Personal development and growth is closely related to the constant evolution of the self. We aim to develop those qualities we consider important in a good human being. However, personal development is also about helping other people.
When we improve our character, our emotional intelligence or our intellectual capacity or when we figure out our purpose and how to express it through our passions, we become our own contribution to the world. By the simple act of not contributing in a negative manner and set an example to others around us, we become a positive factor.
There’s nothing wrong if this is as far as you want to go regarding the contribution you make to the world. But if we really want to contribute to improving not only ourselves, but the lives of those around us, our community and ultimately our world, can we say this is enough? I don’t think so.
True Contribution is About Help Other People
The most efficient way to contribute is by helping others become the best version of themselves.
There’s no bigger contribution than to support others and encourage them to thrive and improve, to help them reach their goals and succeed. When we help others improve, our own impact in the world is multiplied.
Now our contribution is no limited to our work or by the example we set, but it has extended to the work of those who we have helped and the example they now set by themselves. And when we ignite the desire to help within them, our contribution expands even further.
When we include contributing as an integral part of our personal development plan, we are setting something similar to a chain of favors that can grow endlessly.
If You Want to Help Others, Be Selfish
Of course, we need to grow and develop ourselves first before we can help others improve. Failing to do so is like trying to teach somebody else how to bake a pie, without even knowing ourselves. Chances are we’ll make a mess and produce little or no result at all.
Ironically, many people confuse this with selfishness, when actually, is the entire contrary. We need to learn, to understand and to grow before we can make a true contribution to others.
In many cases, one of the biggest motivations behind personal development (which might seem an individual, selfish endeavor from the outside) is precisely to contribute and to help others. This is what the subtitle of theGoodVader means: growth, together.
So, if you really want to help, start by becoming the best version of yourself, by growing and improving. But don’t stop there. Whenever you can, help others do the same. Set aside all those fears evolution and society has hammered into our brains, those fears that make us glorify unhealthy and irrational competition.
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If you enjoyed this article, you might also like The Perks of Selfishness and Envy: 3 Truths to Remember. Check them out and let me know what you think!
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I really enjoyed reading this!
Sometimes we feel comfortable telling people what they love to hear but we leave the scene knowing we’ve just committed fraud.
We’ve kept the best to ourselves and served the crap to others.
If you believe that which is good enough for you should be good for others, then help others by serving what is right, just and pure.
I agree with you. When our action are based on a scarcity mindset, even our best intentions will fall short in relation to our true potential
So well spoken. There is a gross misunderstanding between enabling and disabling in the effort to be compassionate and giving… I totally agree that you have to facilitate your own need, desires and growth despite appearing selfish, another misconception, in ordered to give to others…
All behaviours carry energy.. When we are wholesome with a zest or satisfaction that our personal growth is possible and happening, giving has no attachments or expectations and hence it carries the best energy for the recepient…
I do enjoy reading your posts, well written and thoughtful as well as thought provoking..
I’m glad you liked it, Taruna. Thanks for sharing your thoughts.
Love this post, I completely agree.
I’m glad you liked it, Andrew.
enjoyed this article…and agree with it all….kathy
I’m glad Kathy. Thanks for sharing.
You’ve done a good Job Working on your Self and Contributions to Others. I especially Resonated with what you said Re.: Self-Development. Though I’d been working on Growing awhile now, (and my Contributions to Society’s Well-Being, in Advocacy through Music, Writing, Public Speaking, etc., were halted for about 10-12 yrs, due to Incapacitating Illness), I Didn’t really begin to Come back into my Own Inner Resources, to Help/Mentor, Micro-Incubate, Learn new Things (such as Starting, and eventually, Earning my Level IV Gendai Reiki Certification) until 2012, fully in 2013, and so on.
This December Will be my 1st-Yr Anniversary, as a Semi-Regular Blogger–and What a Joy it is, to know something I’ve gone through has Resonated enough with Someone else, for them to be prompted to Click a Like, leave a Comment (I Cherish them), let me know as you said, I’m a Contributor to Life, to Orhers. There’s No Thing I Like more than to Impart of the Hard-Won Wisdom, which both a Difficult, Challenging (definitely not Boring), Eventful, Accomplished Life, Borne from Loss, Sorrow, Victory over Adversities, and Mental Wellness, so much more–to the Next Generation, gave me, to Others, using various Media: Writing, Music, Poetry, On & Off Painting.
My Maternal Grandmother was a Fine example of SomeOne, Whose Wisdom I Tapped into, in my Teens, and early 20s. I was devastated when she passed! There was so much more I wanted to Learn From her. Now, in my 60s, and a Grandmother of 5, It’s my Turn.
Thank You for Your Inspired Posts. I’ve began following you today 😉
Namastè?
I’m glad you liked it. Thank you for sharing your story!
Awesome comment! I agree with you!
Someone once taught me: “The problem with most people is they don’t listen to themselves…” And, since then, I’ve learned “Listening to YourSelf” is what he told me was “the Secret to Happiness…, (not money, possessions, adulation…). I now add, Without doing so, we cannot Grow, nor be of much True Loving Use to Others.