I’ve always helped people without expecting anything back. Looking back, I wouldn’t have expected in those moments how much that habit shaped my life and my business.
Here are some of my favorite examples…
In 2004 I helped the neighbor’s daughter sell some car parts on eBay after her friend totaled her car. I lost about $80 doing it because I forgot to include shipping.
This wasn’t completely altruistic though, she was a hottie. Hottie and I have now been married 20 years.
I helped set up a radio remote event for a concert in 2000. Three months later I was on-air, and I worked in radio for seven years.
When our neighbor’s mother died, I sent them a sympathy gift. Later, I helped someone else move furniture into their minivan. That other person ended up being the daughter of the person that passed, now the new trustee of the property.
That relationship led to the chance to buy their lot right next to ours and double our lake front footage to then build our dream vacation home.
In 2008, I helped a small apron company grow from $80,000 in online sales to an acquisition worth millions. That owner went on to refer clients for years to this day, over 15 years later, generating hundreds of thousands of dollars in extra revenue for my agency.
None of those outcomes were something I expected when showing up just to help. Never know how or when helping someone comes back to you, but it does, reliably.
