The Integra Blog

The Sad Irony of Selfishness

Seth Godin:

More often than not, the selfish person is insecure, fearful and filled with doubt. The selfishness springs from his belief that this is his only good idea, his last dollar, his one and only chance to avoid failure. “I need this, not you,” he says, because he truly believes he’s got nothing else going on, no other chance, no hope.

The irony, of course, is that selflessness (not selfishness, its opposite) is precisely the posture that leads to more success. The person with the confidence to support others and to share is repaid by getting more in return than his selfish counterpart.

Why, you may ask, is this relevant to health, fitness or wellbeing?

When I read this article, my thoughts immediately turn to my education process and the simple fact that without the generosity of those around me, I would not be where I am today.

Whether I study with my team at Integra, with my friends in the RTS and MAT communities or with the wider fitness and rehabilitation community, there are some similar attitudes and approaches to learning that are prevalant across the board and demonstrate some key points that correlate with Seth’s opinion piece above:

• Those who give more time to others, tend to be more successful in their work
• Those who are open to learn are the people I learn most from
• Those who are not scared to be wrong, or to expose ‘how little they know’ are the ones who are at the top of their industry, when it comes skill, knowledge and the application of both

The best teachers, trainers and practitioners I have ever met are the ones who are constantly learning and exploring. In fact, the Resistance Training Specialist program discusses Mastery as follows:

The RTS Mastery level is not named for a final level of achievement. It is based upon the classic principles of mastery: the discipline for exploring and examining the details in depth, the wisdom of evolving beyond protocols by developing a thought process and, the surrender of biases and emotional attachments to be replaced by objectivity, and the unconditional love for the process of life-long learning.

I’d like to extend this statement to include not only the surrender of biases and emotional attachments (of whichever tools you are using) but also to the surrender of the egotistical drive that is serving to protect itself, which is preventing the opportunity for growth and development.

Read more of Seth Godin’s article here.