What Motivates You to Help Others? [1]

By Lissa Rankin [2] MD

Guest Writer for Wake Up World

When I got back from the World Domination Summit this summer, I wrote a post about what motivates visionaries to try to change the world. The conference was full of well-intentioned do-gooders trying to make the world a better place. Amazing things were being birthed as a result of this impulse to do good. But I couldn’t help wondering whether this impulse to be of service came from a pure, noble intention or whether it came from some sort of underlying sense of unworthiness or ego-driven motivation. Or both.

In other words, why do we do what we do?

A few people argued, “Who cares why? As long as the world is benefiting from these impulses, why question it?”

Yet, as one of those self-help author do-gooder types who is committed to getting my own ego out of the driver’s seat and letting the Divine take the wheel, it matters to me.