The Go-Giver is the story of a young go-getter named Joe who seeks the help of a legendary consultant, Pindar, who is referred to by many as “the chairman.” Joe is in risk of having a very bad quarter, and is in desperate need of landing a key account.
He hopes that he can use Pindar’s clout and leverage to help him land this key account. After reaching out to Pindar he is shocked to find out that his request for a meeting has been granted the very next morning.
Over the next week Pindar introduces Joe to a series of successful entrepreneurs, and go-givers, who teach him the 5 Laws of Stratospheric Success. Through the process Joe learns how each of Pindar’s friends implemented the laws of success in their business. Joe learns how to change his mindset from one of getting to one of giving, and how putting others first leads to more than he ever expected.
Five great lessons that this book teaches you:
- Giving should be your focus. You should always try to give more than you take. Make helping others your priority.
- Serve more people. If you want to earn more you have to serve more people.
- Put others before yourself. If you want to have success in anything, whether business or relationships, always care more about others than about yourself.
- You are selling yourself. No matter what you sell, or what you do, you are the best thing you have to offer to others.
- Be open to receiving. Giving without receiving is really robbing others of their ability to give.
Below are some quotes that I pulled from the book as I read:
- Appearances can be deceiving, in fact they nearly always are
- I believe that a person can reach a certain level of success without being particularly special. But to get really, really big, to reach the kind of stratospheric success we’re talking about, people have to have something on the inside, something that is genuine.
- There’s nothing wrong with making money. Lots of it, in fact. It’s just not a goal that will make you successful.
- The majority of people operate with a mindset that says to the fireplace, ‘first give me some heat, then I’ll throw on some logs. ‘ Or that says to the bank, ‘give me interest on my money, then I’ll make a deposit.’ And of course it just doesn’t work that way
- Most of us have grown up seeing the world as a place of limitation rather than as a place of inexhaustible treasures. A world of competition rather than one of co-creation.
- In life, you often don’t get what you want. But here’s what you do get– You get what you expect.
- What you focus on is what you get.
- Ultimately, the world treats you more or less the way you expect to be treated.
- Your true worth is determined by how much more you given value than you take in payment.
- All things being equal–people do business with and refer business to those people they know, like and trust.
- Does it make money is not a bad question. It’s a great question. It’s just a bad first question. It starts you off pointed in the wrong direction.
- Does it serve? Does it add value to others?
- Your income is determined by how many people you serve and how well you serve them.
- Your compensation is directly proportional to how many lives you touch.
- If you want more success, find a way to serve more people. It’s that simple.
- Being broke and be rich are both decisions. You make them up. Everything else is just how it plays out.
- Your influence is determined by how abundantly you place other peoples interests first.
- When you base your relationships – in business or anywhere else in your life–on who owes who what, that’s not being a friend. That’s being a creditor.
- Watch out for the other guy. Watch out for his interests. Watch his back. Forget about 50-50, son. 50-50 is a losing proposition. The only winning proposition is 100%. Make your win about the other person, go after what he wants. Forget win-win – focus on the other person’s win.
- Have you ever wondered what makes people attractive? I mean, genuinely attractive? Magnetic? They love to give. That’s why they’re attractive. Givers attract.
- The most valuable gift you have to offer is yourself.
- Whatever it is that you sell, you can excel by adding value. If you need money, add value. And if you need a lot of money, add a lot of value.
- The key to effective giving is to stay open to receiving.
- It’s not better to give than to receive. It’s insane to try to give and not receive.
- Trying not to receive is not only foolish, it’s arrogant. When someone gives you a gift, what gives you the right to refuse it – to deny their right to give?
- So the secret to success, to gaining it, to having it, is to give, give, give. The secret to getting is giving. The secret to giving is making yourself open to receiving.
- The point is not what you do. Not what you accomplish. It’s who you are.
I highly recommend you buy this book!