Like Goldilocks, explore the extremes

“I want to make the world a better place.”

The next time you hear or say this statement, take notice of what stands before a better place…

I want to.

Now, timeout. In our hyper-digital world, many of us are particular when it comes to articulating ourselves. That said, (if needed) consider the following linguistic adjustments…

If caught up on verb choice: “I intend to make the world a better place.”

If unsatisfied with verb tense: “I am making/have made the world a better place.”

If “I” is neither the most descriptive nor accurate pronoun, replace with “We”.

Picky word choice aside, listen up! The heart of this message resides in two larger concepts:

1. Excluded from practical application, the upside to “perfectly” wording intent and/or experience is incredibly limited.
2. Egotism versus altruism. Specifically, exploring where motivation for improving the world (generally) stems from, and the subsequent action you take (or don’t) to make it happen. This also includes the extent to which you actually apply effort toward improvement (versus deferring responsibility to others).

While that first point is fairly self-explanatory, let’s unpack the second.

Egotism is generally defined as the sacrifice of others to self, while altruism is the sacrifice of self to others. Most often, the latter is culturally accepted as the greater ideal.

A reminder: the choice is not self-sacrifice or domination. To take a page out of a literary classic, The Fountainhead, “The egotist in the absolute sense is not the man who sacrifices others. He is the man who stands above the need of using others in any manner.” 

By all means, don’t misinterpret this as discouragement to work with others. Do, however, leverage it as incentive to maximize your unique capacity to contribute better to the world, whatever that better may be.

Like different parts in the body, we can hold conversations about specific pieces in isolation, but can’t dismiss the non-compartmentalized functionality of the overall system. Considering individual effort within collective effort from a similar lens, I encourage you to reflect upon which term reveals a truer depiction of your selfish and selfless behavior… altruistic or egotistic?

How would you find the sweet spot between the two, anyway? Maybe take a cue from Goldilocks, and first, explore the extremes.

Kimmy Moss

@kimmy.moss