Could you do me a favor?


Don Vito Corleone was a man to whom everybody came for help, and never were they disappointed. He made no empty promises, nor the craven excuse that his hands were tied by more powerful forces in the world than himself.

The Godfather

And after Don Vito Corleone had helped you:

“It was understood, it was mere good manners, to proclaim that you were in his debt and that he had the right to call upon you at any time to redeem your debt by some small service.”

The Godfather

Doing favors to others is unconscious, or worse – a conscious attempt to obtain control over them. 

By doing something good for other people we automatically put them in debt. You become a lender, people owe you, you gain control. The more we’ve done for them, without accepting anything in return – the more in debt we put them in. Not every favor pursues the need to control, but every favor has a potential to become controlling.

Remember, always, always pay the favor back. Especially to the people who would refuse to accept anything in return. It does not have to be money pay-back, moreover the closer in relationship with your lender the less appropriate it is to offer money. Find a way to equalize the balance with your creditor, even if the person says that you don’t owe them anything.

Be careful accepting favors from others.