There’s a debate in our house as to how The Go-Giver ended up on our book shelf. My husband swears I got it from a previous employer (do any of my former Blazer’s remember being gifted this book?) but I’m almost certain his company gave it to him instead. Regardless, I’m happy someone gifted it to us because it may be the single best story ever written. It’s impossible to not give too much away without getting into the details of the story, but I’m going to try…
The Go-Giver is a story about a business man named Joe who is struggling to meet his quarterly earnings. He believes that if he doesn’t meet them he’s a failure and might even lose his job. To Joe success is very monetary. He “chases the cash” as the book states. He knows meeting this business benchmark is important, but what he doesn’t realize is that on his pursuit to achieve his quarterly goals, his perception of success completely changes.
Joe’s journey takes place over the course of a week as he sets out to meet a man named Pindar to learn his business secrets. When Joe befriends Pindar he’s introduced to The Five Laws of Stratospheric Success: The Law of Value, The Law of Compensation, The Law of Influence, The Law of Authenticity and The Law of Receptivity. The two men meet every day to discuss each new law, and at the end of every meeting Joe is required to do some homework and apply the newly-learned law to his life. As the week goes on Joe slowly makes a transformation. He finds that he’s putting others ahead of himself and building meaningful relationships with Pindar’s many acquaintances. As he forms new relationships with Pindar’s friends he deepens his connection with his current coworkers and family too. And little actions like grabbing some coffees for the office, that used to seem trivial, start to feel meaningful to him. By simply being kind, genuine and selfless, Joe catapults himself into a state of being that he’s never experienced before; self-fulfillment.
The moral of the story? Authentically do good, act selflessly, bring value to those around you and you will be rewarded tenfold. It’s as simple as that. Do all those things and you will live a successful and fulfilling life. Well, that’s what Pindar believes, but I tend to agree ;)
Make no mistake, The Go-Giver is not a book for the business-minded only. It’s a heartfelt story for everyone and anyone. It’s themes are applicable to everyday life and I encourage everyone who’s looking for a sweet, short story about what it means to do good and give back to give this book a read.
“...people will do business with and refer business to those people they know, like and trust.”