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One of the most powerful principles of humanity is that of reciprocity. Richard Leakey, the anthropologist said that we are human because our ancestors learned to share both food and skills in an honored network of cooperation and obligation.

In the settling of America, reciprocity was the code for human survival and community relationships. When a barn burned or crops needed harvesting, neighbors joined together to help and contribute. When we invoke the power of reciprocity, we open our lives to unbelievable abundance and satisfaction.

The key is that we widen the circle of our network for the purpose of helping and contributing to others without the expectation of getting anything in return. A financial service's client said it clearly recently, “It was when I stopped selling insurance and started helping people that my life and business became extraordinary.”

The true spirit of reciprocity did not come into full bloom in my business life until I joined the coaching community. In one of my first teleclasses at Coach University, one of the coaches on the call replied to my inquiry about a welcome packet for new clients by saying she had her welcome packet ready and would be glad to share it with me. I was surprised and overjoyed. My first reaction was, “Why would she do this? Isn’t this business? Aren’t we competitors?” Generously, she sent the welcome packet right away

It is by taking our results out of the equation and sharing the very best of ourselves with as many people as possible that we start making a real difference in the world. The great paradox is that by giving generously to other, we are helped in return- often far in excess of what we would expect or predict.

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