John D. Rockefeller(洛克菲勒,美國“石油大王”)還是孩子的時候就身體力行這件事。他成為億萬富翁。
1924年,John D. Rockefeller寫信給他的兒子,解釋了他關於布施金錢的行為。他寫道:“從我還是孩子的時候起,隻要我得到金錢,就一定會布施出去;隨著我的收入的增加,我也同步增加我的布施”。
有人認為,洛克菲勒隻是為了改善自己的公眾形象,布施一點點小錢,裝裝樣子而已。事實不是如此。在洛克菲勒公司裏負責公共關係的人是 Ivy Lee;閱讀 Lee 的傳記《取悅公眾》(作者是Ray Eldon Hiebert),我們可以知道,作為一種個人行為,洛克菲勒數十年來一直堅持布施,Lee 所做的不過是讓公眾知道這些事情而已。
P.T. Barnum (美國著名廣告家,宣傳家)也布施金錢。我曾經寫了一本關於他的書,《每分鍾都有一個顧客誕生》(譯者注:Barnum曾有一句名言:每分鍾都有一個蠢貨誕生)。Barnum認為,有一種他稱之為“盈利性慈善”的規律,施與,必將獲得回報。當然,他也成為世界上最富有的人之一。
有人可能會說,這些早期的大亨們有的是錢,所以布施對他們來說是輕而易舉的事情。但我認為,他們之所以有錢,是因為他們願意將自己的錢無條件地布施出去。布施導致收獲;布施導致富裕。
現在,企業向有價值的項目捐助已經成為一種時尚,因為這樣可以提升企業的形象,當然也會幫助那些受資助的對象。Anita Roddick的車身修理廠,Ben Cohen 和 Jerry Greenfield的冰淇淋,Yvon Chouinard的Patagonia戶外服飾等,都是布施利益於商務的活生生的例子。
如果要我說人們在布施的時候經常會犯什麽錯誤的話,那就是人們往往布施的太少了。 他們緊緊攥住自己的錢,隻讓小小一股涓流從指縫中流出,作為布施。這也正是他們不會獲得的原因。你必須布施,大量布施,才能進入生命的“獲得”的洪流。
我決定布施一些金錢。要是放在過去的話,我一般可能會布施個5美元什麽的,因為我害怕貧困,不懷疑布施原理的真實性。但是這次我決定有所改變:我拿出我的支票本,然後寫了一張1000美元的支票。
Mike 非常震驚。從我的郵件中收到支票後,他開車回家時差點撞到人行道上。他簡直不敢相信這件事。他還親自打電話向我表示感謝。我真是喜歡他那孩子氣的驚訝,簡直就好像我突然有了一張“百萬英鎊”一樣。(注意這一點!)
我享受著這種“因為我他很快樂”的情緒。我很高興我能捐錢給他。不論他用這些錢來做什麽,對我都無所謂,重要的是,我幫助了一個人,讓他能夠繼續努力的從事我所信仰的工作,這種感覺簡直太棒了。我當時有一種發自內心的衝動要去幫助他,直到現在我還時常愉快的回味那次捐助。
當我捐錢給 Mike 的時候,我給自己和整個世界發出了一個這樣的信息:我是富有的,我在宇宙的良性循環的洪流中。同時我也建立了一個吸引金錢到我這裏的磁性原則:布施,就會得到。
捐給這樣的人一些錢。要發自你的內心去捐款,不要像一個吝嗇鬼那樣痛苦的布施。讓你的布施發自“富足”而不是“貧乏”。不要期望從你的布施對象那裏得到回報,但您可以預期,回報一定會來到。
The Greatest Money-Making
Secret in History!
If you want money, you only have to do one thing.
It's the one thing some of the wealthiest people on the planet have done and are doing.
It's the one thing written about in various ancient cultures and still promoted today.
It's the one thing that will bring money to anyone who does it but at the same time most people will fear doing it.
What is that one thing?
John D. Rockefeller did it since he was a child. He became a billionaire.
Andrew Carnegie did it, too. He became a tycoon.
What is the greatest money-making secret in history?
What is the one thing that works for everyone?
Give money away.
That's right. Give it away.
Give it to people who help you stay in touch with your inner world.
Give it to people who inspire you, serve you, heal you, love you.
Give it to people without expecting them to return it, but give it knowing it will come back to you multiplied from some source.
In 1924 John D. Rockefeller wrote to his son and explained his practice of giving away money. He wrote, "...in the beginning of getting money, away back in my childhood, I began giving it away, and continued increasing the gifts as the income increased..."
Did you notice what he said?
He gave away more money as he received more income. He gave away $550 million dollars in his lifetime.
Some people think Rockefeller started giving away dimes as a publicity stunt to improve his image. That's not true. The public relations man who worked for Rockefeller was Ivy Lee. In Courtier To The Crowd, a great biography of Lee, Ray Eldon Hiebert states Rockefeller had been giving money away for decades on his own. All Lee did was let the public know.
P.T. Barnum gave money away, too. As I wrote in my book on him, There's A Customer Born Every Minute, Barnum believed in what he called a "profitable philanthropy." He knew giving would lead to receiving. He, too, became one of the world's richest men.
Andrew Carnegie gave enormously, too. Of course, he became one of the richest men in America's history.
Bruce Barton, cofounder of the famous BBDO advertising agency and the key subject of my book The Seven Lost Secrets of Success also believed in giving. In 1927 he wrote:
"If a man practices doing things for other people until it becomes so much a habit that he is unconscious of it, all the good forces of the universe line up behind him and whatever he undertakes to do."
Barton became a best-selling author, business celebrity, contributor to numerous causes, and very, very, wealthy.
While some might argue that these early tycoons had the money to give, so it was easy for them, I would argue that they got the money in part because they were willing to freely give. The giving led to the receiving. The giving led to more wealth.
I'll repeat that:
The giving led to the receiving.
The giving led to more wealth.
Today it's fashionable for businesses to give money to worthy causes. It makes them look good and of course it helps those who receive it. Anita Roddick's Body Shop stores, Ben Cohen and Jerry Greenfield's ice cream, and Yvon Chouinard's Patagonia, are living examples of how giving can be good for business.
But what I'm talking about here is individual giving. I'm talking about you giving money so you will receive more money.
If there's one thing I think people do wrong when they practice giving, is they give too little. They hold on to their money and let it trickle out when it comes to giving. And that's why they aren't receiving. You have to give, and give a lot, to be in the flow of life to receive.
I remember when I first heard about the idea of giving. I thought it was a scheme to get me to give money to the people who were telling me to do the giving.
If I did give, it was like a miser. Naturally, what I got in return was equivalent to what I gave. I gave little. I got little.
But then one day I decided to test the theory of giving.
I love inspiring stories. I read them, listen to them, share them, and tell them. I decided to thank Mike Dooley of
www.tut.com for the inspiring messages he shares with me and others every day by email.
I decided to give him some money. In the past I would have given him maybe five dollars. But that's when I came from scarcity and feared the giving principle wouldn't work. This time would be different. I took out my checkbook and wrote a check for one thousand dollars.
It was the largest single contribution I had ever made in my life at that time.
Yes, it made me a tiny bit nervous. But it mostly made me excited. I wanted to make a difference. I wanted to reward Mike. And I wanted to see what would happen.
Mike was stunned. He got my check in the mail and nearly drove off the road as he headed home. He couldn't believe it. He even called me and thanked me. I enjoyed his boyish surprise. It made me feel like a million bucks. (Note that!)
I loved making him so happy. I delighted in giving the money to him. Whatever he did with it was fine with me. What I got was an incredible feeling of helping someone continue doing what I believed in. It was an inner rush to help him. I still rejoice at sending him the money.
And then something wonderful began to happen.
I suddenly got a call from a person who wanted me to co-author his book, a job that ended up paying me many times over what I had given away.
And then a publisher in Japan contacted me, wanting to buy the translation rights to my best-selling book, Spiritual Marketing. They, too, offered me many times what I had given Mike as a gift.
A true skeptic can say these events are unrelated. Maybe in the skeptic's mind, they aren't. In mine, they are.
When I gave money to Mike, I sent a message to myself and to the world that I was prosperous and in the flow. I also set up a magnetic principle that attracted money to me: As you give, so you will get.
Give time and you'll get time.
Give products and you'll get products.
Give love and you'll get love.
Give money and you'll get money.
This one tip alone can transform your finances. Think of the person or persons who have inspired you over the last week. Who made you feel good about yourself, your life, your dreams, or your goals?
Give that person some money. Give them something from your heart. Don't be stingy. Come from abundance, not scarcity. Give without expecting return from that person, but do expect return.
As you do, you will see your own prosperity grow. That's the Greatest Money-Making Secret in History!
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"If you see it, touch it.
If you touch it, feel it.
If you feel it, love it.
If you love it...Give it. "
Because NOTHING speaks to the UNIVERSE louder, of your BELIEF in self, abundance, and love, than giving.
And when the Universe hears, more will be added unto you. NOT AS A REWARD, but because you truly believed... in self, abundance, and love.