Ep. 10 Nipun Mehta: Inspiring Generosity and Compassion
6/11/24
Today on the DO GOOD X podcast, we're excited to host Nipun Mehta, a prominent speaker renowned for championing values like generosity, compassion, and personal growth. Nipun shares the pivotal moment in his youth that inspired him to found ServiceSpace, a platform centered on community, volunteerism, and love-driven action without paid staff or traditional fundraising. His impact has resonated with millions, challenging conventional views on success and happiness. Join us as we delve into Nipun's journey, his profound insights on leading a meaningful life, and the transformative power of small acts of kindness in our modern world.
In This Episode
- [1:34] Stephen introduces Nipun Mehta, founder of ServiceSpace
- [4:22] Nipun explains what promoted him in later years to found ServiceSpace and how nature responds to and rewards love and acts of kindness
- [7:36] Nipun tells how ServiceSpace operates under three core principles
- [10:15] Nipun discusses being rewarded by doing acts of kindness and how ServiceSpace has operated on the law of love
- [19:26] Discussion of AI and how it should be cautiously explored
- [26:15] Nipun advises tech entrepreneurs, reminding them that AI can not provide heart intelligence
- [33:53] How to use GPT if you have no experience with AI
Key Takeaways
- ServiceSpace has three agreements. The first agreement is to operate with heart, so no paid staff exists. The second agreement is to trust in deeper arcs of reciprocity; therefore, there is no fundraising. The third agreement is to give for the love of it.
- Most of our society puts more weight and value on what one does for their career rather than what they put into the world: kindness, selflessness, love, volunteering, etc.
- Nature rewards kindness, nature doesn’t reward transactions or accumulation. Michael Norton’s Harvard research study on acts of kindness shows nature rewarding acts of kindness in real time.
Guests
Nipun Mehta
founded ServiceSpace, a global community at the intersection of technology, volunteerism and gift culture. As a designer of large-scale social movements rooted in small acts of service and powered by micro-moments of inner transformation, his work has uniquely catalyzed "many to many" networks of community builders grounded in their localities and rooted in practices of cultivating compassion. More recently, ServiceSpace's pandemic response showcased the beauty of its agile ecosystem. Today, ServiceSpace reaches millions every month, is powered by thousands of volunteers, and blossoms into ever-expanding local and virtual service projects that aim to ignite a "whole greater than the sum of its parts." Nipun was honored as an "unsung hero of compassion" by the Dalai Lama not long before former U.S. President Obama appointed him to a council for addressing poverty and inequality in the U.S.. Yet, the core of what strikes anyone who meets him is the way his life is an attempt to bring smiles in the world and silence in his heart: "I want to live simply, love purely, and give fearlessly. That's me." Nipun Mehta