Six Habits of Generous, Successful People

What sets them apart are the simple acts we don’t see

Photo: Hinterhaus Productions/Getty

When I was growing up, my dad told me that the fastest way to get what you want is to get to know the people who already have it.

But I didn’t really understand his advice until my wife and I moved to rural Spain to start a family. Cut off geographically from the centers of my industry, I had to create my own online networks from scratch. Since I couldn’t go into the city every day to make connections in the coaching and writing worlds, I decided to take just one hour a week to reach out online to people whose work I enjoyed. Quickly, that decision began paying dividends, as I started to build a network of people I admired — a network that today includes top businesspeople, renowned coaches, and prolific creators.

The fastest way to get what you want is to get to know the people who already have it.

It took me 15 years to follow my dad’s advice, but I’m glad I finally did. In learning how successful people navigate their own lives, I’ve managed to better steer my own. The most powerful discovery I’ve made is that successful people don’t have any hidden superpowers. They aren’t doing anything dramatically different from you or me. They’ve simply made the decision to do these six things consistently.

They proactively share everything they have

I run an online group with a handful of the people I’ve met through my weekly outreach. From the beginning, one thing that’s stood out to me is their generosity. All of them make it a point to share their time and resources, and they also don’t hesitate to give their best ideas away for free.

That’s not to say that they’re selfless to their own detriment. I think often of something my mentor, leadership speaker Conor Neill, once said: “The fastest way to see your ideas become a reality is by giving them to someone else.” And the more you offer to the world, I’ve learned, the more opportunities you will have in the future. The phrase “When you give, you get” is cliché for a reason: It’s grounded in truth.

They write things down