A Serving of Success

In a society that for the most part predicates itself on the idea that you have to fight your way to the top, kill or be killed, eat what you kill, and look out for “numero uno” you; the concept of serving others in order to succeed would seem to be contradictory to success .

Competition and cooperation are not mutually exclusive schools of thought. Every successful business person from Dale Carnegie (founder of US Steel), to Ray Kroc (found of McDonald's), to Mary K. Ash (found of Mary Kay), to Steve Jobs (founder of Apple) and many others would have never been the icons of industry they became without the help of others. Each of these great business icons all have one thing in common; they all gave and received help from others.
Serving others builds trust At first, many people might look at you with suspicion when you offer them something without expecting anything in return. When they do finally realize that you really don’t have an ulterior motive for helping them, they will be extremely grateful.

You will be seen as both helpful and authentic in character. Your reputation as a person, as a businessman, sales person, or entrepreneur will also increase. People will begin to put their trust in you. By being genuinely interested in serving others, you'll find that you'll be able to build relationships naturally. Remember, real (authentic) trust and respect never demands or expects anything in return.

Serving others is reciprocalr
If you're serving other people with the hidden or obvious hook of getting something in return undermines the very act itself and reduces trust. It also has the detrimental effect of minimizing or reducing your own happiness when you don't receive back what you perceive to be something of "equal value".

However, if you're genuinely serving other people, it almost always creates the unintentional side effect of bringing unforeseen blessings into your life. When you serve others, people are just more inclined to help and serve you. It opens doors and opportunities that on your own may have never been opened or at best would have taken a tremendous amount of effort to pass through.

When you begin to put others first, every aspect of your life begins to take on new meaning.

Serving others builds your networkr
The future of business is networking. Your network has the ability to truly empower your success. It connects you with resources that would otherwise be unattainable solely on your own effort.

There is simple yet very powerful principle at work when you change your focus to serving other, it's "everything produces after its own kind." Your actions are like a magnet and you'll attract what you produce. If you're self serving in your motives, you tend to attract others to your network that are self serving. On the other hand, you'll begin to attract people of like mind; those who have similar goals and aspirations who will enable you to integrate powerful solutions that you may not have otherwise uncovered. You'll begin to inspire each other, motivate each other, assist each other. You'll create synergy and the synergy of your network will make it greater than the sum of its individual parts, because each person is now inspired and empowered.
For all you "Alpha Dogs" out there who are probably thinking, "why should I waste my time helping somebody else, when I can put that effort into producing results for myself?" Consider this, a lone wolf can easily take down a rabbit and have a meal, but it takes a pack to bring down the really big game.

Today, I challenge to go out and find an opportunity to help or serve someone you know with no expectation or conditions attached. You'll set into motion a very powerful principle that will help you to achieve the success you're striving for.

Dare To Be Different - Be Authentic.