Become a Better Investor by Helping Others

May 13, 2016

Become a Better Investor by Helping Others

I’m gonna talk about one more need and then we will call it a podcast. The last one is contribution and this is very similar to what I said before about creating value. It’s understanding people and understanding the exchange that takes place between people. It’s about walking away from every relationship where you feel like you’ve added value. You both walked away with a positive experience because both people added to the transaction and felt like they got more out of it than they put in. You can actually become a better investor by helping others.

Contribution is this sense that we have to help. It’s the sense that we have to support people. I look at when you watch a movie or read a book and you sympathize with the characters, but they’re strangers, right? But because they’ve had a hardship and they’ve overcome it, it brings such emotion. And really the idea of a hero’s journey which is a Joseph Campbell idea and we talked on the podcast about this before. The hero’s journey is really what attracts us to that because in a sense, we can sympathize with the person who is the hero that rises to the challenge and overcomes adversity. The reason why that’s so powerful and engages so much emotion, whether it’s Rocky or whether it’s William Wallace in Braveheart, it doesn’t matter, is because we can sympathize with that. And so I think in the end, that human need of contribution really comes down to wanting to serve and to support because we feel that sense of sympathy and empathy for others. Looking at service, is it one of those things that is really driving you right now? Maybe not. Maybe you’re just kinda getting by and trying to figure out certainty. That’s fine but in the end, these are things that will manifest probably at some point in your life.

I think contribution for me, service for me, is an incredible thing. I’ve had some opportunities to provide service. I published a lot more than I do but it’s one of those things where there’s such fulfillment there where you feel like you are altruistically aren’t giving. And I don’t even think it’s altruism because altruism is kinda like sacrificing yourself and you’re sacrificing your time and your money, but in the end, it’s like you walk away with something that is not money and it’s not time. You walk away from it with an experience and you walk away from it with a sense of emotion and that sense of worth, and I think that is much more valuable than time and money. In the end, the idea behind contribution is one of the things that if it’s not manifesting then it may in the future. You may be at this point of your life where you have a ton of money and are successful and you’re looking for that next thing, whether it be pursuing another business or finding a mentor and really getting yourself driven to that next level; but it also could be giving back, it also could be providing for others that may not be in the most fortunate of circumstances.

So I would say that you look at all the different ways which you’re weaving through life and trying to do more and be more and have a better experience. I think focusing on all of these different needs will really help you identify some things that you maybe hadn’t before and hopefully make you realize some of the ways in which you can take the next step and grow.

This blog was created based on our podcast with Patrick Donohoe. Click here to listen to it now!