“Only those who have learned the power of sincere and selfless contribution experience life’s deepest joy: true fulfillment.”
Tony Robbins, Motivational Speaker
For all we see promoted through advertising and marketing about acquiring that slick new car, that beautiful home, that glowing skin, and that great wealth and luxury, these do not guarantee we will feel empowered, lovable or connected to others in joyful and meaningful ways. They do not guarantee happiness. One thing that does is to be provided opportunities to contribute! In Maslow’s hierarchy of needs, he presents the following structure even though these needs are not necessarily always linear and can be sought simultaneously:
- Physical needs for survival such air, water, shelter, food, and sleep.
- Safety needs such as the security of our health, finances, and property.
- Connection needs such as feeling belonging and significance in family, friendships and romance.
- Self-esteem needs such as feeling confident, seen, valued, and respected within community.
- Self-actualization needs such as living our best and most expanded lives.
In our efforts to develop children into good citizens, we often condition them to focus on their most basic needs and while that makes sense, we could also focus them on causing good for others intentionally. Like an appreciation of fine wine or healthy foods, through exposure and experience, one such way of operating will begin to stand out as desirable when savored and explored; the choice to make contributions.
In my own life, my mission to create a world in which all people love their lives is one such example. While I include myself in “all people”, as I support this in everyone, I experience deep fulfilment. Contributing allows me to feel a sense of meaningfulness, making my life both sweet and relevant. Contribution is a core need for all of us because it is precisely in our offers to support one another that we experience the wonder of the good in our power, and the beauty of our gifts. We experience joy when we cause others to be successful and happy. As contributing is cultivated, we see the acts and results as noteworthy and they inspire us to do more good!
As I was writing the above paragraph, my phone rang and one of my clients was in need of my support. How grateful was I for her trust in me and for her request to use my strengths and talents to serve her. How satisfying to know that what I’ve developed within me brings comfort and clarity to someone who then brings forward a greater ability to contribute to others too! This not only satisfies my sense of meaningfulness, a key intrinsic motivator, but allows me to help another to grow in competence, another intrinsic motivator she needed today. Consider just some of the following top world and US contributors and how and why these people and many others too long to list, have lasting inspirational and aspirational appeal for many of us:
Worldwide
- Pablo Picasso, the artist
- Leonardo da Vinci, art, science, inventions
- Bruce Lee, Actor, Martial artist, philosopher
- Cleopatra, famous female leader
- Marie Curie, physicist, scientist
- Anna Pavlova, ballet dancer
- Mahatma Gandhi, political activist
United States
- George Washington, first president of US
- Abraham Lincoln, liberator and nation unifier
- Martin Luther King Jr., civil rights pioneer
- Franklin Roosevelt, crisis leader, social innovator
- Thomas Jefferson, architect of democracy
- Susan B. Anthony, women’s rights pioneer
- John F. Kennedy, modern visionary
Why does contribution matter? There is something built into the innate nature of our humanity that delights in being generous and helpful. If contributing is not cultivated within us, we become restless, bored, and feel unfulfilled, unhappy. In such unhappiness, we get discouraged and then often struggle needlessly.
Why is contribution often under-utilized? Either it is not consciously developed and promoted or people become conditioned to fear being a burden and therefore they do not always reach out to invite the contributions of others. When you promote contribution in your workplace, you strengthen your people and their ability to be in healthy collaboration with their co-workers. This then translates into greater contributions to your clients. We teach organizations many ways to mutually contribute to one another so everyone is wildly successful! If you’d like to create the conditions and conversations that promote this and more in your workplace, call us today!
This article is published in the column The Extraordinary Workplace in The St. Louis Small Business Monthly, June 2025
