Think about what you want to achieve in your life for a second. No doubt, you probably want to make a turn of money, become really well-known in your field, and have plenty of attention from attractive members of the opposite sex. Maybe, somewhere in the mix, you also want a yacht and your own private island. Reasonable.
But pause for a second, and ask yourself – what about your connections and relationships with other people? Obviously, a “successful” life wouldn’t really be very successful if it won you plenty of money, but alienated you from everyone you care about.
And what about society at large? If you’re like most people, you properly feel like it’d be a pretty good thing if you had some positive impact on the world around you, too.
So, if you care about others, how can you set about doing some good for them through your work? Maybe you’ll do a Masters in social work online and make that your career outright. If not, though, here are some suggestions.
Have integrity in your dealings – even (or especially) if it goes against industry norms
Cal Newport, the well-known author on boosting your productivity, and related topics — goes to some lengths in his book “Digital Minimalism” to point out how many leading social media companies are deliberately exploitative in their practices.
That is, they specifically bring on board experts in human psychology, to ensure that they can make people as addicted and helpless as possible in the face of their algorithms.
Suffice to say; it would be best for you to not be like that if you want to do good for other people. Instead, have integrity in your dealings, and always walk the “honest path”, even (or especially) if it goes against industry norms.
Once you’ve identified work that you find meaningful, pursue it diligently – avoid the temptation to slack off
You could say that the first step in helping others through your work, is to find work that you consider meaningful and that you think will do some good.
The next stop, however, is to then pursue their work diligently – and to avoid the temptation to slack off.
When all is said and done, a lot of good can be done simply by being attentive to the details, taking responsibility for your work, and making other people’s lives easier and more positive as a result.
Slacking off, on the other hand – not to mention abdicating responsibility – will negatively impact your life, and plenty of other people’s lives too.
Strive for mutually beneficial outcomes in your work, rather than simply victory at the expense of others
One of the maxims that you keep hearing repeated by business success experts of yesteryear, is that you should strive for mutually beneficial deals, rather than outcomes where you win at the expense of the other party.
In most cases in business, it really is possible to come up with deals and conclusions where multiple parties benefit.
Seeking these deals is a straightforward way of making life a bit better, and easier for other people. By striving to dominate all deals, however, you not only generate bad feeling against you, but you’re also likely to inconvenience people unnecessarily.
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