Jim Connolly Marketing

  • Home
  • About
    • About Jim Connolly
    • Jim’s small business marketing newsletter
    • Top Marketing Tips for 2026
    • Privacy Policy
    • How I use cookies
    • Contact
    • Disclosure
  • Let’s Grow Your Business

Why I believe it’s wrong to “give until it hurts!”

Updated November 2022

By Jim Connolly | June 13, 2010

give until it hurts, wrong give hurts

Have you ever heard the saying; “give until it hurts” and wondered what it means?

I believe that many misunderstand the statement.  They think that it means we should just give, give, give and only stop when we are out of resources; (time, money, energy etc.)

The wise man or woman knows that the time to stop giving, is BEFORE they feel the pain of giving so much, that they end up hurting – and unable to help anyone else.

Andrew Carnegie, perhaps one of the world’s best known philanthropists, is reported to have decided as a young man, that he would spend half his working life building a massive fortune, so that he could spend the second half, giving all his billions away.  Yes, he helped people along the way, but not to the point where it hurt him or his business so much, that he was unable to help all those millions of people later in his life.

This may sound like a contradiction, but I believe the key to successful giving, is to help as many people as you can!

Help as many people as you can, but as efficiently as possible

Through this blog, I provide free marketing tips and advice to thousands of people.  At the moment, I spend around 3 hours a week writing content; which I can do without it “hurting” or harming my business.  Just think how much LESS of an impact it would have, if I used those same 3 hours each week, to give 3 people an hour of my time.  If you are currently giving until it hurts, you may want to consider a similar approach.  Try putting your expertise in one place and then allowing as many people as possible to benefit from it.

I believe we each owe it to our families and ourselves, to get the balance right – So that we learn how to help as many people as we can, without the pain of neglecting our families or our own businesses in the process!

IMPORTANT: If you want to make more sales, boost your profits and grow an amazing business, this will help you!

Creative Marketing Tips

Get my best ideas delivered direct to your inbox. Just add your email below.

You can unsubscribe at any time. I respect your privacy.

Jim Connolly

Hi! I'm Jim Connolly and I use creative marketing to help small business owners increase sales, boost profits and build amazing businesses. Read more here.

Featured by

marketing advice, marketing help

Categories

  • AI (7)
  • Blogging (407)
  • Business development (493)
  • Copywriting (307)
  • Creative Marketing (1,668)
  • Email marketing & mail shots (187)
  • Professional development (545)
  • Social media marketing (358)

Hosting provider

20i hosting

Search

Recent posts

  • Sign your work. Grow your business August 17, 2026
  • Get creative: Let others market your business for free! August 7, 2026
  • Traditional marketing is dead July 27, 2026
  • The stupid game July 13, 2026
  • Hey! Not so fast! July 6, 2026
  • How to get your fees right June 23, 2026
  • A 3 shot espresso for your business June 17, 2026
  • Unproductive? You’re probably just bored June 12, 2026
  • Make AI grow your business June 8, 2026
  • It motivates people to take action, now June 4, 2026
  • Is your business one of the 50% that prospects now avoid? Probably! May 30, 2026
  • Give your best ideas away for free. Here’s why May 12, 2026
  • AI is wiping out your competitors. Now take their market share May 5, 2026
  • Powerful words for your marketing toolbox. Part 2 April 29, 2026
  • Your social media is sending an important message April 27, 2026
  • When was the last time? April 23, 2026
  • Jim, why are my sales numbers down? April 20, 2026
  • The secret sauce you were looking for, is here April 15, 2026
  • A few things worth learning, from the top small businesses April 9, 2026
  • Be optimistic. Because all this is true April 2, 2026

Creative Thinking?

My Creative Thinking Website
  • Home
  • About
  • Let’s Grow Your Business

Copyright © 2026 Jim Connolly