Tomorrow is the Jewish New Year. We move from the year 5778 to 5779.

In preparation for the holiday, I started to think about New Year’s resolutions, and one of my resolutions is to say “yes” to more five-minute favors this year.

(My thinking was motivated by a discussion of five-minute favors in a book draft that one of my friends wrote about Bill Campbell, a legendary coach in Silicon Valley.)

So, what is a five-minute favor? Adam Grant says:

Giving doesn’t require becoming Mother Teresa or Mahatma Gandhi; we can all find ways of adding high value to others’ lives at a low personal cost. The five-minute favor is my single favorite habit that I learned while writing the book Give and Take. We particularly enjoy looking for ways to: (1) Share knowledge, and (2) Introduce individuals who might benefit from knowing each other.

(For more five-minute favor ideas, see “Pay It Forward with the 5 Minute Favor” in Forbes, 2013)

On that second point, Grant pledges to introduce his students to anyone he has met. (“Is Giving The Secret to Getting Ahead?” New York Times, 2013). I, too, especially enjoy connecting people to one another, and pledge to focus on trying to do so more often this year.

As I thought about making this pledge, one question that concerned me is: “What if I end up spending too much time doing favors and thus don’t have enough time to focus on doing well myself?”

But it doesn’t really work that way. In fact, acting as a “giver” generally correlates with success. Plus, even if your-five minute favors never offer anything professionally or personally in return, “givers” still tend to be more happy because giving helps people to feel that their lives have more meaning (“There’s More to Life than Being Happy,” The Atlantic, 2013).

It’s true that giving favors isn’t always convenient. For example, Adam Grant writes about how annoying it is when someone asks if they can “pick your brain.” (Read his blog for a better way to ask that question.) Yet, still, he encourages us to say “yes” to the request. After all, what’s the downside from experiencing a little inconvenience? In the worst case scenario, we lose time while we gain meaning, (potentially) help our own careers, and, in connection with the Jewish New Year, contribute to Tikkun Olam.

Happy New Year!