Infinite Giving on Giving Tuesdaystring(33) "Infinite Giving on Giving Tuesday"
I have asked Julian Lewis to write a guest blog for my website. Julian is one of my co-authors of the book, “Infinite Giving“. Today, he is sharing the topic of “Giving Tuesday”, which is occurring in the USA tomorrow. Even though Julian is from Great Britain, and never heard about “Giving Tuesday” before, he is truly an expert on giving year-round.
As one of the co-authors of the book, “Infinite Giving”, you would expect me to be excited by “Giving Tuesday”, and I am. I am excited because for lots of people it is a reminder of the way we should live our lives every day. In a way, it is sad that we need a day for giving. However, I am a realist and I know that life is not one smooth path and we all need reminders from time to time.
The book, “Infinite Giving” was written by two Brits and a Yank. As a guest on The Yank’s Blog, I have to say “Giving Tuesday” is not a big thing in Britain. That said, nor was “Black Friday”, “Small Business Saturday”, and “Cyber Monday” years ago, and they are now. So, I suspect that “Giving Tuesday” will follow on. Hence, I am interested to see how “Giving Tuesday” develops.
I know that for many there are quite a few days that people practice giving throughout the year. For people who understand the concept of “Infinite Giving”, every day is an opportunity to give and to gain. I think to provide “Giving Tuesday” some balance it would be better described as “Givers Gain Tuesday”. Givers Gain® is the philosophy of BNI®, and the subject of our book focused on how you make giving infinite with The Seven Principles of Givers Gain®.
Givers Gain is more than a phrase—it’s a way of living one’s life. It’s a perspective to view and interact with the world. It’s an attitude, not an expectation. When it’s applied properly, it will change your life and when it changes enough lives, it will change the world.
When we give others gain, everyone can give something which means also everyone can gain. Just imagine a day where you know that you have something to give and at the same time you will be in receipt of a gift. Then start to imagine that is every day, not just one day in November or December. Let your imagination go wild and see what the world now looks like with all this giving in it. Giving truly can be infinite and what the philosophy of Givers Gain can achieve is also infinite.
What are you going to give? Here are some ideas.
- Give your ears to somebody who needs to talk
- Give you time to help a neighbour
- Give your contacts to recommend a quality supplier
- Give your knowledge to upskill someone you work with
- Give your influence to change people view
- Give your spare funds as a donation to the BNI Foundation
So if you have not yet started your “Infinite Giving”, today is the day to start. Continue on tomorrow and then the next day, do it on purpose for over 20 days and it will become a habit.
There are so many things we can give each and every day. One act of giving matched with one act of gaining can make a difference to the world. Once everyone in the world embraces an “Infinite Giving” mindset the problems of the world can melt away. Let’s all use “Giving Tuesday” to start a chain reaction.