Is it okay to help people for selfish reasons?

[Tomekmeister]

Hello everyone!

As the title says, is it okay to help people for selfish reasons?

Since the beginning of my Fastlane path I've noticed that everyone's goal is to impact as many human lives as they can throughout their career. I feel like it became a politically correct thing to say whenever you get asked about your future plans. It sure is a good purpose of life - I'm not denying that, but should the answer really be the same for every individual?

Let me give you some insight on my thoughts.

My ultimate goal is to create the best possible life for my family and myself and that's what keeps me going every single day. The last thing I want in the world is my girlfriend (I hope my future wife) being stuck in a dead-end job she doesn't even like. I know she deserves way more than that.

The thing is... I won't be able to fulfill all of our dreams with low salary and my time limited only to evenings and weekends. So what's the best way of making money?

Yes, you guessed it - it's helping people.

Improving someone's life is great and getting paid for it is just amazing at it's core, but I probably wouldn't dedicate myself to it, if it wasn't for my ultimate goal.

Please don't get me wrong here. If you ask me for help, I will do my best to provide it and expect nothing in return. I believe it's the way to live, but helping others for your own cause isn't that bad, is it?

Example:
I've seen a lot of hate on celebrities donating to charity and publicly talking about it. Some of them probably do that to gain popularity, but does that really matter that much? If it doesn't make them feel bad, then why not? In my opinion what matters the most is the outcome - they've helped people in need, and not the cause behind it - it should only be settled by their conscience.

Please have in mind that this is only my personal opinion and I could easily be proved wrong. If something is unclear, feel free to ask(I tend to keep half of my thoughts inside my head, which sometimes leads to not making any sense).

I would really appreciate your feedback.
Thank you for your time

 

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[ApparentHorizon]

It's a bit of a meme, but don't get it twisted. The premise is that you still bank. Let me explain...

You make money by solving a problem. (most of the time) However, you're only able to help 2-3 people as a 1 man show.

Now imagine if you had 20 people running around passing on your product/service. You're reaching 40-60 people, and providing employment.

All of a sudden, you're bringing in 7 figures a year...you're able to donate to research, to charities. You can fund other people's dreams...it just snowballs

Don't get caught up in the "corporations are evil" meme.

Put on your oxygen mask before you put it on your passenger - help yourself first, before you can help the world.

 

[Tomekmeister]

It's a bit of a meme, but don't get it twisted. The premise is that you still bank. Let me explain...

You make money by solving a problem. (most of the time) However, you're only able to help 2-3 people as a 1 man show.

Now imagine if you had 20 people running around passing on your product/service. You're reaching 40-60 people, and providing employment.

All of a sudden, you're bringing in 7 figures a year...you're able to donate to research, to charities. You can fund other people's dreams...it just snowballs

Don't get caught up in the "corporations are evil" meme.

Put on your oxygen mask before you put it on your passenger - help yourself first, before you can help the world.

Thank you very much. That's the exact way I was thinking, but something about this made me uncomfortable when explaining it to people. Your reply helped me a ton

 

[Nicoknowsbest]

As the title says, is it okay to help people for selfish reasons?

“Money is like a mischievous cat; if you chase it around the neighborhood, it eludes you. It hides up a tree, behind the rose bush, or in the garden. However, if you ignore it and focus on what attracts the cat, it comes to you and sits in your lap.” ― M.J. DeMarco

In my experience, only if you make truly and genuinely helping others your first and only priority, it will work.

This is when the magic happens.

Everything else is like looking for shortcuts.

If you haven't yet, read this - towards the end there are a lot of nuggets that could help you.

 

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[Yoda]

is it okay to help people for selfish reasons?

The question's answer is actually another question.

Who are you putting first?

If you're putting them first (truly) and are reaping benefits, how could you possibly be wrong?

 

[Jon L]

Hello everyone!

As the title says, is it okay to help people for selfish reasons?

Since the beginning of my Fastlane path I've noticed that everyone's goal is to impact as many human lives as they can throughout their career. I feel like it became a politically correct thing to say whenever you get asked about your future plans. It sure is a good purpose of life - I'm not denying that, but should the answer really be the same for every individual?

Let me give you some insight on my thoughts.

My ultimate goal is to create the best possible life for my family and myself and that's what keeps me going every single day. The last thing I want in the world is my girlfriend (I hope my future wife) being stuck in a dead-end job she doesn't even like. I know she deserves way more than that.

The thing is... I won't be able to fulfill all of our dreams with low salary and my time limited only to evenings and weekends. So what's the best way of making money?

Yes, you guessed it - it's helping people.

Improving someone's life is great and getting paid for it is just amazing at it's core, but I probably wouldn't dedicate myself to it, if it wasn't for my ultimate goal.

Please don't get me wrong here. If you ask me for help, I will do my best to provide it and expect nothing in return. I believe it's the way to live, but helping others for your own cause isn't that bad, is it?

Example:
I've seen a lot of hate on celebrities donating to charity and publicly talking about it. Some of them probably do that to gain popularity, but does that really matter that much? If it doesn't make them feel bad, then why not? In my opinion what matters the most is the outcome - they've helped people in need, and not the cause behind it - it should only be settled by their conscience.

Please have in mind that this is only my personal opinion and I could easily be proved wrong. If something is unclear, feel free to ask(I tend to keep half of my thoughts inside my head, which sometimes leads to not making any sense).

I would really appreciate your feedback.
Thank you for your time

Here's something to consider:

I'd rather my car / health / house / tooth / etc. actually get fixed properly by someone I paid than messed up even more by someone that was 'doing me a favor out of the goodness of their heart.'

 

[Alxander]

Gain selfish but give selfless

 

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[StevieB]

I always thought this as a good thought experiment.

When is helping others not selfish?

When you help others you feel better about yourself. If you felt guilty about helping others people wouldn't do it, so helping other people in and of itself can be seen as a selfish act since you're making yourself feel better in the process.