Remember the “Pay it forward” movement? I remember it as a time of good intentions and reports of confusion at Starbucks lines or toll booths of people paying for the next person. It is interesting how being given a gift inspires people to give a gift. There is a magical feeling to be surprised by the unexpected sharing.
We recently held a contest to give away our product that has a $900 value. This is a relatively high dollar value, but we felt free to give it because, we know from our past students, the intrinsic value of what they receive worth much more. The value of the service is what we really feel good about giving and thus receiving the joy of a transformed life. This is what we expected to get.
What we didn’t expect to get was the winner being so thrilled by her gift that she wanted to pay for half her class anyway. Simply getting the gift was enough to increase the joy in her life. We could have refused her offer to pay half, but this pays it forward feeling was greater than a polite refusal. This spirit of generosity compounding itself meant we could turn her ½ payment into a scholarship for an I Matter student (a pay-what-you-can program for Native-American and Black/African-American students).
I will predict that our next student who utilizes the I Matter spot will also pay it forward. When we started the program we wondered if people would misuse it. We put that concern aside and found over and over we gain so much from having these students. We received gifts from them in their participation in the group class that adds a perspective, experience, and insight to generously helping our company in ways other than direct payments.
Keep your eyes open to the opportunity to give. It is wonderful to watch the gift unwrap and expand. What opportunities have you had lately?
