WHAT ABOUT ME?
Now that grabbed your attention didn’t it? Many of us were raised believing that you
don’t take anything without giving something back in return or as the old proverb
says “give and you shall receive”. This article reflects a different paradigm shift into
the value of ‘giving back’ to ourselves.
BY CHRIS KNIGHT
W
omen are natural
born givers. We spend
copious amounts of
our time caring for
others, volunteering at school and
community events, donating to
local charities, sponsoring and
attending business networking
events and mentoring staff and
those in a similar business. We
walk around with fit bits to count
how many steps we have taken, text
on our mobile phones because we
haven’t got time to talk. As we age
we become at risk of increasing
health issues relating to stress,
high blood pressure, heart disease,
diabetes and obesity. We spend
copious hours aligning our goals
and targets into our diaries to
make sure that we stay focused
and monitor that we are on track
and that we can account for every
waking moment of our day as we
tick off tasks on our to do lists. We
get so busy that we forget to take
time to simply breathe in some
fresh air and bask in the sunshine.
As our business grows we
continually seek new opportunities
to expand our range of products or
services to reach even more clients
with the primary goal of creating
the lifestyle that we dream about, to
provide for our families and most
importantly to ensure that we have
sufficient funds for when we retire
so that we can relax and enjoy life.
If we already have a successful
business then we can be even more
generous in giving back to others by
applying a 10% tithing to charities
incorporated into our Corporate
Social Responsibility (CSR)
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Women’s Network Magazine
obligations. Heaven forbid that we
might be seen as being too greedy
or selfish for the income that we
earn if we don’t ‘give something
back!
While these are all very important
considerations, along the way
we can often lose sight of the
importance of giving and getting
back some of that precious
‘Me Time”? This is particularly
challenging for women who run
large corporations, are in senior
positions, are the pivotal “go-to-
person’ who work under extreme
pressure, juggle multiple tasks
including being the Super Woman
or Super Mum who leaves no spare
time in her day just for herself in
between dropping off and picking
up kids from school or day care or
meeting that deadline before close
of business.
In his book The Go-Giver, Author
Bob Burg challenges our thinking
that the concept of “giving back’
implies that we have first taken
something that we need to return.
He expands on The Law of Value
by suggesting that our true worth
is the value that we give to the
people that we serve rather than
what we take in payments. For
many of us this underpins our true
value and belief that what we are
doing makes a difference to helping
others less fortunate. We can often
miss the opportunity to apply the
same principles of giving back to
ourselves for all the extra hours and
activities that we spend giving to
others. This does not mean that we
are being selfish nor should we feel
guilty when we crave those precious
‘me time’ moments that enable
us to recalibrate, reflect on our
progress and realign our passions
with our work. By incorporating a
‘giving back’ to me philosophy into
our daily lives enables us to sustain
our own momentum of giving to
others more easily and reminds us
that our own health and wellness
must be our first priority.
When we align what we define as
our purpose in life with our passion
to make a difference, we discover
that what we genuinely give back
to others is an extension of how
we honour ourselves. By giving
back some me time we will also
discover an overwhelming feeling
of happiness within. Seek out those
like minded business owners that
enable us to create special ‘me
time’ moments together to build
lasting relationships that benefit us
personally and professionally.
AUTHOR
Chris Knight
INSPIRATIONAL CONNECTIONS
CONTACT
0403177012
EMAIL
[email protected]
WEBSITE
chrisknight.pro-masystems.com.au