The Education of Millionaires - Michael Ellsberg [54]
You may scoff at this sentiment coming from a wealthy person and think, “Well, why don’t you give all your hundreds of millions away?” Sorry to sound harsh, but—to whomever is asking that in a begrudging manner: Russell Simmons is giving away more than you, and he’s keeping more than you for himself. He gives more and he gets more. He’s simply making a bigger impact than most of us do on the planet. He’s doing more in the world. And he’s doing that because he’s developed more affluence than you and I have developed, in the precise way he defines it: he’s got more value flowing in and out of his life.
Accountants talk about stocks and flows. The money in a bank account, for example, is a stock, while the deposits and withdrawals are a flow. When we talk about wealth and affluence, we usually have in mind the amount in the stock. What Simmons and Seth Godin and Run are suggesting is that affluence is perhaps better indicated by the amount of the flow. The more value that flows in and out of our lives, the more we and others benefit, and the more affluence is generated.
Simmons uses his stocks and flows tirelessly to spawn all kinds of different charities and initiatives, focusing largely on youth empowerment and voter registration. He wouldn’t be able to have this effect if he were poor. (In fact, most charities, nonprofits, and advocacy groups in general would not exist if rich people weren’t funding them.) Maybe it’s time to stop begrudging self-made affluence and instead see how we can create it for ourselves, so we too can give as generously and widely as Simmons is giving.
You can begrudge Eben Pagan and his $50,000 day rate. But let me ask you something. If you had the power to earn $50,000 in a day—because your skill set was that highly valued on the marketplace—and give that money to your favorite cause or charity, wouldn’t you do it? Eben does this all the time.
You can begrudge Elliott Bisnow and the Summit team for living in nice houses and traveling together to exotic locations all over the world. But they’ve also raised over $2 million for charity among their tribe. Wouldn’t you like to raise $2 million for your favorite charity?
In my experience, these people are just giving, giving, giving, all the time. They give when they get paid—far and above and beyond the minimum amount necessary to do an OK job. And, they give of their time and resources outside of work. Give, give, give.
No wonder so many people like to be around them, and their networks are so huge. We like to be around givers. All the world loves a lover, and all the world loves a giver.
Furthermore (and even more attractive): these people give generously without denying themselves. One thing I see in common among all the successful self-educated people I’ve met—which is different from the way most other people think—is that they tend not to see a contradiction between living a comfortable life for themselves and helping others.
Most of us tend to hold these two as separate. We tend to focus either on improving our own material circumstances without much attention to improving the world, or giving ourselves over completely to some cause (impoverished martyrdom). These two spheres correspond roughly to the two main types of jobs recent college grads go for: entry-level corporate jobs and entry-level nonprofit jobs.
I never understood my fellow Brown graduates, who said they wanted to “make a difference in the world,” and then went into $36,000 jobs licking envelopes at some nonprofit organization while eating ramen noodles at night. Whatever difference spending one’s time licking envelopes