Don’t Expect Anything In Return

When you don’t expect anything in return, good things begin to happen.

Manipulation is everywhere. “Let me do this so I can get something in return” is the mantra of many. But when you don’t expect anything in return, good things begin to happen. I’ve seen this play out in my own life, and I’m sure you can see it in your own life as well. Shawn Askinosie of Askinosie Chocolate has definitely seen the reward from not expecting anything in return.

In a recent interview with Forbes Magazine, Shawn said, “The ‘expect nothing in return’ advice is part of the paradox of service: find yourself by losing yourself in the service of others. The idea is that once we are living our vocation we need to realize that it’s not a destination at which we ‘arrive.’ Therefore, we take this notion of service day by day in order to remain tethered to our life of meaningful work. I’m not saying that business folks should never expect profit or a healthy company, not at all. This principle is specifically related to the part of the process of maintaining our connections to the people and ideas that brought us this work in the first place.”

And if you haven’t yet seen a return in the physical sense, I’m sure that you can tell a difference with your soul. It just feels better to do something for another person without a hidden motive. Yes, I do believe that motives matter. And typically, the person carrying out the deed is the only person who can say what their motives truly are. So, my only call to action with this post is to bring awareness to the need of paying attention to the reasons you do the things you do. Are your motives to truly better yourself and the world around you or are they to improve the view that others have of you?

The difference between the two may seem minuscule, but the difference of heart is clearly different. And people can see right through the two.

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