Generousnessisdefinedasmanythings-avirtue,atrait,avalue,anidealthatpeoplemodeltheirlifeover.Allofthosethingsareimportantpartsofourlife,areintricatelywovenintothewayweliveourlife.Itissafetosay,generousnessaffectsourlife,butthequestionishow?Thebiggestwayitaffectsourlifeisthewayitchangesouroutlooktowardslifeitself.Varyinglevelsofgenerousnessinaindividualsactasafiltertotheleansweviewourlifethrough,colouringtheperspectiveinafundamentalway.Let’sexploresomemajorwayspeoplewithhighgenerosityhaveadifferentoutlooktowardslife:1.Generouspeopletendtoeasilytrustothers.Beinggenerousrequirestheabilitytotrust.Adecisiontoinvestpersonalresourcesintoanotherperson,wemust,onsomelevel,believethattheywillusethemsensibly.Generouspeopletendtobeoptimistic,andoptimisticpeoplearehappypeople.Andhencetheyliveinaworldwherebeliefinothersisnotrisky,ratherisnatural,becausewebelongtoacommunityandifeveryindividualinthecommunityextendedhelptowardstheotheritwouldcreateanetworkoftrustwhichwouldresultinageneralriseofqualityoflifeforeveryoneinthecommunity.Theassumptionofexistenceofsuchaworldmakesthemmorelikelytobemoretrusting.Whethereasilytrustingpeoplebringsaboutgenerosity,orgenerositytendstomakepeoplemoretrustingisunclear,butastrongcoexistencedefinitelyexists.2.Generousfolksknowthatgenerosityequatestogreaterhappiness.Researchfindingsconfirmedwhatgenerouspeoplealreadyknew:theactofgivingincreasesfulfilment,happiness,andpurposeinthelifeofthegiver.Humanbeingsarenotcreaturesofselfishness,fromananalysisofthebehaviourofourveryrudimentaryiterationsweknowstickingtocommunallifeissaferandbettermanagementofresources,especiallythelimitedones.Weweredesignedtosearchforandeventuallyfindhappinessinlovingandlookingafterothers.Andthosewhodecidetolookforfulfilmentthere,discoveritratherquickly.3.Theirbeliefthatbringingchangeinevenonelifeisworthit.Generouspeoplewilleasilyadmitthattheworld’sproblemswillneverbesolvedbyoneperson.Infactthereisapossibilityofproblemsneverbeingcompletelysolvedeveninthefuture.Yetthechaseofperfectiondoesnotslowthemdown.Changingevenonelifewithintheirsocialcircleisrewardingenough,aworthyendeavourtoinvesttheirtimein.4.Generouspeopledon’tagreewithtoxiccompetitionandlookpasttheillusionof“winner-takes-all”.Themindsetofcompetition-thatmyresourcesonlygrowwhensomeoneelse’sshrinks-isbasedonafaultyperception.Itisasbasedinrealityasatablethathasfourshakylegsisstable-thatthereisalimitedamountof“achievement”andifsomeoneelseenjoyssuccess,mychancesofsuccessshrinks.Thisthinkingisincorrectinmanyways.The“pie”ofresourcesisnotpre-definedorlimited.Itcontinuestogrowassocietybenefitsfrompeoplecreatingmeaningfulconnectionsandsharingtheirsuccesstoupliftthecommunity.5.Generosityliesinfindingsuccessinhelpingotherssucceed.Maybe,ourlegacyinthisworldcanbemeasuredbysomethingmorecompellingthantheamountofsavingsinourBankaccount.Themostcompassionatepathtofindingsuccessinyourlifemayjustbetohelpsomeoneachievetheirgoalsinlife.Attheveryleastitwouldbealessoninempathy.Ourlivesfindtheirgreatestsignificanceinhowwechoosetolivethem—andhowweaffectothersinlivingtheirs.6.Startlingawarenessoftherealitythatlifeisshort.Lifeisshort.Itisafactuniversally(ifsomewhathesitantly),accepted.Andweonlygetonechancetoliveit.Whenwefullyembracethisreality,welearntolivelifeintheflowofit.Webegintorecognizewehaveonlyashorttimetoleaveourmarkintheannalsofthisworld.Thisenablesustohappilygiveinvestresourcestoaccomplishit,becausewerealisethepossiblyeverlastingvalueofit.7.Dreamingbigdreamsformoney.Thankstoinstinctencodedinourbehaviourbyevolution,thewaywegenerallytreatourresourcesistosavethem.Toensurethatifandwhenthetimecomes,wedon’tfindourselvesdeprivedofit.Andourmoneyisonlyasvaluableaswhatwedesignatespendingiton.Generouspeopleusewhatevertheychoosetodonatetobring“big”dreamsintoreality.Notjustdreamsthatarebiginscaletoexecute,ratherbigintheresultstheyaimtoachievei.enotjustbenefitingthembutalsoothers.Theyfeeltheirfinancialresourcescanbebetterimplementedtoimprovethequalityoflifeforothers.Forexample,thosefundscanbeusedtomaketheircommunitiessmarter,safe,andmoreresponsible.Makingthisworldalittlemorepleasantforeveryoneisthebestuseofwhatevertheycanspare,tothem.Generouspeopledreambigdreamsfortheirmoney,anditreallywouldnotharmustoadoptthesameideology,aswebelongtothesamecommunityweinvestinthewelfareof.Ultimately,thebountyinresourcesbenefitsustoo.8.Generouspeopledon’tlimitthemselvestomoneyasaninstrumentfortheirgenerosity,theyalsopayinkind.Humanshavesomuchmoretoofferthisworldthanjustfinancialandmaterialresources.Ourbiggestassetsareourknowledgeandpersonality,thingsthatnoonecanstealfromus.Wehavetime,experiences,talents,andlessonswehavelearnt.Ifwethinkbeyondourmoneyandtryandinvestpiecesofourlivesintoothers,wearenotlosinganything,rathergrowing(both,ourresourcesandusashumans).Oftentimes,thisstepcanismoredifficultthanputtingourhandinourpursesorwalletsandpullingafewbillsout,butusually,itismoredesperatelyneeded,andtrulyweneednearlynothingtostart.9.Happierwiththeircareers.Everyonewantstofeelhappyattheirjob.Andwhilebeinghappyatthejobmaynotalwaysbeachievable,becauseitis,ofcourse,ajob,thereneedstobeatleastathresholdofhappinessatourjobs,givenwespendamajorityofourdayworking,foryearsandyearsuntilretirement.Ifthatthresholdisnotmet,wearelookingateighttotenhoursofadayintodaysandyearsofwishingweweresomewhereelse.Hereisamajorareawherehighlygenerouspeopleandpeoplewithlowgenerositysignificantlydiffer.Intermsofself-reportedscalesofhappinessattheirvocation,ofthosehighingenerosity,70%expressedsatisfactionwiththeirjobs.Whereasthoselowingenerosity,only49%hadamatchinglevelofsatisfaction.Ifyouthinkaboutit,itwouldmakesense-peoplewhoaregeneroustendtoalsobeeasygoingandhavefewerexpectationsingeneral.Thismeanstheytendtohavefewerconflictswiththeircolleaguesanddon’ttendtobeatthemselvesoverhighexpectationstheymayhavesetforthemselves.10.Generouspeoplearecontenttolivewithless.Fromtheget-go,truegenerosityrequiresacertainlevelofcontentmentwithinoneself.Wecanonlybegenerousafterourmostbasicneedsaremet,butwhatweconsidertobeourmostbasicneedsdiffersforeveryone.Thismeansweneedtorecognizeandacceptthefactthatgivingourresourcestoanotherpersonmeanswehavelessforourselves,itmakesusmorethoughtfulinwhichcauseandwhowearewillingtosupport.Soinaway,contentmentformsthebaseforgenerosity.Butsurprisinglyenough,generosityalsogivesreturnsinformofgreatercontentment.How,youmightwonder?Well,generosityissuchanactofselflesskindnessthatwefeelgoodaboutourselves.Doingsomethingforsomeoneelsealmostfeelslikefulfillingapurpose,thatwehavesomehowcreatedachangethatisgreaterthanourexistence.11.Ifnotless,generouspeoplearesurelycontentwithwhattheydohave.Itisdoubtfulthatanyonehasbeenthroughlifewithouteverwantingsomethingthatwasoutofourmeansatthetime,suchasahomeoracertainmodelofavehicleorsometimessomethingassimpleasakitchenappliancewecannotaffordforthetimebeing.Itsalsonormaltofeelalittlejealoussometimesorevendreamaboutthefinerthingsinlifeeverynowandthen.Whileitsnormaltofeelsuchthingsonoccasions,itsalsoimportanttoremindourselvesthatthosearedreamsandwhatwehaveisthereality,anditwouldbodeuswelltobehappywithwhatwehave.Thisbecomeseasierifwearethegeneroustype--themoregenerousrespondentswerealsomoresatisfiedwiththehomes,vehicles,andotherpossessionstheyhad.Theywerealsolesslikelytoagreetothenotionthathavingmoremoneywouldmakepeople,ingeneral,orthemspecifically,happier.Eventhen,itdoesntseemthatgenerouspeoplehaveanytroublesavingmoney,eventhoughsometimesgenerositycaninvolvefinancialdonations.12.Notjustwork,generouspeoplehavegreatersatisfactionwithlifeatlarge.Thesingularpurposedrivingmorethanhalfofhumanityiswantingtobehappyinlife,andgenerositylookslikeanessentialcomponent:seventy-fourpercentofthehighlygenerousgroupofpeoplereportedsatisfactionwiththeirlives,comparedtosixty-fourpercentofthelow-generositygroupofpeople.High-generosityrespondentswereadditionallymorethantwiceaslikelytoreportthattheywere"exceptionallysatisfied"withlife.Thissatisfactionwasnotcontainedtooneaspectoflife,either;itwasacrossallaspectsonemightconsiderimportantinlife.Thegroupofpeoplewhohadundergoneascalemeasuringgenerosity,peoplewhoscoredhighingenerositywerehappieroverall,ineveryaspectthestudyinquiredabout,includingfriendships,finances,romance,andfamily.Thismeansbeinggeneroustrulydoeschangeourentireoutlooktowardslifefromeverydimension.13.Morelikelytomakefriends.Generositydefinitelyhelpswithoursociallife.Highlygenerouspeoplereportedhavingmorefriendswhowouldbelikelytodofavoursforthem,suchas:HelpingthemmoveVisitingthematthehospitalDrivingthemtoorfromtheairportDoanimpromptuemergencygrocerystorerunforthemGenerouspeoplealsohadagreaternumberofclosefriendsandalargercircleoftightlyknitfriends.Thelow-generosityrespondentgrouphadanaverageof2.6forthenumberofclosefriendstheyhadwhilehigh-generosityrespondentshadanaverageof3.2closefriends.14.Strongerrelationshipswiththepeoplegenerousindividualsalreadyknow.Alargersocialcircleisnttheonlybenefitofbeinggenerous.Peoplehighingenerosityalsotendtohavedeeper,moremeaningful,relationshipswithothers,seeingassixty-sixpercentofhighgenerosityindividualsfeltclosetothepeopletheyknow.Whereasonlyfiftypercentofpeoplelowingenerosityfeltthesameway.15.Amorepositiveperceptionoflife.Yourperceptionoflifemakesupacollagethatisthereflectionofthelifeyouhavelived,anditmakesahugedifferenceinhowhappyyouare.Ifyoubelievethatyouractionsaremeaningfulandmatter,youremoreprobabletoenjoyyourlifemore.Amagnanimouseighty-onepercentofgenerouspeoplebelievelifeismeaningful--thatistwenty-onepercentmorethanthosewhoarenotsogenerous.Andameaningfullifemayjustbethereasonwhyseventy-sevenpercentofthegenerousgroupsaidtheyfeelhappyeveryday,incomparisontosixty-twopercentofthelessgenerousgroupofindividuals.16.Higherself-esteemaccompaniesgenerosity.Thereissubstantialevidencethatagenerouslifestyleisgoodforyourself-esteem.Thisisimportantinformationtowhoeverwantstoimprovetheirqualityoflifebecausehowyouviewyourselfcanaffecteverydimensionofyourlife-whetherforbetterorforworse.Whenaresearchteamaskedrespondentsiftheywereproudofwhotheyare,seventy-fourpercentofthehigh-generositygroupsaidthattheywere.Outofthelow-generositygroup,thefiguredroppedtofifty-onepercent.Generouspeoplearealsomorelikelytosaythattheyhavelivedmorallyfulfilinglivesandbeenupstandingcitizens.17.ImprovedphysicalandmentalhealthAswehaveestablishedgenerouspeoplearemorepositiveandgenerallyhappier,itwouldn’tbewrongtosaytheirmentalhealthmorelikelyisinbettershape.Generouspeoplewerereportedtobelesslikelytofeelarangeofnegativeemotions,includinghopelessness,apathy,depression,andanxiety.Thereisalsoacorrelationbetweenphysicalhealthandgenerosity.Thoseinthehigh-generositygroupweremorelikelytoexerciseregularlyandeatabalancedandhealthydiet.
Generousness is defined as many things - a virtue, a trait, a value, an ideal that people model their life over. All of those things are important parts of our life, are intricately woven into the way we live our life. It is safe to say, generousness affects our life, but the question is how?
The biggest way it affects our life is the way it changes our outlook towards life itself. Varying levels of generousness in a individuals act as a filter to the leans we view our life through, colouring the perspective in a fundamental way.
Let’s explore some major ways people with high generosity have a different outlook towards life:
1. Generous people tend to easily trust others.
Being generous requires the ability to trust. A decision to invest personal resources into another person, we must, on some level, believe that they will use them sensibly. Generous people tend to be optimistic, and optimistic people are happy people. And hence they live in a world where belief in others is not risky, rather is natural, because we belong to a community and if every individual in the community extended help towards the other it would create a network of trust which would result in a general rise of quality of life for everyone in the community. The assumption of existence of such a world makes them more likely to be more trusting. Whether easily trusting people brings about generosity, or generosity tends to make people more trusting is unclear, but a strong coexistence definitely exists.
2. Generous folks know that generosity equates to greater happiness.
Research findings confirmed what generous people already knew: the act of giving increases fulfilment, happiness, and purpose in the life of the giver. Human beings are not creatures of selfishness, from an analysis of the behaviour of our very rudimentary iterations we know sticking to communal life is safer and better management of resources, especially the limited ones. We were designed to search for and eventually find happiness in loving and looking after others. And those who decide to look for fulfilment there, discover it rather quickly.
3. Their belief that bringing change in even one life is worth it.
Generous people will easily admit that the world’s problems will never be solved by one person. In fact there is a possibility of problems never being completely solved even in the future. Yet the chase of perfection does not slow them down. Changing even one life within their social circle is rewarding enough, a worthy endeavour to invest their time in.
4. Generous people don’t agree with toxic competition and look past the illusion of “winner-takes-all”.
The mindset of competition - that my resources only grow when someone else’s shrinks - is based on a faulty perception. It is as based in reality as a table that has four shaky legs is stable- that there is a limited amount of “achievement” and if someone else enjoys success, my chances of success shrinks. This thinking is incorrect in many ways. The “pie” of resources is not pre-defined or limited. It continues to grow as society benefits from people creating meaningful connections and sharing their success to uplift the community.
5. Generosity lies in finding success in helping others succeed.
Maybe, our legacy in this world can be measured by something more compelling than the amount of savings in our Bank account. The most compassionate path to finding success in your life may just be to help someone achieve their goals in life . At the very least it would be a lesson in empathy. Our lives find their greatest significance in how we choose to live them—and how we affect others in living theirs.
6. Startling awareness of the reality that life is short.
Life is short. It is a fact universally (if somewhat hesitantly), accepted. And we only get one chance to live it. When we fully embrace this reality, we learn to live life in the flow of it. We begin to recognize we have only a short time to leave our mark in the annals of this world. This enables us to happily give invest resources to accomplish it, because we realise the possibly everlasting value of it.
7. Dreaming big dreams for money.
Thanks to instinct encoded in our behaviour by evolution, the way we generally treat our resources is to save them. To ensure that if and when the time comes, we don’t find ourselves deprived of it. And our money is only as valuable as what we designate spending it on. Generous people use whatever they choose to donate to bring “big” dreams into reality. Not just dreams that are big in scale to execute, rather big in the results they aim to achieve i.e not just benefiting them but also others. They feel their financial resources can be better implemented to improve the quality of life for others. For example, those funds can be used to make their communities smarter, safe, and more responsible. Making this world a little more pleasant for everyone is the best use of whatever they can spare, to them. Generous people dream big dreams for their money, and it really would not harm us to adopt the same ideology, as we belong to the same community we invest in the welfare of. Ultimately, the bounty in resources benefits us too.
8. Generous people don’t limit themselves to money as an instrument for their generosity, they also pay in kind.
Humans have so much more to offer this world than just financial and material resources. Our biggest assets are our knowledge and personality, things that no one can steal from us. We have time, experiences, talents, and lessons we have learnt. If we think beyond our money and try and invest pieces of our lives into others, we are not losing anything, rather growing (both, our resources and us as humans). Oftentimes, this step can is more difficult than putting our hand in our purses or wallets and pulling a few bills out, but usually, it is more desperately needed, and truly we need nearly nothing to start.
9. Happier with their careers.
Everyone wants to feel happy at their job. And while being happy at the job may not always be achievable, because it is, of course, a job, there needs to be at least a threshold of happiness at our jobs, given we spend a majority of our day working, for years and years until retirement. If that threshold is not met, we are looking at eight to ten hours of a day into days and years of wishing we were somewhere else.
Here is a major area where highly generous people and people with low generosity significantly differ. In terms of self-reported scales of happiness at their vocation, of those high in generosity, 70% expressed satisfaction with their jobs. Whereas those low in generosity, only 49% had a matching level of satisfaction.
If you think about it, it would make sense - people who are generous tend to also be easygoing and have fewer expectations in general. This means they tend to have fewer conflicts with their colleagues and don’t tend to beat themselves over high expectations they may have set for themselves.
10. Generous people are content to live with less.
From the get-go, true generosity requires a certain level of contentment within oneself. We can only be generous after our most basic needs are met, but what we consider to be our most basic needs differs for everyone. This means we need to recognize and accept the fact that giving our resources to another person means we have less for ourselves, it makes us more thoughtful in which cause and who we are willing to support. So in a way, contentment forms the base for generosity. But surprisingly enough, generosity also gives returns in form of greater contentment. How, you might wonder? Well, generosity is such an act of selfless kindness that we feel good about ourselves. Doing something for someone else almost feels like fulfilling a purpose, that we have somehow created a change that is greater than our existence.
11. If not less, generous people are surely content with what they do have.
It is doubtful that anyone has been through life without ever wanting something that was out of our means at the time, such as a home or a certain model of a vehicle or sometimes something as simple as a kitchen appliance we cannot afford for the time being.
It's also normal to feel a little jealous sometimes or even dream about the finer things in life every now and then. While it's normal to feel such things on occasions, it's also important to remind ourselves that those are dreams and what we have is the reality, and it would bode us well to be happy with what we have. This becomes easier if we are the generous type -- the more generous respondents were also more satisfied with the homes, vehicles, and other possessions they had.
They were also less likely to agree to the notion that having more money would make people, in general, or them specifically, happier. Even then, it doesn't seem that generous people have any trouble saving money, even though sometimes generosity can involve financial donations.
12. Not just work, generous people have greater satisfaction with life at large.
The singular purpose driving more than half of humanity is wanting to be happy in life, and generosity looks like an essential component: seventy-four per cent of the highly generous group of people reported satisfaction with their lives, compared to sixty-four per cent of the low-generosity group of people. High-generosity respondents were additionally more than twice as likely to report that they were "exceptionally satisfied" with life.
This satisfaction was not contained to one aspect of life, either; it was across all aspects one might consider important in life. The group of people who had undergone a scale measuring generosity, people who scored high in generosity were happier overall, in every aspect the study inquired about, including friendships, finances, romance, and family. This means being generous truly does change our entire outlook towards life from every dimension.
13. More likely to make friends.
Generosity definitely helps with our social life. Highly generous people reported having more friends who would be likely to do favours for them, such as:
- Helping them move
- Visiting them at the hospital
- Driving them to or from the airport
- Do an impromptu emergency grocery store run for them
Generous people also had a greater number of close friends and a larger circle of tightly knit friends. The low-generosity respondent group had an average of 2.6 for the number of close friends they had while high-generosity respondents had an average of 3.2 close friends.
14. Stronger relationships with the people generous individuals already know.
A larger social circle isn't the only benefit of being generous. People high in generosity also tend to have deeper, more meaningful, relationships with others, seeing as sixty-six per cent of high generosity individuals felt close to the people they know. Whereas only fifty per cent of people low in generosity felt the same way.
15. A more positive perception of life.
Your perception of life makes up a collage that is the reflection of the life you have lived, and it makes a huge difference in how happy you are. If you believe that your actions are meaningful and matter, you're more probable to enjoy your life more.
A magnanimous eighty-one per cent of generous people believe life is meaningful -- that is twenty-one per cent more than those who are not so generous. And a meaningful life may just be the reason why seventy-seven per cent of the generous group said they feel happy every day, in comparison to sixty-two per cent of the less generous group of individuals.
16. Higher self-esteem accompanies generosity.
There is substantial evidence that a generous lifestyle is good for your self-esteem. This is important information to whoever wants to improve their quality of life because how you view yourself can affect every dimension of your life - whether for better or for worse.
When a research team asked respondents if they were proud of who they are, seventy-four per cent of the high-generosity group said that they were. Out of the low-generosity group, the figure dropped to fifty-one per cent. Generous people are also more likely to say that they have lived morally fulfiling lives and been upstanding citizens.
17. Improved physical and mental health
As we have established generous people are more positive and generally happier, it wouldn’t be wrong to say their mental health more likely is in better shape. Generous people were reported to be less likely to feel a range of negative emotions, including hopelessness, apathy, depression, and anxiety.
There is also a correlation between physical health and generosity. Those in the high-generosity group were more likely to exercise regularly and eat a balanced and healthy diet.
