Giving back
How much of your time do you spend, altruistically, for other people?
If your answer is less than 20%, you’re headed for disaster.
What giving back means
There are an infinite number of ways of giving back.
- Mentor a colleague.
- Have lunch with an old friend who’s depressed.
- Write a letter to somebody who needs it.
- Blog about something useful.
- Join an organization and volunteer.
- Canvass for a political party.
- Become active in local politics.
- Contribute open-source code.
- Coach. Teach.
- Do what you normally do for work, but pro-bono for a worthy cause.
- Teach your children.
- Any other activity that helps other people more than it helps you.
It’s perfectly fine if the way you give back helps you, too. It’s natural to participate in causes that align with your work.
But if your only objective is to advance yourself, it doesn’t count.
If all you do is give money and not time, that’s very nice of you, but it doesn’t count, either.
Why?
I’m not suggesting this to guilt you or scold you.
I’m telling you to do this for your mental health.
If all you do all day long is make the maximum possible amount of money and spend it on your own indulgence, your life will become grey and empty. You will wonder why you seem to have it all but feel like you have nothing. You will ask yourself what it all means.
If you spend a little bit of your time helping other people with no expectation of return, you will feel some joy, some sense of purpose, and some sense of meaning. It will put the hardest, most selfish parts of your job in perspective.
You may think this is inefficient. But we are humans. We need this. Without it, you’re headed for a crisis and a breakdown.
And that’s not very efficient, is it?
In case you’re wondering about me, I blog useful content every weekday, help authors that will never become clients, run a writer survey at far below my typical consulting rate, volunteer on the programming committee for a writing conference, and mentor young people. And it makes me much happier.
I’d like to see this list expand beyond:
• Canvass for a political party.
• Become active in local politics.
to encourage people to serve on local boards and commissions — totally apolitical bodies — that help local communities thrive. We have lost a sense of civic engagement and participation, as well as not having a true appreciation of what it takes to make things happen at the local level. Volunteering on those bodies gives us insights into all kinds of aspects of our own town. And it makes us appreciate the service and sacrifice of many to help make our small corner of the world a better place to live, work and play.
I’ve made two large, ongoing volunteer commitments, and do a little bit of other stuff when I can (e.g., donating blood). Having two big commitments means I can say no to anything more without guilt. I’ve also gotten so much out of both of them that has unquestionably improved both my business and personal life. I even contributed a post for the Freelancers Union blog on how volunteering has helped my career. I certainly don’t see how trying to be what Jane Friedman calls a good “literary citizen” can hurt.