Life's Purpose, "Giving back" & Why Self-Interest Really Isn't Bad

I just read an article on the Huffington Post by Douglas Labier titles, "Why It's So Hard to Find Your Life's Purpose". It's a pretty good read for being self-helpy - mostly because he actually acknowledges that books and programs that promise to show you how to find your life's purpose don't work.

But the main point of his article is that in order to find you life's purpose you must participate in "service to something larger than your ego". This sounds obvious. We've always been taught to help others and give to te greater good. As children we were taught to share with other children.

Labier's article is one of many examples I see every day about the nobility of giving to others. I run an after-school program called Entrepreneur Teens Rock that teaches teens how to start their own business. As part of the program they participated in Lemonade Day, a national organization that organizes young people to run a lemonade stand on the same day. In their kit they give to the kids to help them prepare for running their lemonade stand, the last chapter is called "Banking & Giving Back". It instructs the kids to open a savings account and encourages them to give some of their earnings to a charity for those who don't have the opportunity to run a lemonade stand.

I have no problem with giving to charity or those less fortunate. But I do have a problem with this notion that business, even a small one like a lemonade stand, only takes from its customers and others. I mean, didn't the youth who participated in Lemonade Day make their customers happy? Ok, you could say that it doesn't count because the customers paid for the refreshing cups of lemonade they received. The customers had to give something to the kids in order to get their lemonade.

So I just have one question: When you give to charity, you don't get anything in return? When you donate money to the Red Cross or collect food for the Food Pantry do you walk away with less then you had before?

While giving feels like a sacrifice you wouldn't do it unless it made you happy. Right? And when giving to charity or volunteering neglects to make you happy you either quit giving or you give begrudgingly. This is nothing to feel ashamed about.

Why is making people's lives better in exchange for money not as noble as making someone's life better in exchange for feeling good about yourself?

In his article, Labier does point out that self interest and the ego are a part of being human but in the next sentence he says we should strive to rise above our egos. It's not our egos and self interest that are the problem. Believe me, no matter what you do with your life your ego will be right there with you. The problem is that we don't embrace our self interest as a beautiful tool to judge the quality of our life.

The conclusion that Labier should have reached if he was being honest and respected his own self interest is that people who find their purpose in life are able to satisfy their self interest. The woman musician who starts a non-profit teaching music to inner-city kids is just as noble and in line with her life's purpose as the CEO of a multi-billion dollar company who provides thousands of jobs to people from all walks of life selling widgets that make our lives easier.

Your life's purpose can be anything. Even if it involves making money. Don't turn away from it because people like Labier make it seem less noble.