“If you have a purpose of helping others, then why are you helping people that only help themselves?”
That’s a good question. One that I’ve been asking myself lately. There are some definite pros to helping athletes and others who compete. The results are easily measured and so clearly visible. A placement, a rank, a medal. And my contribution can be discerned. But to help someone win competitions implies helping them to focus – on that specific result, to the exclusion of almost everything else. This is the essence of Two Lengths of the Pool when applied to people who compete. To help people focus on competitive results is to help people become more egotistical. Because so many other parts of life and empathy need to go ta make place for that top position. For glory. For The Win.
I help all kinds of people – from athletes to housewives. And that is why I have come to ask myself this question. Because I can compare so many people I’ve helped. And while helping an athlete win gold is really fun, helping someone with a purpose to help others is far more rewarding in the long run – for the person I help. If the person wants to win a competition, I have to help him become more focused, more egotistical. If the person wants to help others, I have to help him to open up and become more empathetic.
This is the moral dilemma inherent in the question. But it’s not quite a rhetorical question, as maybe a balance is needed?
Geir Isene - uncut 
Egoism sees self-interest as the foundation of morality. It is a good discussion to have.
What about making sure your athletic clients get a couple weeks of extended life coaching to ease them back to a “normal” life where you help them broaden their vision of possible futures?
The empathetic clients are probably easier to help remind that they have to take care of themselves, too.
Thing is, anything that takes focus away from that task at hand will potentially lower the chances of success. It’s a delicate thing – especially with the top athletes. An individual sport is inherently an ego trip. And to help individual athletes is to help them go further in that ego trip. And that’s what’s nagging me. But then there are the other people like Richard and Trond, etc that really want to help others. Helping them brings long term value, it at least balanced this out 😊
You yourself would be of the helping category. And I appreciate your pitching in to help me here 👍
We all know what an open mind means. What about an open life that has very little to do with clients or servants.
Hello again Geir. Well, Mike Rinder apparently solved the problem by saying he was tired of that stuff and trashing the posts between me and those other guys. Good for him.