Getting Rich Giving

During my first trip to Warsaw several years ago, a mainstream reporter for a Polish magazine set up an interview with me. I give interviews night and day, in every country I visit, so I was eager to do this one, as well. Especially since I love Poland and its people.

But I wasn't prepared for how the interview actually went.

The reporter was cute but stern. Her side-kick journalistic photographer was just as serious. In the reporter's moderate English she asked me hard-nosed questions about the Law of Attraction, Polish people, my books and teachings, and more. No matter what I said, she didn't like it.

At one point she asked, "Why are you teaching people to become rich?"

It was an interesting question. Under different circumstances it would seem like a silly question. Why not teach people to be rich? What's wrong with being rich, anyway? But it was obvious she was coming from a scarcity paradigm. Her mindset was set. My answers didn't sit well with her. They couldn't. From her perspective, my paradigm made no sense.

So instead of trying to teach her what an abundance paradigm is in a soundbite, I instead said something like, "I'm not teaching people to get rich, I'm teaching them to be happy." The reporter almost reeled back, her body posture suggesting she had just caught me in a grand lie, and she flipped through her notes. When she found what she wanted, she looked at me and smugly said, "Didn't you write a book called The Greatest Money-Making Secret In History? Now I had her.

"Apparently you haven't read it," I said. "When you read that book, you'll discover that it is about giving away money." She stared at me. My answer didn't compute. I tried to explain to her about the power of giving; that if you want to attract money now, start giving away money now. That didn't sit well with her, either. Give money when people are broke or jobless? Give something, I countered. Start somewhere. She looked confused, even angry. The entire interview went like that.

The resulting article was published as a feature in her Time-like Polish magazine. I have no idea what she actually wrote, as I don't read Polish. (A Polish friend said, "You don't want to know.") It doesn't really matter. I'm sharing it with you here because of a bigger lesson on giving.

Giving is one of the most powerful principles of all time. You've heard about it, from me or others. It's not new. But do you actually do it? If you do give, do you do it in a big way, in a loving and trusting way, and every day? Be honest. I used to resist giving, too. If I gave at all, it was a tiny amount. It took me a long time to realize that my not giving, or not giving freely, was sending messages to my mind such as "There isn't enough," "I won't get any more," "I might need this for an emergency," "I feel safer with this in my pocket," and so it goes.

All fear based thoughts. All self-reinforcing and self-fulfilling prophecies. Guess what? The more you hold on to that old limited thinking paradigm, the harder it really is to attract money (or anything else). Your scarcity mindset simply won't let it in. What can you do about that? No B.S. marketer Dan Kennedy once told me the window you receive through is made bigger by the window you give through. Want to receive more? Then give more. It's that simple.

But beware.

There's a lot of self-sabotage in this area. I've heard people say, "I joined a multilevel company and they send some of their profits to charities, so I am giving through them." No, you're not. Giving is when you give direct; when it comes out of your pocket. I've also heard people say, "I can't afford to give money, so I give time and services gratis." That's a type of giving, but you're fudging; you have to give money to receive money. I've also heard people say, "I'd give if I knew where to give." Baloney. Give wherever you receive spiritual nourishment or inspiration. You know who inspired you today. You can be on the alert for who inspires you tomorrow. Give there. I've also heard, "I feel uneasy giving money. I don't know what they'll do with it." Who cares what they do with it?

Bob Proctor once said, "They can burn the money as far as I care." Once you give it, it's no longer yours. Don't con yourself into thinking you need to control the money once it leaves your hands. Let go. Trust. When I first started giving money, I felt uncomfortable. I was leaving my comfort zone. I was stretching limiting beliefs until they snapped and shot away.

At that point, I started to receive money almost faster than I could give it away. I then found great joy in giving. I expanded my giving to other things. For example, in just the last few weeks - I gave a brand-new music keyboard to a friend.I gave a brand-new iPad to another friend.I gave away one of my prized guitars.I gave away one of my cars. (!) Some might argue that I can give away cars and more because I'm now wealthy, but that would be overlooking the fact that I got wealthy by giving in the first place.

Think about it. I got wealthy by giving. Yes, yes, yes, of course, I've done a hundred million other things to get wealthy, from writing and speaking to creating and promoting to being on radio, television and in movies, to following the very steps I reveal in my book, Attract Money Now.

"There are those who give with joy, and that joy is their reward." - Kahlil Gibran

Giving to get rich is essential to attract success (and that's why it's one of the seven key steps in my book, Attract Money Now). Giving is one of the most heart-expanding and exhilarating feelings. Giving feels good. Giving expands your heart and mind. Giving makes a difference in the world. Giving widens that inner window to allow you to receive more.

While my Polish reporter in Warsaw may still be writing her articles from her old school scarcity mindset and scratching her head over self-help authors like me who teach people how to "get rich," you and I know one of the greatest money-attracting and life-enhancing secrets of all time: giving. And yes, you can get rich giving. But the only way to find out if this really works is to actually go do it.

Your move.