in your life!

Kelley