- The Reading Life
- Posts
- The Go-Giver (Part II)
The Go-Giver (Part II)
Matt Karamazov
November 21, 2024 • Estimated Reading Time: 21 minutes
“By ‘be a giver,’ Bob and John mean be a giving person, period: one who gives thought, gives attention, gives care, gives focus, gives time and energy – gives value to others. Not as a quid pro quo, not as a strategy to get ahead, but because it is, in and of itself, a satisfying and fulfilling way to be.”
"So the secret to success...to gaining it, to having it, is to give, give, give. The secret to getting is giving. And the secret to giving is making yourself open to receiving."
“While the world may at times appear to be a dog-eat-dog place, there is actually a set of much kinder and vastly more powerful principles operating beneath the surface of casual appearances.”
“Most of us have grown up seeing the world as a place of limitation rather than as a place of inexhaustible treasures. A world of competition rather than one of co-creation.”
“What you focus on is what you get.”
“Go looking for the best in people, and you’ll be amazed at how much talent, ingenuity, empathy, and goodwill you’ll find.”
“Ultimately, the world treats you more or less the way you expect to be treated.”
“But a great restaurant – ahh, a great restaurant strives to defy imagination! Its goal is to provide a higher quality of food and service than any amount of money could possibly pay for.”
“‘Does it make money?’ is not a bad question. It’s a great question. It’s just a bad first question. It starts you off pointed in the wrong direction.”
“Givers attract.”
“As long as you’re trying to be someone else, or putting on some act or behavior someone else taught you, you have no possibility of truly reaching people. The most valuable thing you have to give people is yourself. No matter what you think you’re selling, what you’re really offering is you.”
“You want people skills? Then be a person.”
“Money is an echo of value. It is the thunder to value’s lightning.”
“We are all human, which means we’re all driven by self-interest. And we’re not saying you should change that even if you could (which you can’t). What we’re suggesting is that you simply set your self-interest to the side.”
“If you don’t let yourself receive, you’re refusing the gifts of others - and you shut down the flow.”
Doing well in school has very little to do with how successful you become. In this new economy, the biggest factor in your success will not be abstract, academic learning but whether you develop the real-life success skills evinced by the people on these pages, and how early you do.
Sample Quotes from the Book:
“I am passionately pro-education. There are few things I care more about than reading and learning constantly. Yet, the lives of the people profiled in this book show conclusively that education is most certainly not the same thing as academic excellence. We’ve conflated them, at great cost to ourselves, our children, our economy, and our culture.”
“You are a reflection of the 20 or 30 people that give you the best advice.”
“The wealthiest people are not the ones who are hoarding the most value – they’re the ones who have the most value flowing in and out of their lives.”
Read the Full Breakdown: The Education of Millionaires, by Michael Ellsberg
Your potential for success and achievement is limited by the size and strength of your network. Moreover, in today's hyper-connected, fast-moving world, the most valuable currency is social capital, goodwill, and attention. This book will show you how to get it.
Sample Quotes from the Book:
“Connecting is a philosophy of life, a worldview. Its guiding principle is that people, all people, every person you meet, is an opportunity to help and be helped.”
“Today’s most valuable currency is social capital, defined as the information, expertise, trust, and total value that exist in the relationships you have and social networks to which you belong.”
“I learned that real networking was about finding ways to make other people more successful. It was about working hard to give more than you get.”
Read the Full Breakdown: Never Eat Alone, by Keith Ferrazzi
Find a "Who" for every "How," and unlock levels of creativity, achievement, and financial wealth that would have been unbelievable before you implemented the principles contained within this book.
Sample Quotes from the Book:
“Once you’re committed to the result you want, you’ll find that Who. When you do find that Who, you’ll see how ridiculously simple it was for THEM to produce your desired result, then you’ll begin to see just how small you’ve been playing.
You’ll begin to set bigger and bigger targets, and you’ll commit to those targets faster by getting the Who that is equipped to produce the result.”
“The best way to measure your progress is by noting the amount and quality of collaborations happening in your life.”
“If you work on something important for twenty years, it will transform everything around you.”
Read the Full Breakdown: Who Not How, by Dr. Benjamin Hardy
No one's ideas are beyond questioning. In this section, I argue the case for the opposition and raise some points you might wish to evaluate for yourself while reading this book.
#1: Go-Getters Get Things Done
Personally, I always cringe when someone describes themselves or someone else as "a real go-getter," but there's no denying it: go-getters get things done. They're ambitious, and hardworking, and they take initiative to bring about changes, either in their own lives or in their organizations and communities as a whole.
So there's nothing "wrong" with being a go-getter, but this is one place where balance is vitally important. A meaningful and successful life can't just be about what you can get; there has to be more to life than extracting as much value as you can from others and ignoring the contribution you can make.
Oh, and you can pretty much forget about going through life as a “go-taker” too, because those guys never win. If they do look like they’re winning, you can usually bet that it won’t last. And nobody really likes them anyway.
#2: Self-Interest Can Never Be Eliminated (And That's a Good Thing)
The authors never suggest that self-interest can or should be eliminated completely, but rather they advocate for a mature stance toward “taking” or “getting.”
They don't say that we should never take what we've earned (in fact, quite the opposite), but rather that we should put our self-interest to the side at first, and trust that if we help enough other people get what they want, we will be helped in turn.
The world is built on this kind of reciprocity, and a life centered around giving is not only likely to be more meaningful and impactful, but more often than not you'll get out what you put in. It’s just that you have to give first! In a similar way, you may have noticed that most people are generally friendly, but they're guarded. You have to go first.
#3: Being "Nice" Doesn't Automatically Make You Successful
Being a giver has nothing to do with being a doormat. And also, it won't automatically lead to the success you're looking for. "Nice guys finish last" isn't necessarily wrong, but being nice without ever standing up for yourself and claiming what you've earned won't make you successful either.
Not only that, but The Go-Giver is mainly centered on business success. We all know teachers, firefighters, police officers, and others who give give give every single day of their lives and never receive the kind of monetary compensation that they deserve. But in the business world, helping others can make you rich.
"The test of a first-rate intelligence is the ability to hold two opposed ideas in the mind at the same time and still retain the ability to function.”
So you've finished reading. What do you do now?
Reading for pleasure is great, and I wholeheartedly support it. However, I am intensely practical when I'm reading for a particular purpose. I want a result. I want to take what I've learned and apply it to my one and only life to make it better!
Because that's really what the Great Books all say. They all say: "You must change your life!" So here, below, are some suggestions for how you can apply the wisdom found in this breakdown to improve your actual life.
Please commit to taking massive action on this immediately! Acting on what you've learned here today will also help you solidify it in your long-term memory. So there's a double benefit! Let's begin...
#1: Practice the Law of Value
"Your true worth is determined by how much more you give in value than you take in payment."
This is a fun law to practice, and it's exciting to brainstorm ideas here. What you're trying to do is make sure that whatever you're doing or offering is far more valuable than anything your competitors are doing, and when you see how low the bar is currently set, you start seeing possibility everywhere.
Just look for ways you can add value to people's lives and create experiences for them, above and beyond what you're expected to do. Think of just one thing you can offer in your business that your customers aren't expecting, but that they would appreciate immensely. And then do it!
#2: Practice the Law of Compensation
"Your income is determined by how many people you serve and how well you serve them."
This Law is all about serving more people. It's about scale. So take what you've come up with for the Law of Value and see if you can offer it to more people. Or, if that isn't scalable, find something that is. Find some way to impact more lives, and you'll be rewarded for that.
Think: Starbucks. A great cup of coffee (alright, a good cup of coffee) isn't such a big deal, but at scale? They've built a billion-dollar brand. If you can get something valuable into the hands of more people, you will be rewarded.
#3: Practice the Law of Influence
"Your influence is determined by how abundantly you place other people’s interests first."
Give first before you even think about getting. You can practice this law by thinking about one particular customer or associate of yours and asking yourself what it is that they're after. How can you help them win?
When you think of something you can do for them, just do it, graciously and without making a big deal out of it, and then, release control over the outcome. They may reciprocate and they may not, but you've practiced the Law of Influence, and it will all eventually come back to you.
#4: Practice the Law of Authenticity
"The most valuable gift you have to offer is yourself."
This one is the easiest and the hardest Law to practice! You almost literally have to do nothing in order to be yourself - you're already you! And yet we find it so hard just to relax and be okay with being ourselves, with being real.
So today, let someone see the real you, and stop trying to manage other people's expectations of you and how you should behave. Furthermore, you should get in touch with the feeling that you have something special to offer the world (everyone does), and realize that if you don't make your individual, personal contribution that only you can make, the entire world will be deprived.
#5: Practice the Law of Receptivity
"The key to effective giving is to stay open to receiving."
Okay, I was wrong. This might be the hardest Law to practice! It's so hard sometimes to feel as though we deserve or are worthy of the good things that are coming to us.
If that's you, start small by simply accepting a sincere compliment when it's offered. Just say, "Thank you!" instead of trying to play it down and convince the other person that you're not as great as they obviously think you are! This can be taken too far, of course, but if you don't open yourself to the possibility of receiving, the entire flow of giving is blocked.
"The path to success is to take massive, determined action.”
Bob Burg (left) shares how a subtle shift in focus is not only a more uplifting and fulfilling way of conducting business but the most financially profitable way, as well. For 30 years he’s helped companies, sales leaders, and their teams to more effectively communicate their value, sell at higher prices with less resistance, and grow their businesses based on Endless Referrals.
Bob has regularly addressed audiences ranging in size from 50 to 16,000 — sharing the platform with notables including today’s top thought leaders, broadcast personalities, Olympic athletes, and political leaders including a former United States President.
Although for years he was best known for his book Endless Referrals, it’s his business parable, The Go-Giver (coauthored with John David Mann) that captured the imagination of his readers.
The Go-Giver, a Wall Street Journal and BusinessWeek Bestseller, has sold over a million copies. Since its release, it has consistently stayed in the Top 25 on Porchlight’s (formerly 800-CEO-READ) Business Book Bestsellers List. The book has been translated into 30 languages. It was rated #10 on Inc. Magazine’s list of the Most Motivational Books Ever Written, and was on HubSpot’s 20 Most Highly Rated Sales Books of All Time.
Bob is the author of a number of books on sales, marketing and influence, with total book sales approaching two million copies.
The American Management Association named Bob one of the 30 Most Influential Leaders and he was named one of the Top 200 Most Influential Authors in the World by Richtopia.
Bob is an advocate, supporter and defender of the Free Enterprise system, believing that the amount of money one makes is directly proportional to how many people they serve.
He is also an unapologetic animal fanatic and served on the Board of Directors of Furry Friends Adoption and Clinic in his town of Jupiter, Florida.
John David Mann (right) has been writing about business, leadership, and the laws of success for more than thirty years. As a high school student, he led a group of friends in creating their own successful high school. After establishing himself as a concert cellist and prize-winning composer, he built a multimillion-dollar sales organization of more than a hundred thousand people before turning to writing and publishing.
John is an award-winning author whose writings have earned the Nautilus Award, the Axiom Business Book Award (Gold Medal), and Taiwan’s Golden Book Award for Innovation. In addition to coauthoring the bestselling Go-Giver books with Bob Burg, he is also New York Times bestselling coauthor of The Red Circle (with Brandon Webb) and Flash Foresight (with Daniel Burrus) and the national bestsellers Among Heroes (with Brandon Webb) and The Slight Edge (with Jeff Olson). His Take the Lead (with Betsy Myers) was named Best Leadership Book of 2011 by Tom Peters and the Washington Post.
He is married to Ana Gabriel Mann, and considers himself the luckiest Mann in the world.
Additional Resources:
This Book on Amazon:
If You Liked This Book:
Forward this to a friend you think would love this book!
If you were sent this breakdown, click here to subscribe.
To read past editions of The Reading Life, click here.
Click here to recommend The Reading Life on Twitter (X).
OK, that’s it for now…
More excellent book recommendations coming your way soon!
And if you’d like me to buy you a new book every month, click to join us inside The Competitive Advantage - we’d love to have you!
With that said, I hope you enjoyed this edition of The Reading Life, and enjoy the rest of your week!
Until next time…happy reading!
All the best,
Matt Karamazov
P.S. Whenever you're ready, here are three more ways I can help you:
Work with me personally to scale your business past $5K per month and experience the intoxicating freedom of finally being in control of both your time and your income. High-performers only.
Become a Premium Member of The Reading Life and enjoy unlimited access to 150+ Premium Book Breakdowns, my complete notes from 1,300+ books, exclusive discounts, monthly donations made on your behalf to an incredible literacy charity, and more!
Join The Competitive Advantage, my private business mastermind for creators looking to add at least $1,000/month to their revenue and save at least 20+ hours of productive time each and every week.
Reply