Other People’s Goals
Posted by Marc Shiman on April 14, 2006
What if….you spent your whole day… everyday… concerned with nothing else but the goals of the people who are around you? You dedicate yourself to helping your boss achieve his/her goals. Your administrative assistant to achieve his goals. Your peers to achieve their goals.
You get home, and you focus on your spouse’s goals. Your children’s goals. You consider your parents’ goals, and help out there. And your friends’ goals.
What kind of life would you lead if you never focused on yourself at all?
I ask this because I know myself – and I know that I am at my personal best when I work and think outward; meaning that I do things based on what other people need. When I let things slide and focus on myself, I become acutely concerned with accumulation. If I can’t afford to buy stuff, I gather free stuff. I download information onto my hard drive that I might never read.
Is it possible to live a life of total service to others around you? This isn’t about serving soup at a kitchen (although its very noble), this is about working a high-end, well paid professional job and simply ignore yourself in the process.
As I begin my literature search on the subject, I haven’t found much at all. The closest thing I’ve found is team building and how to participate in a high-powered team.
I have a lot more thoughts on this. Next post.
eb said
I love this idea. I’ve actually come across it in a couple different areas recently: in game theory (non-zero sum games), in Benjamin Franklin’s “mutual improvement” philosophy, and parts of the New Testament’s Sermon on the Mount. It got me thinking this morning that it might be an interesting experiment to devote one day a month to a service day… to start… a day for going beyond your usual efforts towards the betterment of your friends and family. I’m looking forward to your future posts on this topic.