Give More Get Superpowers

Do you consider yourself an especially “good” or “bad” person? If so, you have a leg up on everyone else who’s indifferent to their moral code.

A new study at Harvard says that people who consider themselves morally “good” or “evil” have more willpower and strength compared to people who don’t consider themselves either.

Good People Give More

People who volunteer their time are getting much more in return. This is especially true for entrepreneurs.

Volunteering sets you up to begin giving without expecting an immediate return. Which is arguably the most important trait you can posses if you wish to succeed in business.

Compounding Their Ability to Provide

It is one of the most puzzling truths there is, but busy people get things done quicker than people with nothing on their to do lists. Becoming a busy person is easiest by volunteering if you’re stuck in a rut.

Years ago I used to volunteer at ECHO. Working in the hot sun, talking about simple technologies really got me excited about building things to improve the rest of the world. I ended up leaving two years later to volunteer for three months in the Panamanian rainforest.

Pushing Them to New Places

After a month in the rainforest, I was forever changed. Each night I fell asleep to howler monkeys and a thousand insects. But something in my stomach worried me.

If you’ve seen Apocalypto, you might understand. I was devastated by the idea that civilization had ruined this natural order of life, and replaced it with something dead.

Agriculture and chemicals instead of a living cornucopia.

Forcing Them to Reconcile Their Experiences

For a few months afterwards, I was shell shocked. I struggled to find a way to fit within society, without being what I had termed one of the “destroyers”. It seemed living within civilization and living a good life were diametrically opposed. Because civilization has so many ugly pieces to it.

Eventually, I reread my old favorite book in elementary school, The Giver. It seemed to deal with a lot of the things I’d experienced.

In it, the main protagonist is separated from an “ideal” society. He is given a special teaching, and he realizes his society is really dead. So he takes it upon himself to revitalize society, and turn it into something more human.

Creating New Insights

Now, I’m not saying we can all turn society and the crowd into something completely human. But we can make the sacrifice and turn our own little piece into something human and real.

And that’s what building a business, being a giver is all about. Making the game of being human a little better.

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