The secret to making money

No, I'm serious.

A few years ago, Harvard researchers interviewed 30,000 Americans in a study about a taboo topic.

The result is the most mind-blowing conclusion I’ve ever seen.

The study focused on money. More specifically, on giving money away. It looked at charitable giving, volunteering and wealth.

Here’s what data showed:

The more money you give away, the richer you become.

Read that again.

American researcher Arthur C. Brooks wrote about the study in his paper, “Why Giving Matters.”

As a researcher, Brooks knew about correlation and causation. He believed that people who gave away more money were wealthier because they had more money in the first place.

Not exactly.

Here’s an excerpt from Brooks’ paper:

“Say you have two identical families—same religion, same race, same number of kids, same town, same level of education—everything’s the same, except that one family gives $100 more to charity than the second family. Then the giving family will earn on average $375 more in income than the non-giving family—and that’s statistically attributable to the gift.”

Yeah.

Brooks expanded his study. Was it specifically giving money away that increased wealth?

Close, but not quite. It was giving in general.

People who volunteer do better financially. Want to make more money? Go give your time away at the homeless shelter.

Brooks poked and pried and prodded but couldn’t bore a hole in the data.

Giving makes you wealthier.

But … Why?

Just like most of life, it’s about happiness.

Study after study has shown that selflessness increases happiness. And generally speaking, altruists and optimists are more successful than misers and curmudgeons.

The easiest way to break it down:

➡Giving makes you happier

➡Being happier makes you more excited about life

➡Being more excited about life leads to more motivation

➡More motivation makes you better at your job

➡Being better at your job makes you more money

It’s paradoxical and puzzling — but it’s also profound.

The more you give, the more you’ll get.

Here, I need to take my own medicine. I let the barren collection plate slide by me too often at church. I pat my pockets in feigned frustration when someone on the street asks me for change. I’ve passed up opportunities to give blood, to volunteer and to move that friend’s dresser that you really should’ve just hired movers for, dude.

In life, so many things that feel good are bad for you.

- Eat that donut, but remember it has 13 grams of sugar.

- Watch that 5th episode of Stranger Things, but remember it’s turning your brain to oatmeal.

- Have that beer, but remember … yeah, you know.

But giving your money and time is one of those rare Goldilocks instances where it feels good. And it's good for you.

Anne Frank once wrote, “No one has ever become poor by giving.”

Turns out, she nailed it.

In fact, giving makes you richer.