Being a “better” or even “good” person is quite a vague and unmeasurable concept, isn’t it?
What might be a good person to us might not be a good person to someone else, and vice versa. It is something that is pretty objective and quite hard to pin down.
However, there are some things that are quite universal when it comes to the idea of being a “better” person and luckily for us, there are some easy ways to achieve and carry out these things. We may not ever be anyone’s exact definition of a good person and that is ok, as long as we are always trying our best to improve ourselves and keep developing, we are doing ok by my books.
Here are 3 things I think help us become better people, regardless of who is judging us.
Read and keep learning
Knowledge and perspective are two key principles to being a better person. Very often when we act in a way that isn’t 100% perfect it comes from a place of not fully understanding. While this isn’t technically our “fault”, it doesn’t mean that we can’t improve the situation by going away and doing our research so that we can be more understanding and empathetic with other people.
Reading and learning throughout our entire lives is one of the best ways that we can behave appropriately with as diverse and wide a range of people as possible. We can’t use ignorance as an excuse when there is a world of content and information constantly at our fingertips.
Education keeps us constantly moving forward, growing, and adapting, and so it is important that we always engage with it in its many forms.
Give without expecting to receive
The easiest way to be a better person is just to give and to give without expecting anything back in return.
With social media and performative “wokeness” people very often now only do good deeds if someone records them and posts it on social media. While this might make us look good and that then makes us feel good, it means we aren’t giving for the sake of giving, we are giving for the sake of getting.
The best way to separate yourself from all of this performative charity work is to simply be charitable and giving in private. Be humble and give to people, charities, organisations and causes just because they need it and you have the resources to help.
You won’t get that rush of dopamine you get from Instagram comments saying you are a hero but if that is what you are looking for, it could be time to re-examine your agenda.
Make new social connections
Meeting new people helps us open up our perspectives and opinions on the world. If we have certain negative attitudes towards groups of people, the best way to combat this is to spend time with these people and connect with them on a human level.
When we are connected on a human level it is much more difficult to hate and hurt each other.
You don’t have to be friends with everyone you meet, but connecting with them on this fundamental level will help you grow into a much better person.
Believe me on that one.
