When Was the Last Time You Contributed Something?

As a professional trainer and speaker at over 50 conventions and events every year, I continue to appreciate those in the field whom I’ve admired and learned from. My favorite has always been self-help author and motivational speaker, Tony Robbins. Robbins teaches that every person on Earth has six, basic human needs. They are as follows:

1. Certainty/Comfort. We all want comfort. And much of this comfort comes from certainty. We will never attain 100% certainty but we want to know that when we flip the switch, the light goes on and when we need our family they will be there for us.

2. Variety. As much as we love certainty, conversely we also crave the uncertainty known as variety. We all desire a little spice and a measure of the unknown.

3. Significance. In the end we all want to believe that our life matters. Nobody wants to die thinking that they have lived an insignificant life. We crave purpose for our being.

4. Connection/Love. We not only want to be loved but we also have a need to love others on some level.

5. Growth. Although some will deny it or will mask their desire to grow, we all want to know that if we looked back on our lives 10 years from now, we have grown in some way.

6. Contribution. It is not enough to make ourselves better alone. All people desire in some way to contribute to this world and make a difference in the life of someone else on some level.

This week I would like to focus on contribution and the following example that showcases this need and how this can work for you in your business.

Recently upon returning from speaking at an event in St. Thomas, I decided to work from home for the day so that I could do some yard work and hang out with my kids who I hadn’t seen in a week. I was jumping in and out of the pool with them, and at one point, had to run to the gas station to get some more fuel for my mower.

Because I was in my swim trunks, which were wet, I had to hand carry my wallet, and while I was pumping the gas I set my wallet on top of my car. Of course, I bet you can guess that I left my wallet on the car as I drove off.

Unaware that this had happened, I was in my back yard when a stranger pulled up. As I walked toward him, he lifted up my wallet and said, “I believe this belongs to you.” He explained that he saw it fall from my car onto the road and watched as car after car ran over it. He explained that he had lost his wallet in the past and couldn’t bear the idea of someone else going through what he had gone through. This caused him to stop his car in the middle of a busy street, grab my wallet, look up my address on my license and personally deliver it to me.

I was blown away by this person’s concern for a complete stranger and the potential situation I was going to be in if he didn’t return my wallet to me.

This was a powerful experience for me. Not only did it prove there are still good people in the world, but it also reminded me of the six, basic human needs that people have regardless of their color, creed, business or anything else. Everyone has a need to contribute something or give back to someone other than themselves.

I want you to think about what happens when you do this. I decided to take this man’s gesture and pay it forward. Not just one time but forever more. My mindset has changed from one that is always trying to get as much done as possible to now being open to and looking for ways to help other people.

When dealing with sales and production we tend to focus on the hard core numbers of how many prospects we have called, appointments we have made and transactions we have closed. These are important numbers no doubt but sometimes we lose sight of how much production is lost due to the stress, worry and anxiety that we walk around with on a daily basis.

If you are truly serious about being productive, take time today to do something for someone else that doesn’t seem to bring you any immediate gain or exposure. I promise the good feeling it gives you will pay you back 10 times over.

All of us have a need to contribute to others. If you are denying yourself this basic need then you are also denying yourself the ability to operate at your peak performance. It’s time to stop denying yourself.

Jared James is the CEO and Founder of Jared James Enterprises, an internationally sought-after speaker and trainer. James built one of the fastest-growing real estate teams in the country, was inducted into the International Hall of Fame for one of the world’s largest real estate companies and wrote a best-selling book—all before the age of 28. As an acclaimed speaker, James keynotes events for major real estate organizations and conducts regular webinars and training for nationally known organizations like NAR, CRS, Yahoo Real Estate,Trulia and Zillow Academy and blogs regularly for RISMedia.