Should You Be Focusing on Being $ Productive?

During this time, much of our focus is on the economy. For many, it is on “lack” vs. Abundance. I talked with someone the other day who was laid off in ’08. He is currently doing IT related contract work, and mentioned that he has more work that he can do. He seemed very stressed about money, and “not knowing” how long the work will last. He stated that when he was first laid off, he was doing lot of work “to help others” (for free). He said that it felt great, but that he quickly realized that he wasn’t “getting anything for it”, and became fearful of his “money running out”, so he shifted his focus to “income generating work”. He also told me that he had been going to school for his MBA and had received a loan for more than he needed for tuition, which helped with other bills. He is to receive another this month, but is considering quitting the MBA program because he needs to be working, and finding a job, and is concerned that the MBA will just make him “overqualified” for most jobs anyway.
As someone who has spent the last 15 years in real estate, and who (along with thousands of other Realtors, developers, builders, and lenders) had their “industry” essentially disappear with no severance, and no “unemployment benefits”, I was fascinated by this perspective.

Here is someone with so many options, and opportunities and blessings! Most people would LOVE to be in this position! But what struck me the most was the comment about “not getting anything for” the work that he was doing to “help others”. I pondered this, and finally asked “How can you be sure that work was for nothing? You said that you have more work than you can do right now, right?” He confirmed that he did, and I responded, “A lot of people don’t have that right now. Could it be that the reason that you have been given so much, is actually because of your giving-because of that work that you did for others for free?” I for one, believe that it is!

Too many times (esp. now!) we expect to receive compensation when we simply haven’t yet earned it! I believe in the Law of Compensation that says “You must first give value”, and that you will be compensated in direct proportion to the value that you give. You can’t go to the bank and say “Give me my interest, and then I’ll make a deposit!”

I have heard many conversations recently about focusing on making money right now. “This is not the time to pursue your dream” or “This is not the time for self improvement”, “I can’t be working for free right now”, etc. Maybe this is the perfect time! Maybe the gift in all of this is that when you are at “the bottom” or “unemployed” or whatever, you have less to lose! So, why not now? Maybe the gift in all of this is the abundance of TIME! Many are not terribly busy right now! Most people would typically say that they don’t have time to dream, or exercise, or learn, or better themselves, or change careers. Now you do!

Wouldn’t becoming better, enable you to create more value? When you give to others, even when it’s “for free”, doesn’t that add to your net value? To others, to your self ,and to mankind?

Sure, we all need to make a living, and you should absolutely “be in action”, but maybe in this New Year instead of burying ourselves in “the grindstone” mentality, or working & stressing ourselves to death because we are so “lack” focused, and fearful, maybe we should tithe ourselves. Give 10% of our time to others, 10% to our family & friends, and 10% to ourselves. We are usually awake for at least 15hrs per day (ie. 6am-9pm), making 30%=5hrs. That still leaves us a whopping 10 hours to “work”! So cut out the wasted hours and give to yourself and others. You never know how that will be rewarded. Just know that the Law of Compensation states that it will!

Related Posts:

• The Power of Focus
• 5 Steps to Climb Out of a Funk
• Maintaining Focus
• Resisting Your Inner Gremlin
• Your Goal Isn’t to Make Money