Before you do something good, ask who you’re doing it for. The answer changes everything.

Intention does not change what an action looks like, and it changes almost everything about what the action does to you. The same good deed can be an offering or a transaction, and the difference shows up later in whether you need it acknowledged, whether you resent the person, whether you would repeat it unseen. Motive is worth checking before rather than after.

Pause for a moment before the next good thing and ask who it is actually for. If the honest answer is your own standing, do it anyway and quietly, without telling anyone.