I found myself on the phone this afternoon with a friend of mine after listening to a leadership call from my personal mentor, John Jackson. John’s call always ends with…”do something for someone you know will never be able to pay you”… With this fresh in mind, I felt compelled to ask my friend to tell me about a time when she did something For someone who could never pay.

She told a story of when she met a complete stranger, a young woman named Sadie. Sadie was an immigrant from Africa, she moved to Minnesota where she lived with her aunt, her cousin and her aunt’s fiancé. After living with her aunt and her fiancé for six months, Sadie ran into a problem; her aunt and fiancé asked her to leave her. They said the house was getting too crowded. Sadie, who was still relatively new to the country, had no idea what she should do or where she should go, and she continually begged her aunt to let her stay, yet her aunt didn’t budget. her decision.

Sadie left the house that day and stopped at a Barnes and Noble on the downtown Minneapolis skyway to use the bathroom, where she met my friend Anna and told her story. (My friend asked me to use a pseudonym to protect her identity, and therefore, for the purpose of this article, her name is Anna.)

Anna being the kind of person she is, she decided to make the biggest investment in the world.
The human investment; that day he decided to do something for someone who could never repay him. Anna understands that one of the largest investments in the world is human investment. What other investment is there that can increase her own sense of self-esteem? This investment pays the world’s largest dividends, and oftentimes no actual financial start-up capital is needed to start the portfolio. Sometimes a smile or a kind word is enough, sometimes all the other person needs may be a listening ear. Isn’t that warm fuzzy feeling the biggest payoff in the world? The emotional, spiritual, and self-knowledge that comes from investing in another person and increasing the value of their life redeposits more seeds of goodwill that feed your life bank account for many moons to come.

What is the biggest investment you have ever made? What did you do with the money? Does profit still mean anything to you?…because if we’re honest with ourselves, none of us really want money, but the things it can bring.

Throughout history, all of the world’s greatest leaders, from Mother Teresa to Martin Luther, whether we agree with their ideologies or not, many have come to adore, respect, and love them, as they too have made the largest investment on earth; human investment…and as a result, their names will live on forever, as the dividends of their deeds will continue to add value to the lives of millions more to come.