LEAD A LIFE OF SIGNIFICANCE IN 2020
Since we've spent the last two years learning how to outperform our competitors and generate significant wealth, let's use some of this power to have a significant impact on the world this year. "To be loved by our friends and feared by our foes!" One of the modules I would teach in our Rookie Broker Training Program focused on getting involved in charities and community organizations. Our fun maxim was, "We must first save the world so that when we own it, it's a beautiful place we can be proud of!"
Whether through philanthropy, capitalism, one-on-one, or leading a movement, use all of your JAM VIEWS knowledge to make an impact out there. Be significant. Be relevant. Make sure it matters that you were here. Let's address some possibilities, as well as the examples of a few amazing overachievers who have recently moved on to their next adventures.
Private giving in the U.S. is up approximately 8% over the last year with Americans voluntarily giving away around $430 billion in 2019. Wow! [Wait a minute, you mean to tell me that when taxes are lowered not only do the Government tax receipts rise, but private giving to those less fortunate greatly increases also?]. A great misperception in our country today is that the vast majority of giving comes from the Gates and Waltons of the world, but this couldn't be more wrong. Karl Zinsmeister (great name!), author of the Almanac of American Philanthropy and editor in chief of Philanthropy magazine, states, "The lion's share of America's vast philanthropy comes from ordinary citizens, 100 million of whom make charitable gifts annually, with the average donating around $3,000. In addition, 77 million citizens volunteer time and labor. This broad generosity powers 1.5 million independent nonprofits." Karl must be a JAM VIEWS reader because he continually stresses, "Studies show that philanthropic efforts are more effective than government in the amount of social repair accomplished per dollar." Or as we question, "Why would we raise taxes, lower philanthropy and give the money to the incompetent bureaucracies to redistribute for us?"
For the last few years I have researched the organ donor problem as much as possible, as it appears to be such a "fixable problem" if capitalism and free markets were enabled. Of course, there are a multitude of ethical, moral and logistical challenges to overcome, but didn't we also have some guys take a walk on the moon? Over 40,000 people could be possibly saved yearly with kidney donations alone, and you and I each have one extra to spare!
As I have learned, the network and self-interest incentives are at the root of our underperforming system for transplants (sound familiar?). But, the Trump Administration recently proposed new rules to make transplants easier. One will increase eligible reimbursements for donors to include travel, lodging, lost wages and child-care expenses during post donation recovery. Second, the 58 organ procurement organizations will now be evaluated not only on survival rates, but also on the rates at which they transplant available organs. This will possibly encourage nearly 75,000 more transplants a year to give more people a fighting chance. This is significance.
Fazle Hasan Abed, a finance executive for Shell Oil wanted to get involved when a cyclone hit Pakistan in 1970 killing hundreds of thousands of people. The next year war transformed East Pakistan into Bangladesh and left millions more in misery. Mr. Abed sold his London apartment to fund the startup of Bangladesh Rehabilitation Assistance Committee (BRAC) in 1972. He passed away recently at age 83, but not before BRAC became one of the world's largest nongovernmental aid organizations with 90,000 workers in 11 countries, running 36,000 schools and centers along with a university serving 12,000 students. Wow! Interestingly, Mr. Abed introduced capitalism to fund his mission. BRAC operates numerous businesses, including a microfinance bank, a clothing retailer, and dairy processing operations, all which fund more than three-quarters of their budget. How can that not stir your emotions about the power of one human with a mission?!
Michael Budney, the son of Polish immigrants, learned the machinery trade and eventually founded Atlantic Machine Tool Works in 1940 in Connecticut making parts for Pratt & Whitney aircraft engines. He recruited new Poles for his business, built motels for them to live in and provided health care with polish-speaking medical staff. By the late 1960s, Atlantic had 2,000 employees and annual sales of $35 million. Mr. Budney officially retired at age 104, yet remained in the shop every weekday until his recent death on December 4th at age 108. That is the definition of significance. His impact will echo through generations of Americans.
I know you are likely tired of me harassing you to get off that couch and impact the world beyond your wildest dreams, but look at all of these amazing stories going on around you! Do you remember the Meryl Streep movie "Defending Your Life" when she has her life review sessions, and the "heaven staff," which includes Rip Torn, applauds the movie playbacks of her courage and her life that overcame fear? This is similar to the stories in the long list of near-death-experience books which describe the life-review movie. Maybe it's true. Maybe it's not. That's not really important. I will tell you that this little reminder is a powerful tool that can give you inspiration and motivation to build something spectacular, to weather a period of great failure, or to stop feeling sorry for yourself just long enough to be significant for at least one more person out there.
This week I hope you think about the $430 billion of philanthropy and the over $20 trillion of capitalism occurring for good in our country in 2020. Add your part. Steel the mind. Make your impact. You have an amazing movie to make!
"Render unto Caesar the things which are Caesar's and unto God the things that are God's." - Jesus
** Photo credit goes to twitter.com
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