There is an old Chinese story about a woman who lost her only son. She went to the holy man in her village and asked, “What mystic powers do you have that will lift the pain from my heart?”

“There is a wonderful thing you can do,” he said. “I want you to go get me a mustard seed from a home that has no problems. Such a mustard seed can ward off your own problems.”

So she traveled to a beautiful mansion. Nothing could possibly be wrong there, she thought. She knocked on the door and said, “I am looking for a mustard seed from a home where there are no problems. It is very important to me.”

“Oh," they said, “you have come to the wrong house.” They began listing all of their family problems, and the list went on and on.

The woman thought to herself, “Well, I certainly know something about problems, for I have my own. Maybe I can be of help to them.” And she was. She listened to and comforted them, and they all felt better.

Instead of giving gifts to others this holiday season, maybe this is a good year to give yourself. There are many charities that are hurting, especially during this pandemic and the hardships it has inflicted on so many.

Fortunately, the options are many, even when we’re locked down or limited in opportunities to connect in person.

Financial donations are always appreciated. And if you are good at raising money, offer your services. There’s always a huge need for help, and even if you can’t afford to donate cash, giving your time will be greatly appreciated.

You don’t have to look far to find a good place to start. Participating in -- or organizing -- a food drive serves an immediate local need. I’ve heard about several local companies, whose employees are currently working from home, that have opted to collect food and cash from employees as a holiday project. The employees from one have even decided to continue the practice monthly, due to the enthusiastic response from their co-workers. What a gift to folks who lack the basics.

Clothing drives, toy collections, giving trees: There are so many activities around the holidays that can use all the help they can get. It doesn’t require a big commitment, but sharing with someone you don’t even know is the kind of gift that means so much to the recipient.

The pandemic has kept us apart, but it has also helped us find new ways to be together. A phone call to brighten a friend’s day, an errand for someone who can’t leave their home, a little surprise package left on a doorstep or at a homeless shelter -- all these are simple ways to share your gifts with others. Write a letter to a service member, a thank-you to emergency workers or to a school whose teachers have worked hard to keep in touch with their students.

In other words, it’s an opportunity to focus on someone else’s needs besides your own. Like the woman in the story above, we can all find ways to connect with people who could use a little encouragement or assistance. And as she learned, this is a gift you also give yourself.

Don’t limit these gifts to the holiday season. The need never goes away. As you will discover, there is always someone who needs something you have to offer.

It all boils down to one truth: We’re all in this together. Whatever we do to help a neighbor or stranger can change a life. The rewards are often so much greater than the gift itself.

A man was speaking with God about heaven and hell. “I will show you hell,” said God. They went into a room that had a delicious beef stew on the table, around which people sat chained to their benches, looking desperately famished. They held spoons with long handles that reached into the pot, but were too long to put the stew back into their mouths. Their suffering was terrible.

“Now I will show you heaven,” said God. They then went into an identical room with the savory stew on the table, where people sat with identical spoons with long handles, but they were well nourished and joyous.

The man was baffled until God said, “Quite simply, you see, these people have learned to feed each other.”

Mackay’s Moral: Make every season a season for giving.

An old ranch owner named John had a small spread in Montana. The state government claimed he was not paying proper wages to his workers, so it sent an agent to check things out.

"I need a list of your employees here, along with how much you pay them," said the agent.

"Well," replied old John, "there's my ranch hand Silas, who's been with me for three years. I pay him $600 a week plus free room and board. The cook, Ben, has been here for 18 months, and I pay him $500 a week plus free room and board. Then there's the half-wit who works about 18 hours every day and does about 90% of all the work around here. He makes about $10 per week, pays his own room and board, and I buy him a bottle of bourbon every Saturday night."

"That's the guy I want to talk to, the half-wit," said the agent.

"That would be me," replied John.

Hard work is the most important key to success. Without a willingness to work hard, business success is nearly impossible. No matter what industry you work in, hard work is most often the secret to success. Take it from Thomas Edison, who said success is "1% inspiration, 99% perspiration."

One of the keys to hard work is motivation. But how do you stay motivated to do the hard work necessary to be successful? For some, it's accomplishing small tasks in order to achieve big goals. For others, it's focus, consistency, dedication and perseverance.

For me, it's a three-pronged approach: I keep physically fit to accomplish what I need to; I start out each day with my most important task; and I reward myself often for working hard. I like to surround myself with positive, motivated people who encourage me.

The harder you work for something, the better you'll feel when you achieve it. Working hard becomes a habit, a serious kind of fun. You get self-satisfaction from pushing yourself to the limit, knowing that all the effort is going to pay off.

Sam Walton, founder of Walmart, said: "If you love your work, you'll be out there every day trying to do it the best you possibly can, and pretty soon, everybody around will catch the passion from you -- like a fever."

Work isn't work if you enjoy it. I'm so convinced of that notion that the subtitle of one of my books is, "Do What You Love, Love What You Do, and Deliver More Than You Promise."

Sam Ewing, former professional baseball player, said: "Hard work spotlights the character of people: Some turn up their sleeves, some turn up their noses, and some don't turn up at all."

To work hard you need to minimize distractions. Interruptions are a killer because you lose focus and productivity. That's why I set aside time at the end of the day for returning phone calls and emails.

Many people talk about multitasking, but I think it's detrimental to accomplishing your goals. It's hard to constantly start and stop what you are doing. Finishing the task at hand is tremendous motivation to move on to the next.

Author David Bly offers this assessment: "Striving for success without hard work is like trying to harvest where you haven't planted."

In a small village lived a hardworking farmer who owned a vast vineyard. Year after year the vineyard provided a rich harvest, and the farmer became very successful. He had three sons who were young and energetic but never bothered to work hard. As the farmer grew old, he began to worry about his sons' future.

Then he fell very ill and realized his death was fast approaching. He called the sons and told them: "Dear sons, I see my death nearing me, but before I bid goodbye to all of you, I want to share a secret. There is a treasure hidden under the fields. Dig the entire field after my death to find it."

The old farmer died. After the funeral, the sons began to dig for the treasure without leaving any part of the field untouched, but they found nothing. However, their digging of the field led to a healthy crop and resulted in huge earnings. This made the sons realize what their father meant: Hard work pays off.

Fruits of hard work are always sweet, whether or not they are in the form you expect.

Mackay's Moral: Pray for a good crop but don't forget to hoe.

One day, a professor announced a surprise test. He distributed a paper to each student with the front side face down. Then he asked the class to turn over the page and start the test. But there were no questions on the paper -- just a black dot in the center of the page.

“I want you to write a few lines about what you see on the paper,” the professor said.

Puzzled, the students started the test. Once everyone finished, the professor collected all the tests and started reading the answers out loud. Without exception, all the students had written about the black dot, mentioning its position, size and so on.

The teacher told the students: “None of you will be graded on this test. I just wanted you to ponder over something. All of you wrote about the black dot. No one wrote about the white part of the paper. The same thing happens in our lives. We all have a white paper to observe and learn from, yet we always focus on the dark spots. We have so many reasons to celebrate: our parents, co-workers, friends, good health, a good job, the miracles we witness every day, for example.

“However, we often limit our horizons by focusing on just the dark spots -- our disappointments, our frustrations, our fears and anxieties. In our day-to-day lives, we tend to take so many good things for granted and focus our energy on insignificant failure and disappointments.

“Take your eyes away from the black dots of your life. Try and focus on the brighter side of life and let positivity govern your thoughts.”

I consider Norman Vincent Peale’s book “The Power of Positive Thinking” one of the best motivational books ever written. A positive mind anticipates happiness, joy, health and success. Whatever the mind expects, it finds.

I frequently promote this book in my speeches and writings, because even though it was published in 1952, the advice is timeless. Positivity is one of those attitudes that never changes.

One of my favorite aphorisms goes like this: Watch your thoughts; they become words. Watch your words; they become actions. Watch your actions; they become habits. Watch your habits; they become character. Watch your character; it becomes your destiny.

If you think positively, you will be more inclined to speak positively. Your positive words will spur you to positive actions. If you get used to behaving in a positive way, you will form good habits. And your habits will help define the kind of person you are. That will lead you to your destiny: what you will eventually become as a person.

Positive thinking has no negatives. Both personal and professional relationships benefit from a positive approach. By all means, surround yourself with positive people; support each other when the urge to be negative threatens.

Sometimes that’s not so easy to do in a professional setting. Difficult customers or co-workers can drag you down. Direct your efforts toward defusing difficult situations while refusing to indulge in negativity yourself. Successful businesses thrive on customer satisfaction, not on hostility.

Would you rather do business with a positive person or someone who finds fault at every turn? Conversely, do your customers find your dealings rewarding or tedious? Nothing chases business out the door faster than a contentious encounter.

If you can’t say yes to a deal, find a positive way to say no. “I’m sorry we can’t accommodate your request, but I’m going to call a friend who may be able to help.” You aren’t turning away business; you are leaving a future customer with positive thoughts about your practices. And they appreciate being treated with that kind of respect.

Here's an extra benefit: Treating others well does wonders for your own self-respect. Sounds like a winning formula all around.

Let’s circle back to the black dot story. I am fascinated with the ingenuity of the professor. Such a simple exercise is easily translated to so many life situations. We all have challenges that tempt us to focus on our own “black dots.” Try hard not to let them pepper your outlook.

Consider this age-old story about finding the positive in the face of adversity.

Everyone advised David to forget about confronting the enormous giant Goliath, saying, “He’s so big, there’s no way you can win.”

David replied, “He’s so big, there’s no way I can miss.”

Mackay’s Moral: A positive approach rises above reproach.