I’ve come to call this The Better Metric. Whereby [This] is a place holder for anything we decide to do. Example, "Is my relationship with this person making me better?" or "Is my job making me better?"

This is the question we should always be asking ourselves about everything we choose to do. Because if the answer to this question is not yes then we should be asking some important questions. Questions like, "Am I the right person for [this]?" or "If this isn’t making me better then why am I spending time on [this]?"

Now, this metric and point of view might sound selfish. Perhaps, in some ways, it is. I’m going to argue that this is OK. This idea that all interest is self-interest is not a particularly new idea and, in fact, is considered enlightened by some. To wit, in order to give we must first receive so that we have something to give.

I know the coffee me and my wife have in the morning makes us better for getting Beatrix get off to school. I know that the time I take in solitude makes me better for being around others. I know that being a writer makes me a better human. Any endeavor I engage should make me better. And anything that does not make me better, I should not engage or find a way to disengage from as quickly as possible.

I believe we all would be better by doing the same.

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