At our deepest depths rises a drive to contribute. We want to know that we’ve given of ourselves and played a significant part in shaping the world around us. Our desires to add value, give to others, express ourselves, create unique things, and join groups and organizations are often all in hopes of making our mark on the world and making some kind of difference. It’s this drive to give and to matter that fuels our highest personal ambitions as well as our remarkable ability to be selfless.
Contribution is generally defined as “playing a significant part in” some kind of common or collective cause or endeavor. So contributing in life is akin to giving significantly to something, whether to work, a cause, a group, or an individual.
Activator #1: Give of Yourself (and Give Yourself Credit While You’re at It)
In the first, we give of ourselves with full expression and effort in our everyday lives, though that giving is not necessarily tied to giving to any cause, group, or individual at all. By giving the best of ourselves to everything we do, we exert our highest and strongest selves, and doing that alone can make us feel that we are contributing.
You have an extraordinary ability to contribute to the world by bringing the best in you to bear in any endeavor. Give of yourself fully to your creative endeavors. Recognize that as a contribution, and you just might find yourself feeling that you are living a more meaningful and purposeful life.
Activator #2: Give to (Deeply Meaningful Contribution Experiences)
Another kind of giving is the variety of giving to others and broader causes outside ourselves with the direct intention of making an impact. You can give your time, energy, effort, resources, skills, connections, attention, and love to your team, your company, your family, your favorite nonprofit. While giving of is really about mobilizing our internal resources for our own sakes, which often ultimately leads to an impact in the world, giving to is all about mobilizing our resources with the specific intent to contribute to something directly and specifically. You give to a person, cause, or group because you have an eye toward what specific impact you can make and how you will feel afterward. Giving to is a more strategic, “aimed” approach at contribution, and it’s just as powerful.
Activator #3: Mentor, Mentor, Mentor
The mentorship casts you as a role model, and engaging in that role inspires you to call forth the best in you. All your highest virtues and beliefs start emanating from you because you want to help others soar. Over time, the more you mentor someone, the deeper the relationship becomes, and in this person right there in front of you, you get to see your influence and impact.
Charge Points
1. I feel I contribute to the world around me by…
2. A new and deeply meaningful giving experience I’d like to create is…
3. Someone who could use my mentoring is…
* Source: The Charge by Brendon Burchard