Tweet

A Different Kind of High: The Power of Altruism

Guest post by: Bruna Martinuzzi

Article Overview: When we perform good deeds, we experience a myriad of physiological benefits from feeling more calm and peaceful, to overcoming depression, to better recovery from heart attacks and even increased longevity. Altruism-doing good deeds and performing service for others out of the goodness of our heart-is an ipso facto reciprocated gift. This article provides 7 ways to foster altruistic behaviors in our life.

A Different Kind of High: The Power of Altruism



Long ago, Abraham Lincoln said: "When I do good, I feel good; when I do bad, I feel bad, and that is my religion." Today, we know that there is scientific evidence underpinning Lincoln's statement. When we perform good deeds, we experience a myriad of physiological benefits from feeling more calm and peaceful, to overcoming depression, to better recovery from heart attacks and even increased longevity. Altruism-doing good deeds and performing service for others out of the goodness of our heart-is an ipso facto reciprocated gift.

While altruism was, for a long time, considered a function of the brain's reward (or pleasure) systems, scientists have discovered that a different part of the brain is also stimulated when we do good deeds. It is a part of the brain that shows heightened activity when one focuses on perceiving others' actions and intentions. This part of the brain behaves differently in individuals who are altruistic as opposed to individuals who have low altruism. "To be altruistic," says Dr. Scott Huettel, a neuroscientist at Duke University, "you need to see that the people you're helping have goals and that your actions will have consequences for them."

How can we use these scientific findings to make us more altruistic? If we don't score high on the altruistic scale as others do who are more gifted in this area, perhaps we need to, once in a while, stop focusing on self-preoccupation; this means moving from naval gazing to noticing others-making a conscious effort to truly see others in our environment, whether it is a struggling colleague, an out-of- work neighbor, or someone going through a difficult phase in their lives: envisioning what their struggles might be and what benevolent actions on our part, no matter how small, can have positive consequences for them.

Here are seven ways that we can foster altruistic behaviors in our life:

Teach yourself to have a hero mentality. Learning to be a hero is the brain child of Dr. Phillip Zimbardo, psychologist at Stanford University, who formed The Heroic Imagination Project. The underlying premise of the project is that heroes are not demigods, but simply ordinary people who do extraordinary things. The project's noble goal is "to put decades of experimental research to use in training the next generation of exemplary Americans, churning out good guys with the same efficiency that gangs and terrorist groups produce bad guys." Part of the process of learning to be a hero is studying the behaviors of our past heroes such as Abraham Lincoln and Martin Luther King, as well as learning to recognize in ourselves, any tendencies that can lead us away from helping others, such as the practice of blaming the victim. We can derive an inspiration from this initiative to create our own altruism do-it-yourself project to help those who cross our life's path.

Boost your capacity for selflessness. Brick Johnstone, Professor of Health Psychology in the University of Missouri reports that selflessness, the ability to connect with things beyond the self, can be learned by decreasing activity in the right parietal lobe of the brain. Research has shown that one way to accomplish is through intense meditation.

Practice how to be genuinely happy for others' good fortune. Buddhist philosophy includes the beautiful concept of "mudita" which simply translated means "altruistic joy," that is, rejoicing in the accomplishments and success of others. While it is easy to feel sorry for those who are experiencing difficulties, the opposite, experiencing sympathetic joy for colleagues who encounter more fortunate circumstances is the mark of an elevated person.

Know the difference between charity and philanthropy. Charity is giving help to strangers who are in need or who are suffering. Philanthropy implies love of humankind and is an action intended to promote human welfare. Philanthropy is not simply mailing a cheque or getting rid of a few coins in our pocket by tossing them in a mendicant's cup. It is larger than that. It is more active, requires a commitment to devote resources or time over an extended period of time. While very few can be larger-than-life philanthropists like Bill Gates, Warren Buffet or Ted Turner, we can all, in our own small universe practice some form of philanthropy. For example, the next time a summer job opens up at your company, rather than giving it to the sons and daughters of your well-to-do friends or family, call a local high school in a poorer district and ask the principal to recommend a deserving student of modest means, with no connections to the corporate world. Do this every year, for a very long time.

Give as many people as you can the gift of your smile. Genuine smiles make others feel accepted, a valuable gift indeed, especially for those who may not feel a part of the in-group, whether in our work environment, committees or social gatherings. Recent scientific evidence even suggests that a genuine smile may be indicative of an altruistic disposition.

Practice emotional alms-giving. Alms-giving involves giving material goods, such as clothing or money. Emotional alms, on the other hand, are intangible bestowals of the heart. Lord Acton, a 19th century author, said this: "There is not a soul who does not have to beg alms of another, either a smile, a handshake, or a fond eye." The list of emotional alms is long and limited only by the expanse of our heart. They include, for example, lenient judgment of others, deliberately embarking on boosting someone's confidence or withholding criticism; it is allowing a subordinate to shine in a meeting or helping someone save face or redress an error that had nothing to do with you.

Allow others to help you. If you are independent-minded and find it difficult to accept help from others, or are always the one taking charge of helping others in your milieu, consider that you may be doing someone a big favor by judiciously allowing that person to take the lead sometimes in any volunteering activities. Volunteering, giving away one's time, knowledge or other resources gives people the gift of "the helper's high," an endorphin rush. Allow them space to enjoy that gift.

Helping someone who cannot reciprocate, giving of ourselves with no regard for favors returned, is one of the noblest acts at our disposal in our "gimme, gimme, gimme" Zeitgeist. It enhances the life of others while strengthening our physical, emotional and spiritual selves. It makes us better human beings and shines a bright light in dark corners. Perhaps this is what Henry Ford meant when he said: "To do more for the world than the world does for you-that is success." And this is a special kind of high, indeed, during the holidays and all year round.

Related Articles
  12 Qualities of Happiness
  The Decline in Trust & Confidence in Leadership
  To decide or not decide - This is the Law of Attraction
  “The Awesome Power of TO-DO Lists, According To Your Strategic Thinking Business Coach”
  Ten Things You Can Do To Improve Your Strategic Influencing
  The World is Eager to Help When You Let People Know You Need It!
  Purpose and Posturing
  Leadership 101: Integrity by Example
  How Buyers Make Decisions (Part 2)
  Does Power Corrupt
  China is a Charade
  How To make Solar Panels By Yourself
  Smart Women Have Personal Power
  Some Common Misconceptions about Values
  Acts of kindness
  Article #28 Looking For A Business That Works Fast In As Little As Six Months?
  Leadership Matters: Values and Dysfunctional Dispositions
  You don't have the power
  What Power Tool Online do you need for a business?
  Lesson #4: Back Your Company With Brain Power

Article Tags: altruism, Being a mensch, change the world, good deeds, goodness, heart attacks, longevity, overcoming depression, Philip Zimbardo, physiological benefits



Related Forum Posts
Women Entrepreneur Tips - Thank you LeoOliveros, I found #4 particularly true in my case: 4. The Enterprise Must Include the Power of Power Networks. As a conductor of your own enterprise, you can not see yourself as a one-woman-show. You must choose to utilize the power people in your life, by asking for help when you need it, and effectively delegating in order to capitalize on your strengths and that of your power network. When certain experts are not represented in your power network, you must actively seek advisors or mentors and develop a team of specialists, so the benefits are received by everyone involved in the power network - the true Power of Power Networks.
Re: How many nationalities are on the forum? - Hi there, It is amazing the languages have come into the posts. Now Jude was asked, how many languages she speaks. Please, come and tell us. I speak English, German and French. German is my mother tongue. Some thirty years ago I spoke fluently French. Now English has taken that place and I can better understand French than speaking it. English is now my daily used language. German in second place. However, I never grasped the German grammar very much. Why? The Swiss German Dialect is nothing to be compared with High German. At that time hardly anybody wrote the Dialect. Today it is the 'in thing' to write the dialect. (Letters, stories etc) But we have to be able to read High German, because every book, newspaper etc is in High German. Finally, I guess there are a few more who can vote for their nationality.
Re: Can someone explain Search engine optimization to me? - Search Engine Optimization (SEO) could be compared to a big popularity contest: A High School Computer Geek and a High School Football Captain who are trying to promote a party. The computer geek tells everyone in school & even hands out 100's of flyers about his party Friday night...what happens? his friends end up showing up and a few new people...even the new people leave right away because it is not what they are looking for. The High School Football Captain ends up just telling a few good buddies, and within hours the entire school not only knows about it, but everyone wants to come, and everyone does come & stay. One defenition of "optimize is "To make as perfect or effective as possibe." How effective are your article marketing campaigns? Could you be distributing content (that is what search engines index) more effectively? In a perfect world, who would you want promoting your website, web pages, and web content? Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is determining this perfect & effective way to do this. Jeff
Re: FILL IN THE BLANK: One thing I did to grow my business today - Congrats guys! High five from the jungle cat!
Re: Are Economic Recessions Good for Franchising? - well, I can't give you any verified stats at the moment. But, it's a fact that as more and more people face layoffs they look in the direction of franchising. These are folks that need the security of a proven business model and have resources to jump into a franchise. It's a clear trend that has been witnessed in past recessions. My concern is that we are not in a simple recession... If you look at a recession as a big storm that will create some havoc and disrupt lives, then the events we're facing in the near future could be a supersized hurricane. We're heading into uncharted waters. High fuel costs, which will probably fluctuate for a while then jump again High debt loads... now in the trillions Sinking housing market... how low will it go? The US war machine is in full swing... with eyes on IRAN All of these factors are clashing to create the Perfect Storm and I don't like it one bit. I tell ya, there's a bunch of madmen at the helm. So how does this bode for franchising? jeez... I don't know... I'm gonna get myself a double scotch on the rocks. Cheers.


Share this article with your friends. Fund someone's dream.

Leave a comment below or share on the left and you'll help support entrepreneurs in Africa through our partnership with Kiva. Over $50,000 raised and counting - Please keep sharing! Learn more.

Newsletter

Get advice & tips from famous business
owners, new articles by entrepreneur
experts, my latest website updates, &
special sneak peaks at what's to come!

Name:
Email:

Popular Articles

B2B PR – Planning for Success

Work Place Counselling

What is Discretionary Cash Flow

Suggestions

Email us your ideas on how to make our
website more valuable! Thank you Sharon
from Toronto Salsa Lessons / Classes for
your suggestions to make the newsletter
look like the website and profile younger
entrepreneurs like Jennifer Lopez.