We human beings are extremely transactional.
If I give you this, you have to pay me with that.
If I give you a book, you immediately have to give me another book.
If I help you out as a friend, next time you better show up to help me.
If I went out of the way to help out a colleague, I expect the colleague to reciprocate in the next week!
When you give something, it doesn’t mean that you will always get back something from the same channel. You might get returns in some other ways.
Gary Vaynerchuck has inspired countless entrepreneurs but never took a penny from them. But then he is also called to give talks for which he charges a 6 figure amount.
Salman Khan (not the actor), founded the Khan Academy and has decided to give the knowledge for free. But then, his academy now gets a lot of funding from reputed institutes.
“Give from one hand and take from the other” doesn’t work. Instead, we can give, give and then we might get it back through some other ways.
The best part, however, is that the “Giver” doesn’t really give to get back. The giver gives because the very act of giving gives her peace and contentment.