Why would I give away 20% of whatever I make from Life Coaches Blog? In fact, why bother to give at all?

(Hint: it’s not because I’m fabulously rich!)

3 Big Reasons To Give So You Can Receive

1) Nearly every personal effectiveness coach from Anthony Robbins to Marc Allen recommend it as a method to move you beyond scarcity to abundance thinking.

By giving, you tell your subconscious mind there’s more than enough, and the more you think abundance, the more abundance flows into your life.

I could always use more abundance, couldn’t you?

2) I give because I can. I used to give…at times. Only after I read Peter Singer’s solution to world poverty did I feel that because I could give, I had to, and I started giving a portion of my monthly salary to charity. The following thought experiment by Singer has changed my beliefs, probably for good, don’t read it if you’re not prepared for some hard questions.

Bob is close to retirement. He has invested most of his savings in a very rare and valuable old car, a Bugatti, which he has not been able to insure. The Bugatti is his pride and joy. In addition to the pleasure he gets from driving and caring for his car, Bob knows that its rising market value means that he will always be able to sell it and live comfortably after retirement.

One day when Bob is out for a drive, he parks the Bugatti near the end of a railway siding and goes for a walk up the track. As he does so, he sees that a runaway train, with no one aboard, is running down the railway track. Looking farther down the track, he sees the small figure of a child very likely to be killed by the runaway train.

He can’t stop the train and the child is too far away to warn of the danger, but he can throw a switch that will divert the train down the siding where his Bugatti is parked. Then nobody will be killed — but the train will destroy his Bugatti. Thinking of his joy in owning the car and the financial security it represents, Bob decides not to throw the switch. The child is killed. For many years to come, Bob enjoys owning his Bugatti and the financial security it represents.

Bob’s conduct, most of us will immediately respond, was gravely wrong. Unger agrees. But then he reminds us that we, too, have opportunities to save the lives of children. We can give to organizations like Unicef or Oxfam America. How much would we have to give one of these organizations to have a high probability of saving the life of a child threatened by easily preventable diseases?

(I do not believe that children are more worth saving than adults, but since no one can argue that children have brought their poverty on themselves, focusing on them simplifies the issues.)

Unger called up some experts and used the information they provided to offer some plausible estimates that include the cost of raising money, administrative expenses and the cost of delivering aid where it is most needed. By his calculation, $200 in donations would help a sickly 2-year-old transform into a healthy 6-year-old — offering safe passage through childhood’s most dangerous years.

To show how practical philosophical argument can be, Unger even tells his readers that they can easily donate funds by using their credit card and calling one of these toll-free numbers: (800) 367-5437 for Unicef; (800) 693-2687 for Oxfam America.

Now you, too, have the information you need to save a child’s life. How should you judge yourself if you don’t do it?

Ouch. Not an easy question to answer, is it? I wrestled with it myself for days, and when I brought it up with my friends, heated arguments ensured.

In the end, I believe it’s a personal question you have to answer. But don’t worry, I’m not going to go all high-handed on anyone; there were times when my family and I had trouble making ends meet, then I never gave at all.

But when I read that essay, I could. And knowing that by giving up an extra cup of delicious but extraneous coffee it could make the difference between hunger or a meal for someone, I made the only real choice I could.

3) To change the world. Is there any greater reason?

Why Give And Brag About It?

Simple. I’m not a billionaire with truckloads of money to give. When I started out, I only gave $5 away. But I knew that measly $5 for me was a big amount to someone else in the world who was in need.

What would happen if each of us millions in the developed countries gave just a dollar? If just one more person started giving a dollar today, and she got another person to give another, and another…individually we can do a lot, together we can make an insanely great dent in the universe.

Here’s another thought: you might think you don’t have much to give now, but it’s far easier to give 5% of $100 than $1,000,000.

After I got comfortable with just $5, I started increasing it, up to a point which I wasn’t sure I’d be comfortable with…but guess what happened? I barely missed it, and I felt better with myself for it.

To know that a missed low-fat skimmed milk ice-blended latte with no whipped cream would go towards making a bigger difference in the world is pure and simple joy

How To Start Giving If You Don’t Know How

If you want to start now but don’t know where to begin, Charity Navigator is an independent charity evaluator that can help you make an informed choice.

How To Feed Someone With 1 Click A Day

By now you would’ve seen The Hunger Site‘s logo on the right column of Life Coaches Blog. What makes The Hunger Site great is that you don’t have to give any money, their sponsors pay for the food that go toward feeding those who need it, all you have to do is visit…and click.

That’s it.

When I was a poor student, I bookmarked The Hunger Site so it’d be my homepage. Every time I kicked up the browser, I’d click it once. It’s a habit that’s stayed with me for years, across different computers.

If you’d like to help end world hunger every time you come online, it’s a simple step you can do too.

P.S. Watch U2 frontman Bono give a funny, sobering and inspiring talk about the moment his life changed to one of contribution, and why he believes you can make a difference too.