Kindness aimed at people who can’t return the favor is the only kind nobody can call strategy.

Most generosity has some return built into it, even a small one, and that does not make it worthless. Kindness toward someone who can never repay you is different only in that no other explanation is available. Nothing is gained and there is no story to tell afterward. That is what makes it such a clean indication of what you are actually like.

Do one thing this week for someone who cannot do anything for you. Keep it to yourself. Notice that it feels different from the sort of helping that gets noticed.