How you treat the world is how the world will treat you.
I had trouble believing this when I first heard it. Then I practiced it.
It’s funny how people who pay their own bills late expect their own invoices to be paid on time. Or how people who yell at others get mad or upset when people yell at them. Or how people aren’t willing to invest in themselves, but expect other people to invest in the products or services they’re selling.
I always pay my bills and invoices promptly or even ahead of time. I do this as a courtesy to my vendors, but also because I’m putting out to the universe that I want my own invoices paid early.
I try to make strangers smile, like the person checking out my groceries at the supermarket, because I want to live in a world with people who make me smile.
I invest heavily into myself and my business because I know the return is tremendous. I used to try to piecemeal free stuff or hack products. But there is something to having skin in the game: you’ll work harder than if you got it for free.
I donate substantially to charities that I personally believe in, because I believe that for every dollar I give, two dollars will come back. I give, and from that, I get both the good feeling of donating and find I always get rewarded in some other unexpected way as well.
I don’t expect anyone to give me a handout, because what is earned is better than what is given. I would rather earn a championship than have it given to me. I would rather earn a million bucks than win it in the lottery.
I want the same things I expect of others to be what I expect of myself.
I don’t shortchange people or ask for a hookup. I figure out how to earn what I want, so I earn the right to get it.
Think about this: Mother Theresa was one of the most giving, generous humans on this planet. She gave because it made her feel good. She wanted the world to be a more giving place. So instead of complaining that it wasn’t, she modeled the behavior she wanted to see.
As Gandhi said, you must be the change you wish to see in the world.
Once you empower yourself to expect this from yourself, you’ll see how people will treat you the same way you treat yourself and others. We teach people how to treat us by the way we treat ourselves and others.
Whatever you want most from the world, you must simply give to the world.