I don’t know I’m right, but personal experience says I might be. Almost any experience a person might have in life will present them with two primary options. Give or take. While the gut reaction for most of us might be to take when we can, I believe that the truly selfish person will choose to give, every time. Here is why: The person who chooses to take whenever life gives them that opportunity will almost surely find that those opportunities begin to diminish, slowly, but surely. Thus, they are not being selfish, but stupid, by robbing themselves of the opportunity to continue to receive. All their taking means that those who are giving will eventually stop.
The selfish person, on the other hand, will choose to give at every opportunity, and they will do so expecting exactly nothing in return. By choosing this path, they will become the recipient of unlimited goodwill from others. As long as they continue to give, expecting nothing in return, they will receive more in the form of goodwill,(i.e. referrals, career advancement, loyal friendship, opportunities so numerous they may have a hard time choosing which ones to pursue, peace of mind, fullness of heart, smiles from those they approach, open arms, a passport to anywhere because they are always welcome, the list goes on…,) than they can handle. Not too shabby, eh?
It’s one of those weird paradoxes we get to face every day. Sometimes it just depends on how you look at it, your perspective. I love being selfish,(not to be confused with crab or lobster, those are shellfish.) And since I don’t expect anything, everything that comes is a pleasant surprise. So, the next time you log on to LinkedIn, send me an invitation to connect. Go through my connections. See if there is anyone you know or would like to know. If so, I’ll be happy to make that connection for you, just ask. If not, see if anybody does something that interests you and then look for connections within your own existing personal or professional network that share those qualities or characteristics. Invite them to join YOUR LinkedIn network and see what you can do for them. Pay it forward.
Let me know what I can do for you. Anytime! This is my offer to help.
I know help is kind of a vague term. It means different things to different people. The only way to find out is to ask. Next time you run into a friend or associate that is totally not expecting it, try saying, ”Hey, what can I do for you today?, instead of hi or what’s up. It will probably catch them off guard. It might even weird them out. But if you mean it, just say so. Something like, “I’m just trying an experiment. I know everybody wants something they don’t have and I’m checking to see if I can help someone get what they’re after.” It could be something as obscure as someone wanting a puppy and you happen to have a friend that needs to give some puppies away. It could be you knowing that a position just became available where you work and you come across someone looking for a job.
The possibilities are endless.
LinkedIn is a tool to expand your personal network. It may help you in your current career, it may help you if you decide to move in a different direction with your life. The connections you make, the people that you offer to help, have the potential to remain connected to you throughout your life. Wherever you go, whatever you do. As long as you continue to grow that network by LinkedIn, face to face, email, whatever works for you, and as long as you continue to offer your help to any and all of your connections, you can touch and be touched by, literally, hundreds of thousands of people. It all starts with one.
Before you make/made your first connection on LinkedIn, how many people do you think you had in your personal or professional network? Now, when you log on to LinkedIn, go to the LinkedIn home page, scroll down a bit, and on the right hand side you will see something that says, “Your LinkedIn Network.” It shows how many connections you have and it also shows you how many new people are in your network as of a particular date. What is that number for you? Does it surprise you? Did you ever suspect that the degree of separation between you and all of these people was even smaller than the degree of separation between you and Kevin Bacon?
I must add that I have no personal connection to LinkedIn. I am not a spokesperson, nor am I affiliated in any way. However, I love tools which can make connecting easier. We, as humans, long to be connected to something, someone, or both. Making that process simpler, simply works for me. Most importantly, I hope it works for you!
Stop by http://www.expect2connect.com
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