President's diary [selfish altruism]

-What is selfish altruism?-

Egocentric altruism

Do readers of this diary know the term "selfish altruism"?

I learned this phrase about 4 or 5 years ago when I heard a lecture by someone.

Up until now, I have lived a self-centered life for 35 years and a self-sacrificing life (pure altruism) for 5 years, but neither of them made me "happy" and were different from what I was aiming for.

Generally, the two words "selfish person" and "altruistic person" are often spoken of as opposing terms, and if you try to think about which is better, you will be unable to take action.

Even if we understand that "altruism" is a good thing, isn't it very difficult for ordinary people to sacrifice themselves to help others?

When we are told to "have an altruistic heart and stop being greedy," we simply cannot say "yes," and as a result, we fail to put the most important thing into practice. [o1] I am writing this article to help you understand the idea of "selfish altruism" and to lower the hurdle to taking action, even if just a little.

- Self-satisfied work -

Self-satisfying work

To be useful in this way, we must first understand ourselves.

In the course of work, we often have to converse with customers and communicate within the company, but before we can listen to what others have to say or converse with them, we must first fully understand and accept ourselves on the inside in order to do a "good job."

To do "good work," it's important not to look to the world or the outside world for fun things or fun work, but to adopt an attitude of enjoying the world and your work yourself. Make comfortable choices based on "yourself," broaden your world, and increase the options in your life. By determining whether your feelings, personality, and thoughts are in line with the company's philosophy and policies and acting accordingly, you can increase your value at the company you work for and provide great value to those involved.

In our company's case, our policy is to "be useful and make people happy, and receive money as a result," so if we ignore the "usefulness" aspect and pursue only profit, it will only result in self-satisfaction that satisfies the individual's desire for recognition.

No matter how much profit an action that disregards the company's philosophy and policies brings to the company, it is ultimately a world of self-satisfaction and is not behavior that the company wants.

- "I do it" because I want to -

I want to do it, so I'll do it

Once you have faced yourself and figured out what kind of work you want to do, the next step is to figure out how to produce results.

When you were a child, did you ever have the experience of "helping out because you wanted your parents to praise you," "lending your toy to your friends so they would say 'thank you,'" or "studying hard because you wanted your teacher to say 'good job,'"

When I was a child, I think I was able to act based on simple and honest feelings .

It is essential for human beings to have the desire to be praised, recognized, and be useful.

The action itself is done because it makes you happy, so in a sense it is a world of self-satisfaction, but by repeating the cycle of being praised for your actions ⇒ feeling happy ⇒ thinking about and acting in ways that will get you even more praise, you end up helping someone else without even realizing it - this is ``selfish altruism.''

-Success and Growth-

Success and growth

If you do something because you want to, I will also talk about how to think about jobs that no one wants to do.

As part of the environmental maintenance I do every morning, I continue to clean the toilets.

I continued cleaning the toilet every day because it was one of the means to achieve my ``goal,'' but I think it would be painful if I didn't have a goal.

So, to be honest, when I first started, I did feel a little "tough," but I told myself, "I'm doing this because I want to," and continued to believe that it would help others in the future.

As a result, I gained the confidence to believe in myself and made it a habit, which helped me seize the opportunity for success and growth.

There is only success and growth in this world . No matter what you start, there is no such thing as "failure."

Although it is true that "the result was XX," it is only a stepping stone on the way to happiness, and it is up to you to decide whether it is a failure.

There is no magic formula for success or growth, so I think it is effective to focus and be thorough in doing at least one thing that is selfish and altruistic.

-Savings of trust and charm-

Savings of trust and charm

When you do what you love and what you want to do, you naturally stop expecting compensation.

With each and every action I take, I have the desire to make others happy, but I think my stronger desire is to be happy myself.

Doing what you want to do will satisfy you and make you happy even if you don't receive any compensation or reward. Furthermore, if the act is "for the sake of others," your happiness level will increase even more.

Humans cannot be selfless. Recognizing that we have desires for rewards, such as the desire to be praised, and learning to control them ourselves will lead to being true to ourselves.

I know this is repeating the same thing, but I want to make others happy and be moved by what I do, and if that makes them happy and moved, then that's great. Because I'm doing what I want to do, I don't feel angry or sad even if the other person doesn't respond.

Actions you take with the other person in mind will become a "bank of trust and charm." Even if you don't get an immediate response, you will always draw on it when you need it.

First of all, I recommend you believe in yourself and move forward to find happiness!