Giving vs. Manipulation

By Mike Monahan, CEO and executive director of Life Success Seminars Inc.

Doing good for others can be one of the most rewarding selfish acts you can perform. Yes, selfish.

When you do good for others, you've missed the point if you aren't feeling good about it!

The only way you can go wrong is if you have hidden motives for giving. That's manipulation, not giving.

When you're trying to manipulate, you're the one who is going to be disappointed by the outcome. You might even feel like they have taken advantage of you.

The gift of giving is that you get to feel good while helping someone else. Win/win!

Giving Thanks

By Mike Monahan, CEO and executive director of Life Success Seminars Inc.

This is the time of year when we have the opportunity to stop and appreciate our life and the people in it. On Thanksgiving, I sometimes find a place in my heart to accept a circumstance that has been a burden in the past. I can see the opportunity in the event more than I see the pain and fear.

I wonder how life would change if we celebrated Thanksgiving once every week. I bet we would learn to handle circumstances in the moment more often. I believe our relationships would be more honest. How about you? How would your life change?

Doing Good

By Mike Monahan, CEO and executive director of Life Success Seminars Inc.

Do you feel good when you do something really nice for someone else? Have you ever watched "Secret Millionaire" on TV and wished you could do something like that?

In the book "The Richest Man in Babylon," author George S. Clason says to teach your children to give away 10 cents for every dollar they receive. The theory is that when they earn a million dollars, it'll be much easier for them to give away $100,000.

We hold on to money because we think it will run out. And it usually does! Money comes and goes. The key to being the secret millionaire is to give your fair share today.

You can't take it with you, so trade it in for good feelings!

Too Little, Too Much

By Mike Monahan, CEO and executive director of Life Success Seminars Inc.

I grew up in a house where there wasn't enough. I was told that others had "more than enough," which was the polite way of saying they had "too much."

I assumed that life wasn't equal. Either you had too little or too much.

I lived most of my life in the "too little" house. Raising five children as a frequently unemployed construction worker meant we had many lean times. Now that the kids are grown up, I sometimes feel like I have too much.

I never heard about "win/win" until I went to Life Success's Basic seminar in 1987. Intellectually, I get the concept. But I sometimes find win/win challenging on an emotional level. I think I know how to treat others fairly, but I struggle with being OK with my own success.

John Denver said it best: "Who's to say you have to lose for someone else to win?"