Why does generosity matter? In business and in life? What does generosity mean to you? How can you be generous when money is tight? These are all things I invite you to ponder with me today. 

I’ve seen the theme of generosity growing over the last few years, especially from a business perspective. As consumers, we want to partner with and support businesses that are doing good, AND doing well – meaning that their business bottom line is great, but also they’re working to help the planet or to give back. So, it’s actually good business practice to be generous, because it touches the hearts of our customers, and is meaningful to them.

Additionally, generosity helps us to reconnect to our ever elusive why – and when you have a team that is aligned to its why, you have magic.

Let’s dissect this a bit.

As children, we grow up asking why to everything in life, “why is that, and why is this?” As we grow older we learn two things through observation. 

1. Stop asking why (it exasperates us ‘adults’) and 
2. Aspire to being ‘right’ (good things come to those that are ‘right’). 

These two seemingly simple things are huge adjustments to our natural state of curiosity and its partner, wonder.

As we stuff our curiosity into a box and begin to toe the line of societal advancement, we don’t realize that we stop living our why. So what? That’s part of growing up and becoming an adult, right?  Wrong. When we lose our why it not only slowly kills our spirit, it makes life so much more difficult, and we end up on a team of people all of whom are doing exactly what we’re doing, hiding our most potent potential and stuffing our curiosity so that we can fit in.

Can you relate to this? It was my life for years. I even created and led a team from this place. It did NOT go well.

The fascinating thing about generosity is that it starts to open us up and allows us to reconnect to our why if we let it. It can open us to meet new people, open us to think differently, and open up our curiosity. The generosity of your spirit, of just giving to give, is a helpful practice to remember and reconnect to your why.

But is there a way to be generous both in business and in our personal lives that isn’t just monetary? Simply, yes! Money is just one level of generosity. Time & energy are other levels of generosity that have the same, and often even more impact. For example, lending a listening ear to a friend in need. That act of just being yourself, being the presence that they need to be heard. That is generosity.

This week take a moment to engage in conversation with yourself about generosity, and start by considering the generosity you express toward yourself. Create space in your mind and ask yourself “what if I were enough, just as I am?” Sit with that, marinate in it. You might even accompany that practice with some journaling, or if you’re an artist, drawing something. If you are very kinesthetic, like me, you might move around with it and feel what it feels like in different parts of your body. 

Once you do, I would love it if you joined us in our Soulful Leader LinkedIn group or on our Facebook group and shared your insights on this generosity practice.