La Red joined the global Pay it Forward Day movement. This movement encourages people to do good deeds for others without asking for anything in return except for the recipients to pay it forward to others in need.
The La Red team practises paying-it-forward on a daily basis by helping others with their needs, which results into a happy, healthy network of people. Paying-it-forward is the foundation of our Social Capital Fund ‘Vrienden van La Red’. On a deep, fundamental level we know that social capital works for us in a systemic way through the mechanism of asynchronous reciprocity. Social capital being the help of others we might expect to receive just because we know them.
Giving without expecting something in return
As human beings we deal with giving and receiving in many different ways from a biological and emotional perspective. Exchanging gifts and other networking perks isn’t all that easy. Subconsciously we act on set social patterns. Trust and the ability to forgive are equally important in exchanging gifts and other perks in a networking setting. Since we’re only human we’re luckily also guided by likeability, justice, sympathetic deeds and generosity. Rather than exchanging fairly in a quit-pro-quo situation we now encourage you to give without expecting anything in return. By being generous we know that you’re also saving for a rainy day. You can’t count on it but the system of asynchronous reciprocity is on your side.
Paying it forward examples
Therefore we urge everybody we know to observe this Pay It Forward day with activities and acts of kindness that demonstrate and celebrate selfless giving. The following examples may help you in paying-it-forward.
- Invite somebody to join you at an event
- Forward an article of interest to somebody else
- Compliment the people you meet
- Do the grocery shopping for needy neighbours
- Tag somebody you respect in your social media posts
- Introduce your contacts to relevant others
- Give a guest lecture at school
- Be a friend to lonely people
- Lend a sympathetic ear to a total stranger
- Share your knowhow with anybody that will listen
What’s your favorite way of Paying it Forward?
Let us know your favorite ways of paying-it-forward. Leave a message at our LinkedIn-page, https://www.linkedin.com/company/la-red or through vrienden@lared.nl.
