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Give and Take: A Revolutionary Approach to Success by Adam M. Grant

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Highly recommend this book that categorises people into three types:
Takers
Givers
Matchers

A matcher is what the majority of people are they try to make favours in a tit-for-tat fashion.  Simply being aware of this can help you utilise these people.

It is of interest that givers are at both the top and bottom of the success ladder.  Some givers are at the  because they’re over used and sometimes give too much away at the expense of themselves. Other givers at the top, these successful givers over time benefit by altruistically giving to people (not expecting a return) they build a network of genuine folk who want to help them, in part as majority are matchers.

An interesting concept relating to givers is ‘firing up’ (being energized) versus ‘burning out’ (when you’ve done too much and can’t give any more). To ‘fire up’ one must provide giving with a sense of purpose helping others and gaining some satisfaction from the process which keeps you motivated.  Cites lots of studies and evidence behind this ‘firing up’ such as examples include teachers working in troubled areas and despite challenges remain ‘fired up’.

Case study about Freecycle, a website in which products are given for free on internet (similar to Gumtree or Craigslist but must be for free).  Society can shift its values due to the actions of others and suggests that Freecycle can turn takers into givers.

Mentions volunteering and has an interesting study that says volunteering is good for your own well-being and health are but the benefits occur when 100 hours a year or more are volunteered. Of note 800 + hours volunteering is beneficial but only as beneficial as 100 + hours. In part this is maybe because the rewarding learning curve diminishes after the 100 + hours. When volunteering ideally split this over the week with lots of small episodes rather than on larger one to provide more ongoing benefits to you.

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