The Focus Course

Assignment

Donate something to Good Will.

Take a few moments to go through your house and find something you can donate to Good Will. Perhaps there are some clothes you haven’t worn in over a year. Some toys your kids no longer play with? Some board games you haven’t gotten out in ages?

Regardless of if you actually go to the thrift store, something that we’ll touch on in a moment is that part of the purpose in today’s assignment is experiencing the “inconvenience” of generosity.

Which is why, if you don’t have anything to donate or if cannot leave to go somewhere in order to donate an item, then consider giving to a local charity organization.

Why this?

Donating to Good Will is a way we can step out of our little “bubble” of consumerism, hoarding, and apathy. You’re giving to those in need, and in the process you’re able to de-clutter some of your excess belongings and make space in your own life and home.

What’s the big picture?

We need to be proactive with our generosity, not reactive

My wife and I have always wanted to be generous givers. Our first year of marriage, we hit the ground running. We gave so extravagantly to every need that came our way. We were missionaries, working with a church and living on a missionary salary, but that didn’t hold us back.

Then, after that first year of marriage, as we were doing our taxes, we had a startling discovery! I added up all the previous year’s charitable giving, and it accounted for roughly 4% of our income. Our aim had been to give at least 10% of our income away to those in need, but without a plan in place we didn’t actually meet that goal.

And so we changed our mindset. Instead of giving whenever a need came our way, we began proactively setting aside 10% of our paycheck every week. We then used those earmarked funds for charity — giving to needs that came our way, but also seeking out additional ways to give.

Now, let’s be honest. It’s not exactly convenient to rummage through your home, find something to give away, and then drive to the Good Will and donate it. This task will no doubt take you more than 15 minutes.

But, as I mentioned above, a lifestyle of generosity requires a proactive approach.

We wait for a story, for a compelling need, for the chance to give when it’s heroic and noble. Giving in those moments is great. But it’s different than a lifestyle of generosity.

The Red Cross states that although an estimated 38% of the U.S. population is eligible to donate blood, less than 10% actually do each year.

And according to the 2013 State of the Plate research results, only 10–25 percent of the families in church tithe on a regular basis.

And according to statistics provided by Generous Church, Christians give 2.5% of their household income. If they were to increase that to 10% giving, then an additional $165 billion would be available for church, ministry, and missionary needs.

Taking time out of your day to drive to Good Will is a way to be ever-so-slightly proactive in your generosity.

Simplifying can change you

Yesterday you unfollowed someone on a social network or you unsubscribed from a news source. This was a way to help make space for your thoughts and to decrease the negative or neutral sources of input in your life.

In the same way, taking time to simplify and de-clutter your physical belongings creates space for change and growth. Not only do you have less to clean, less to store, less to maintain. You have less to think about. If you decrease your wardrobe from 50 items to 10, then your options for what to wear are fewer.

At the end of the day, simplicity is an inward reality that results in an outward lifestyle. If it’s a lifestyle you seek, just as so many other disciplines, you can start with the outward expression and allow your behavior to guide your attitude. Begin with duty and move toward delight.

Very often the only way to get a quality in reality is to start behaving as if you had it already. — C.S. Lewis

This is easier said than done. Our culture lacks both the inward reality and the outward lifestyle of simplicity. Even worse, our culture defines people by their belongings and accomplishments, putting a “positive” spin on it. As Richard Foster writes: “Covetousness we call ambition. Hoarding we call prudence. Greed we call industry.”

In his book, Celebration of Discipline, Foster lists some principles for the outward expression of simplicity. These are things which someone could use or do in their attempt to flesh out the meaning of simplicity in the modern life. Some of Foster’s suggestions include:

• Buy things for their usefulness rather than their status.
• Reject anything that is producing an addiction in you.
• Develop a habit of giving things away; de-accumulate.
• Learn to enjoy things without owning them.
• Develop a deeper appreciation for nature.
• Have a healthy skepticism toward “buy now, pay later” schemes.
• Reject objects that will breed the oppression of others.
• Shun whatever would distract you from your main goal.

Giving to charity is a conscious act of kindness

As we touched on in Day 2, when you encourage others, you are giving them something with no strings attached.It’s an unselfish behavior that can re-wire where you look for security and acceptance. When you are not dependent on the acceptance of others for your security, you are liberated to create freely, without inhibition or fear — the foundation for doing meaningful work.

Likewise, when you give to others, you are giving something to them with no strings attached. Another unselfish behavior that can re-wire your brain for where you look for comfort, security, and self-worth.

When you are able to give from your belongings and finances to others, you are telling yourself a story about who you are. You’re someone who puts other people’s needs ahead of their own. Generosity liberates from the anxiety and destructive behavior so often associated with “keeping up with the Joneses.”

Moreover, generosity raises our baseline mood of happiness. In his book, The Happiness Advantage, Shawn Achor writes:

Spending money on other people, called ‘prosocial spending,’ also boosts happiness. In one experiment, 46 students were given $20 to spend. The ones who were told to spend the money on others (for instance, by treating a friend to lunch, buying a toy for a younger sister, or donating to charity) were happier at the end of the day than the ones who had been instructed to spend the money on themselves.

In her book, The Sweet Spot, Christine Carter, Ph.D., notes that “generous behavior reduces adolescent depression and suicide risk, and several studies have shown that teenagers who volunteer are less likely to fail a subject in school, get pregnant, or abuse substances.”

Live like nobody else

Unfortunately, most of us aren’t surrounded by energetic, highly-focused, successful individuals who can set an example for us. Instead, our classrooms and workplaces and neighborhoods are filled with folks who are good at spending more than they make. Doesn’t it seem silly to think we have a better chance at achieving our goals while living like most people who will never achieve theirs?

Here’s a metric that can help you determine if you’re on track for reaching your goals: are you spending your money (and time and attention) differently than most people?

Again, in The Sweet Spot, Christine Carter, Ph.D. references research done by Adam Grant, a professor at Wharton School of Business: “Givers develop superior networking collaborating, evaluating, and influencing skills. So over the long haul, they tend to be the most successful.”

Being a generous person is one of the fundamental ways we can choose to live differently than everyone else. And it will actually be a foundation for our success and purpose in life.

Protip: Easy ways to de-clutter

Not to get all nerdy, but there are all sorts of “life hacks” you can apply to the act of de-cluttering. And why not? For example:

• Take all the clothes hangers in your closet and turn them around. Whenever you wear something, return it to the closet with the hanger facing the right way. At the end of a season or at the end of the year, whichever hangers are still turned around are the clothes you don’t wear — so give them away.

• If you struggle to part with things, consider putting them in a box and taping that box shut. Put the date on it, and in 6 months or a year, if you can’t remember what’s in the box then just go ahead and give it away.

• For sentimental items you feel fearful of giving away, consider journaling about the item and the memories it reminds you of before you give it away. And if there are many sentimental items you have surrounding a person or event, consider keeping only the most sentimental (or perhaps the most resilient) item.

  After my grandfather passed away, the only thing of his that I kept was a pair of sunglasses I found in his desk. It was a single, simple item that reminded me of him and it was all I needed. Not to mention, the sunglasses were extremely practical (until I lost them, but that’s not the point).

To sum it all up

Being proactively generous and seeking simplicity will literally change our lives. It helps us in our anxiety over our own fears of lack; it helps us to focus on putting the needs of others before ourselves; it creates space in our lives for change and joy; and it just makes us happier. Sounds awesome.

Like runners of old, we strip down to that which is authentic so that we might run the race effectively. — Richard Swenson, M.D.