An important concept I’ve learned over the years is that when you are setting and achieving multiple goals, you can often focus on one and another will happen naturally as a byproduct. This way you don’t have to really think about this other goal or have it influence your decisions, taking off some mental load.
Take for example making the world a better place and being respected by your community. (Being admired by others is a very common drive, though our culture discourages admitting it, either to others or ourselves.) So you’re in a situation where you really want to be well thought of by your parents and friends, but you also see the suffering in the world and want to help. You don’t have to pursue each separately. If you work hard on compassionate endeavors, you will naturally gain the respect of your community. Altruism is an admired trait. The general principle is that when you are pursuing what you want in one domain, some others will often take care of themselves. Take a moment to think of how this might apply to your life, and see if you can ignore some side goals, trusting that they’ll come about naturally while you move towards your main ones.
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Kat WoodsI'm an effective altruist who co-founded Nonlinear, Charity Entrepreneurship, and Charity Science Health Archives
January 2025
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