An average Joe thinks that he fulfills his obligation of giving back to the society by doing charity. Charity no doubt is a great act in itself but let's delve in a bit deeper.
For charity, we set aside a part of our income/savings. Basically, it is part of our wealth generated through our life endeavors.
Now, let's see why it is more important to focus on our endeavors than to become a self complacent generous Joe. Most of the energy we expend through our actions throughout our life, goes to serve someone else, and we need very little to maintain our own existence. So, to put it simply, we are all serving each other, whatever we do, whichever profession we take up. That itself is charity, but there's a catch.
There are two main things to consider.
First, if the only driving force behind your actions is monetary incentive, it is more likely you will choose your profession based on that. That does not help anybody in the long run, because financial gain does not necessarily signify prosperity.
Another thing is, settling for mediocrity.
You cannot help anybody if you do not strive to elevate yourself in the first place. Mediocrity impedes not only your own growth, but the chain of impact your extra stride would have otherwise started, stops there itself.
So, never settle for less. Do not hesitate to take up seemingly impossible goals and try relentlessly to achieve them.
Help yourself, because it automatically helps everybody. I think that's the best way you can give back to the society.