I’ve posted a number of times about how helping others makes you happier. But I know this leaves some people scratching their heads:
How much should I help others? How often? Will I be exploited? Will I end up resenting people I love if they don’t reciprocate?
We all know selfless givers who are taken advantage of and taken for granted. Nobody wants to feel like a sucker.
So this simple thing doesn’t seem so simple — and it feels safer to just be selfish no matter what fancy research and your conscience might tell you.
Adam Grant has a wonderful book, Give and Take: A Revolutionary Approach to Success, which directly tackles this issue and provides some firm answers grounded in research. To help others the right way, give these tips a shot.
Constant Selfless Giving Is Not The Way
Being a martyr stresses you out and is actually bad for your health.
Via Give and Take: A Revolutionary Approach to Success:
Chunking Beats Sprinkling
Want to be happier? Do all your giving one day a week.
Via Give and Take: A Revolutionary Approach to Success:
And this is exactly why selfless givers end us stressed out and overloaded.
Via Give and Take: A Revolutionary Approach to Success:
So How Much Should You Give?
Remember The 100 Hour Rule. One hundred hours a year — in other words, 2 hours per week.
Via Give and Take: A Revolutionary Approach to Success:
What’s The Best Kind Of Giving To Do?
A kind that is meaningful to you. No, you can’t fake it if you want the benefits.
Via Give and Take: A Revolutionary Approach to Success:
Sum Up
Breaking it down:
What do I personally plan to do? I’m going to designate a DAY OF GIVING per week and make sure I’m clustering my 2hrs of meaningful helping.
In a few weeks I’ll post my results. Please give it a try yourself and let me know how it works for you. You can write me here.
This is going to be fun. :)
This piece originally appeared on Barking Up the Wrong Tree.
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