What Does Give to Receive Mean?

The world lives in a continuous state of circulation and flow. Whether it is the water cycle, the breath cycle, or the changing seasons, everything stays in motion. Giving and receiving work the same way: they go together. For giving to happen, there must be someone ready to receive.

The gift of giving

There are three types of people: the taker, the balanced giver, and the pure giver:

• The pure giver: Gives unconditionally, with no strings attached and straight from the heart.
• The balanced giver: Gives to receive. Offers something with the expectation of getting something back.
• The taker: Gives to gain. Gives only to win something for themselves.

How do you know what kind of giving you are doing?

It is simple: look at why you are giving.

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It took me a while to truly understand the different types of giving and why I was giving in the first place. Once I started reflecting on my reasons and how I felt after I gave, I began adjusting my thoughts and behaviors. I also practice giving without telling anyone. Another lesson I learned: if you feel you lost something by giving, that was not real giving.

Practicing giving

The simplest way to practice giving is the moment you connect with someone: give them something. How? You might ask. There are many ways to give, and giving does not have to cost money. Some free examples include giving:

• a compliment,
• a flower,
• kindness,
• thanks,
• a message,
• a note, and
• your full attention to someone

So what does “give to receive” really mean?

In my experience, what has always worked in business is adding far more value to my client (or prospect) than anyone else, and more than I had committed to deliver. Giving two, three, even four times more results, bonuses, or preferential service than the contract stated has helped me close some of the best deals of my career. And it is not limited to business.

I built friendships with extraordinary people because I knew how to add value to their lives without thinking about business, simply by being myself with them. I learned that the more I give, the more I receive: not always in money or deals, but in happiness, experiences, and learning from people who know more than I do about a specific topic.

Here is the important lesson: give to receive does not mean you give while waiting for something in return. You do it because you want to. What comes, comes. Or nothing comes at all. The satisfaction of having helped someone or made them smile is priceless. A friend once told me: “I have friends who are so poor that the only thing they have is money.” If you cannot understand the value of being someone who gives without expecting anything, you will never understand what it truly means to live happily or what it feels like to positively impact the world. Instead of always looking for something for yourself, help improve the world.