The Gift and How to Live the Law of Contribution: Thach Nguyen at TEDxBellevue
The speaker, Fast Win, claims that one's happiness and success are directly proportional to the number of people served selflessly, outlining a four-step process called "giving the gift." This process requires connecting deeply with others, discovering their needs, contributing without agenda, and watching unexpected good fortune (a "miracle") occur as a result.
## Speakers & Context
- **Fast Win:** Speaker, who developed the concept of the "law of contribution" based on personal experience.
- **Origin:** Born in Vietnam in **1970**.
- **Family Evacuation:** Family evacuated from Vietnam in **1975** after the war ended.
- **Initial Living Situation:** Lived in a homeless shelter in San Diego after arriving in the US.
- **Mentor:** Met a man named Charles Zetler and his mother, who were significant contributors to his family.
- **Early Career Focus:** Started real estate career in **1991** at age **21**, with the sole focus on personal financial gain ("it was all about me").
- **Transformation:** A "big disaster" caused a major life breakdown, leading him to realize true fulfillment must be beyond himself.
## Theses & Positions
- **Law of Contribution:** Happiness and success level $\propto$ number of people served selflessly.
- **Biblical Support:** Cites Proverbs 11:24: *"one man give freely yet grow all the Richer another withhold what he should give and only suffer want."*
- **Core Philosophy:** Personal life principle is to live through selfless contribution rather than self-gain.
- **Gift Definition:** The simple act of contributing; anyone, regardless of status (entrepreneurs, CEOs, world leaders), can do it.
- **Investment Principle:** People invest in *who you are as a human being*, not just the projects or things you do.
- **Contribution Requirement:** Contribute with **no agenda**, putting one's own agenda on the back burner.
- **Focus for Help:** Truly discover what is helpful for another person, not what is important to the speaker or what the speaker thinks is needed.
## Concepts & Definitions
- **Law of Contribution:** Happiness and success level is in direct proportion to the number of people served selflessly.
- **The Gift:** The concept of selfless giving, which anyone can perform at any time.
- **Unexpected Good Fortune (The Field):** The source of "miracles," which can come from someone contributed to directly, someone unknown, or an unexpected source.
## Mechanisms & Processes
- **The Gift Process (Four Steps):**
1. **Connect Deeply with Others:** Be interested in others and remember that every person met is important.
2. **Discover What They're Up To:** Understand what other people need; find out what they are working on, and what their dreams/goals/projects are.
3. **Contribute On the Spot:** Offer ideas, advice, connection, or support to help move their goals/dreams/projects one step forward.
4. **Watch the Miracle Occur:** Expect unexpected good fortune that results from the contribution.
- **Conflict Avoidance:** Ego and agenda are what prevent the proper practice of giving.
## Timeline & Sequence
- **1970:** Born in Vietnam.
- **1975:** Family evacuated from Vietnam.
- **1991:** Started real estate career at age 21.
- **[Time Span]:** Period leading up to the "big disaster" which caused the personal breakdown and reinvention.
- **Currently:** Presenting the philosophy and process derived from life experience.
## Named Entities
- **Vietnam:** Country of origin.
- **San Diego, Washington:** Location where the family first landed in the US.
- **Tacoma, Washington:** Location where the family was shipped after San Diego.
- **Charles Zetler:** Man who sponsored the speaker's family to live with him.
## Numbers & Data
- Birth Year: **1970**.
- Evacuation Year: **1975**.
- Initial funds: **less than $100**.
- Speaker's age starting career: **21**.
- Zetler's support duration: **seven months** (for the car co-signing).
- Real Estate Example Value: Over **$5 million** spent in multiple transactions.
## Examples & Cases
- **Family Migration:** Family of six (speaker, mother, sister, four brothers) packed everything into one suitcase with less than $100 and left Vietnam in **1975**.
- **Zetler's Contribution:** Charles Zetler's mother drove the speaker's father to work (45 minutes one way), picked him up at 5:00, and drove him home every day for seven months; Charles co-signed for the father's first car.
- **Early Career Limitation:** Period of real estate success marked by being overly focused on self-agenda, leading to a major life breakdown.
- **The "Gift" Test Case:** The speaker initially met a wealthy gentleman three times; the first two times, nothing resulted. On the third meeting, the gentleman revealed he was only trying to connect and assess the speaker as a human being, leading to investment.
- **The Moral Lesson:** The speaker would have failed in the third meeting if he had introduced his commission-making agenda instead of staying focused on connection.
## Tools, Tech & Products
- None specified.
## References Cited
- **Proverb 11:24:** *"one man give freely yet grow all the Richer another withhold what he should give and only suffer want."*
- **Buddha:** Mentioned as a source for the principle: *"when you see someone who is practicing giving Aid him joyfully and you will obtain vast and great blessing."*
## Counterarguments & Caveats
- The speaker acknowledges that his natural inclination is to immediately skip to Step 2 (discovering what others are up to) during initial meetings.
- The speaker admits that implementing the philosophy is not always easy due to the resistance of ego and agenda.
## Conclusions & Recommendations
- Give the gift daily to every person encountered, regardless of whether they appear to be opportunity-rich.
- By mastering giving the gift and the law of contribution, one will experience unexpected joy, happiness, and fulfillment, leading to visible "miracles."
- The final practical advice is to use every opportunity in front of the speaker to practice giving the gift.
## Implications & Consequences
- The story demonstrates that genuine human connection and selfless contribution can lead to exponentially greater rewards than self-serving transactions.
- A life lived by giving shifts focus from transactional gain to relational value, attracting opportunities.
## Verbatim Moments
- *"the level of your happiness happiness and success is in direct proportion to the number of people you serve selflessly."*
- *"one man give freely yet grow all the Richer another withhold what he should give and only suffer want."*
- *"My mom was a huge contributor to my family."*
- *"my only concern was what thatch needed who cared by everyone else"*
- *"true fulfillment has to be Beyond this"*
- *"I call this process the gift."*
- *"be interested in others get out of yourself"*
- *"find out what they're working on find out what's important to them"*
- *"your ego and our agenda get in the way"*
- *"don't have time for you you ain't buying so step aside because it's all about transaction not human being connection"*
- *"they don't invest in projects they don't invest in things that you do they invest in you"*
- *"put your agenda in the back burner"*