Every day we wake up and start our day by thinking about the million things that we have to do; tasks, choirs, goals, and so on. As entrepreneurs and startup founders, this can be even more overwhelming as on top of everything else we have to think about income and our outgoing costs which are often higher than the income itself.

How could we ever even think of starting by helping others before we have finished our own tasks? How can we even think of it before even reaching our own goals? We say to ourselves, when I get there I will help this person or the other, when I am rich I will give money away and when I have the time I will dedicate some of my time to charity.

Life happens while we are setting all these goals and running as fast as we can to achieve all this and more. Yet rarely do we feel fulfilled, happy, or reach those goals.

There is a lot of talk about mindfulness and meditation. The only thing they do is help you focus, stop you from running so fast, and allow you to think before your run and in the process analyse if it is important to run as fast or in the direction you are running.

So what if you start your day by giving? Giving freely. It is hard to think but here are a few examples. Almost every morning I write an article. Something about what I have read in a book or learnt and want to share. It is an act of giving.

I am giving my time and sharing my knowledge for free. I don’t know how I will get paid for it and it might seem counterproductive if I calculate the time it takes to write but there is a very simple science behind giving.

Apart from the fact that I personally believe in giving back to the society and ecosystem, I also believe in the input/output of energy into the universe. What you put in is What you get out.

However across all cultures and countries, there is a universal rule in human nature, and that is when you give or do something for someone, they somehow feel obliged to do something in return.

It is as simple as that. I am no different than you. I might wake up a little earlier but I have all the same problems and goals. I have tasks to finish (from the day before) and I have goals and dreams.

I always used to help people and help without asking for anything in return. I used to get work coming my way all the time and a huge part of it was always through word of mouth, recommendations, and more.

At some point in 2012, I stopped. I stopped helping and giving so freely because I felt I wasn’t reaching my goals. I thought maybe I wasn’t reaching them because I was spending too much time helping others. I stopped to focus on my own goals and anything that was outside of this equation was left unattended. Until a couple of years later when I felt I am no close to any of my goals than when I stopped.

I changed only one thing. I started my day by doing one thing for someone else. Something they needed, connecting someone to another, helping them find a job, making an intro, sharing my knowledge, and anything else that was within my means and reach.

Ever since I find that somehow I often always invariably receive something back. Not always from the same person and it doesn’t need to be that way. I have received from others and many others long before I was even able to reciprocate. Now I can reciprocate and give to those who will one day follow the same path.

Not only have I helped someone in the process but there is a happy feeling of gratitude that is much better than any payment you can receive.

Start your day by giving without expectation and you will soon find that you will receive more than you ever expected.