Waiting until you’re rich to be generous is like waiting until you’re fluent to start talking. It never arrives that way.

Generosity is a practice, not a stage you reach once the numbers finally look right. The amount that feels safe to give tends to rise along with whatever you earn, so the line you are waiting to cross keeps moving with you. What actually gets built is the habit, and habits get built at small sizes or not at all.

Give something away this month at a size you will barely notice: five dollars, an hour of help, the ride home. The amount is not the point. You are teaching yourself that giving is something you already do.