Mission Statement, Adam Smith- Revisted

Adam Smith is known for his explanation of how rational self-interest and competition, operating in a social framework depending on adherence to moral obligations, can lead to economic prosperity and well-being.
Wikipedia

Somehow, Adam Smith and his “every man acting in his own self-interest will serve the communal interest” mentality recently came to my mind, and I realized that this is the underlying theory not only to free markets, but also to this blog. As I have been discussing in my other posts, I find that acting in our own self-interest essentially means being good, caring, positive and helpful to others. Thus it makes sense that Adam Smith’s underlying principle would be the backbone to developing an optimal society, just as it is for developing an optimal economy.

What’s hugely important to recognize is that Mr. Smith’s theory for the economy wouldn’t have worked if people weren’t good entrepreneurs. If people had all the wrong ideas about running a business, this free-market economy never would have gotten off the ground. It’s essentially the same thing when our goal is to lead the best life we can. We act in our own self-interest, but we will not find much success if we are off-base on what that is.


If you’re a fan of the show It’s Always Sunny In Philadelphia, you may have seen the gang haplessly try to execute a plan of buying up thousands of dollars worth of gasoline with the intention of selling it a year later when the prices had gone up. Clearly, they thought that executing this business plan was in their own self-interest, but their methods were so flawed from the start that no one ended up actually benefiting, and in fact a great deal of loss was incurred. On the other hand, a well-thought out, intelligent business model like that of Microsoft Corp. led to great benefits for the creators, the market, and the consumers.

It is almost astounding how well this theory also applies to how we live our lives. We may all think we are generally acting in our own self-interest, but unless our plan is fully sound, we may well be setting ourselves up for disappointment.

First, we have the people who have very little knowledge of- or interest in finding out- what brings about true, deeply grounded happiness, but are out there living anyway. We can equate these people to those with a business plan similar to the “gas hoarding” on Always Sunny. Their plan is flawed from the start. These people could be lazy thieves who abuse others and are constantly angry, but they think their actions are generally in their own self-interest. In the end, they, society, and those around them all suffer. This business plan, and this life plan, is a loss for everyone involved.

Then there are the normal, generally rational people who can operate a mediocre but sufficient business, just as they live, well, mediocre but sufficient lives. Say that someone has taken enough business classes and thought through their business model enough to operate a moderately successful business. They get something from it, others get something from it, and it even contributes a bit to the overall economy. Similarly, we have the average citizen. This person is logical, thinks about things, and they have a pretty good idea of what makes them happy: a decent “business plan”. Thus, they do live decently happy lives, they do contribute something to the lives of others, and maybe even a little bit to the society around them as well. There’s just the question of whether or not this is what you’re going to settle for.

So finally, there’s the Microsofts: great ideas, great planning, great execution. Clearly the owners were acting in their own self-interest to build this billion dollar corporation, and the reason it had such great success is that they really took the time to figure out what it takes to find that kind of success, and worked hard to get there.

…So, well, we all have to do the same for ourselves:

First, you have the idea: Live a deeply satisfying, consistently happy, meaningful life.

Second, you constantly think through how to achieve this by getting in touch with what really, actually works: Do research, gain an understanding of life, yourself, and what goes into a deeply satisfying, consistently happy, meaningful life.

Third (to be intertwined with the second): You execute.

The people who do this find it greatly rewarding for themselves, they contribute more to the happiness of others, and they are contributing to the betterment of society as a whole. If you don’t see the path to how your business will be a huge success, it almost never will be. It’s the same thing: If you don’t see the path to a profoundly happy life, you are probably never going to get there.

This is why one of the main objectives of this blog is to get in touch with what acting in our own self-interest really is. This is step 2 in the 3 step process I just mentioned.

I find it endlessly comforting to be finding out more and more that our self-interest and the interest of humanity truly go hand-in-hand.