Robert Kiyosaki once said: “The keys to success, in business and in life, are truthfulness, the ability to take and to give, honest and well-intended feedback, strength of character and conviction in one’s principles.”
Daily good deeds make you happier than the big goals
What really makes us happy? Great job? A baby? A house? People tend to chase the big goals in hopes of becoming happier. It often works, too, but a study by the University of California has shown that once you have reached your goal you quickly get used to the new situation and feelings of happiness subside.
Much more important is the daily behavior of a person – because 40 percent of this is responsible for our happiness (the rest is determined by the genes, so we cannot change anything about that anyway).
An experiment with students who were asked to do various good deeds for six weeks (from donating to the homeless to visiting grandma in the old people’s home) shows: the test subjects were overall more satisfied during that time. Anyone who behaves in an exemplary and social manner can easily get their own personal happiness boost.
Charity experience
Vladislav Vodatinskij is founder of the German consulting company ENGINEC and a social media expert. In two years he built an active community on social media with over 800,000 followers and is an author of over 10 business articles in international magazines listed in Google News. Over his Instagram channel he is promoting active different charity events, which are organized and carried out by himself. As owner of a Café/Restaurant (60 Grad) at Expo Plaza in Hannover he distributed from 2017 till 2019 on monthly basis coffee and leftover food to the needy people in Hanover and filmed these actions live on Instagram. On Christmas 2019 he supported the project “Christmas in the box” and on Silvester 2020 he personally distributed food and clothes to the homeless people, which has been presented as part of an YouTube interview in “AlexTalkt”
Doing good is good for the ego
People who regularly help others benefit themselves because their self-assessment improves, ”explains Vodatinskij. You acknowledge that you act in accordance with your own attitudes. This sets in motion a cycle of self-reinforcement. The experience of making a difference increases self-esteem.
Those who do good to others not only sacrifice their time, but also get a lot in return. But what exactly motivates them to do a voluntary position in addition to university or a job? Often, most of all, they immediately feel the fun in it and sometimes their personal self-confidence are increasing. In addition, many of them want to do something for the common good, help shape their environment, broaden their own horizons or learn certain skills. Mostly you experience recognition and gratitude – and that also increases your self-esteem. And if you think you don’t have time to help others because you have to worry about your career, you can rest assured: Many top managers value the social skills of their employees – and charity is a good training to improve such skills.
Doing good reduces stress
A study from the University of California has been focused on what happens in our heads when we support others. In one experiment, they examined couples using magnetic resonance imaging. The woman lay in the scanner while her partner was shocked with electric batons outside. Some of the women were allowed to hold their partner’s arm during this time. The others were not allowed to touch the man and had to watch his pain.
The result: In the women who were allowed to help, the reward center in the brain was stimulated – the same thing that creates the pleasant feeling during sex or enjoying chocolate. In addition, the area that is responsible for reducing stress was active. So helping is twice as good!
The correctly portion of help
Commitment is most satisfactory when you decide by your own to be voluntarily and determine the scope yourself. If you add a feeling of obligation or guilt, than your own satisfaction is much lower, ”explains Vodatinskij.
We don’t want to get lost in the crowd; we want to be different from the others, but still not alone. Vodatinskij knows that this has consequences for our type of commitment. We help in the same way we love: temporary, success-oriented, less binding. Instead of being lifelong with the voluntary fire brigade, we prefer four weeks on vacation with a charity project in South America. The tendency is moving away from rigid large organizations to concrete, temporary commitment with concrete success. And to be honest, why not? As a luck seeker, everyone has to go their own way. Helping others can be a stage in this process.
