The Secret to Success

Today at BYU we had an interesting forum given by Arthur C Brooks, author of Gross National Happiness "Why Giving Matters." He detailed some research that he has done that shows that people who make charitable donations are more prosperous than those who don't. It was really interesting to see evidence of what I've always believed. Although I, as well as Arthur Brooks, believe that God plays a part in this, that He does what He says: blesses those who help others, if you don't believe in God, that doesn't mean that you can't believe that charity brings prosperity. It is interesting because this idea is illustrated beautifully in the Book of Mormon, that when the Nephites were righteous, (which included caring for the poor), they prospered. When they were wicked (which included robbing and despising the poor) they fell on much harder times.
So, the results of his studies showed that it is a kind of cycle: those who give end up making more and then they give more. He also showed that contrary to world opinion (this includes the opinion of Americans as well) Americans are among the most generous people in the world. I don't remember the exact numbers, but he showed that Americans are 3 times more generous than the French, 7 (?) times more generous than Germans, and 14 times more generous then Italians. That is a big difference. Americans also give away about $300 billion dollars every year, more than some countries make in an entire year.
Being a social scientist, he wanted to find something concrete that he could pin it to. He is Roman Catholic, and although his faith is important to him, it is hard to base research on faith, unless you are publishing in theology. So he went to a psychologist friend who gave him a good place to start. When people give more, they are happier. That greater happiness in turn leads to greater productivity which leads to greater prosperity. Greater happiness also leads to reduced stress which in turn leads to increased health and therefore, again, greater prosperity. It is a vicious cycle.
Anyway, I was really impressed by what he had to say, even more so that he used a quote from the Book of Mormon. He ended with an amusing, but interesting story. He told about how the last time he came to BYU, he was given a nice briefcase with a BYU written on it. He put it away because he already had a briefcase, but down the road, his briefcase broke. He took out the BYU briefcase and started to carry his things in that. What he related next was quite interesting. He said that carrying the briefcase began to change him. He realized that people would see him carrying that briefcase and think that he was a Mormon. Although some people might be upset by this connection, he said that he didn't want to let down the reputation that Latter-day Saints (LDS) have built for themselves. He started to become more charitable, to become a better person, and as a result, became happier.
Who would have known that the idea that others are equating you with certain standards and a certain reputation could have such an impact for good? I guess that just leaves the members of the church to live up to the same standard.