Starting reading "Heart" by Kazuo Inamori, Mr. Inamori spent half the book explaining the basics of "business philosophy" and even "life philosophy", which is to have an "altruistic heart."

What is altruism?

Altruism means putting others before "me", achieving others out of good motives, and doing everything you can to care for others.

Altruism can be as small as doing small things for your family members, or as big as work that can contribute to society and the country.

Why is altruism so important?

Mr. Kazuo Inamori put forward a point of view: People have "self" and "true self". "Self" refers to making oneself gain even if others suffer losses; and "true self" "I" can be understood as the "altruism" of caring for others.

To only care about oneself is to "seek survival and self-interest" out of the survival instinct, and is full of desires and demands.

But by lowering the ego and increasing the "true self", that is, altruism, you can hone your mind and gain a sense of happiness when you dedicate your strength to others, and life will have greater meaning and value.

And because it follows the flow of the development of the universe - everything in the universe never stops evolving towards a better direction, altruism can achieve longer-lasting and smoother development.

So how to practice altruism?

1. Start by doing the little things you can for the people around you.

Kazuo Inamori mentioned that his family was in decline when he was a student. He felt the pain of his parents and started a "paper bag selling" business to relieve stress.

In the beginning, I just wandered around randomly, selling wherever I went. Later, I used my brain to come up with many ideas, such as dividing the location into seven areas and driving around in a weekly basis, and putting paper bags in the supermarket for consignment.

He recalled that the reason why he accomplished something as a high school student was because it was different from the past thoughts of "satisfying his own desires, self-protection, or gaining praise from others." He only wanted to help his family through the crisis. Overcoming difficulties is a kind motivation based on "caring for others".

In addition, he also mentioned a little altruistic thing: when he was a child, when delicious food was brought to the table, he would restrain himself and give it to other friends first, and keep the rest for himself.

Although it is small, actions that are beneficial to others will bring you one step closer to good behavior every time you do it.

2. Reduce desires and learn to be content.

Excessive self-love can easily lead to obsessions and even "evil" thoughts.

For example, organizations that focus on environmental protection have spoken out in recent years: With human development and waste, environmental pollution and energy depletion have begun to become "problems."

Just like two sides of a coin, on the one hand, allowing your desires to continue to expand, on the other hand, you will limit your development.

Mr. Kazuo Inamori also shared a story in the article. A village that relies on primitive burning to sow fertile soil will not exhaust all resources. Once used to the extreme, it will be unsustainable, which is equivalent to Put shackles on yourself.

Therefore, learning to feel "content" will make sustainable development more likely.

3. Give back what you get to others.

The things we obtain are actually external things, whether it is reputation, status, money or others, they are all things that cannot be brought with us by birth or taken away by death.

But to truly touch the deep inner happiness, you should continue to give and contribute.

When you achieve certain achievements, you can give back what you have gained to others. This not only allows you to enjoy the happiness, but also spreads your goodwill.

“Actions initiated with altruism will sooner or later bear good fruits and return to oneself.”

Encourage and do it.

Short 2021/12/10

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"Practice altruism and long-termism"