For years, people doubted Elon Musk. They called his ideas impossible—rockets that land themselves, electric cars that outperform gas engines, tunnels beneath cities to solve traffic. Even Musk admitted: “I stopped believing in words. I needed proof.”
Then came the Falcon 9 launch.
He stood on the SpaceX control deck, watching a rocket soar into the sky. Minutes later, it returned—flawlessly landing upright on a drone ship in the ocean. No one had ever done it before. Musk didn’t cheer. He just stared, stunned. “I saw it with my own eyes,” he said. “And in that moment, belief came back.”
It wasn’t just about rockets. It was about proving that vision, grit, and relentless execution could defy gravity—literally and metaphorically. Musk’s journey reminds us: belief isn’t built on hype. It’s built on results.
Before we start, tell me where you are listening from in the comments. Maybe you are someone who has lost faith in humanity after watching too much news. Maybe you think the world is getting worse and that people are fundamentally selfish. Maybe you have stopped believing that individual actions can make a meaningful difference in other people’s lives. This conversation is for you. I want to tell you about something I witnessed that restored my faith in human nature at a time when I had almost
given up on believing that people are fundamentally good. Something so simple and unexpected that it changed how I see the world and how I think about what really matters in life. This happened during one of the most cynical periods of my adult life when I was convinced that most people only care about themselves, that kindness is rare, and that the problems facing humanity are too big for individual compassion to make any real difference. But what I I saw with my own eyes that day challenged every assumption I had made about human
nature. It reminded me of a truth I had forgotten in the midst of building companies and solving complex problems. that the most powerful force in the world is not technology or money or intelligence, but simple human kindness expressed when no one is watching and nothing is expected in return. Today, I want to share the story with you because I believe we all need reminders that goodness exists, that people care about each other, and that small acts of compassion can have profound effects that ripple far beyond what we can see
or measure. The day I stopped believing in people, it was March 2009 during the depths of the financial crisis. Tesla was struggling to survive. SpaceX had just suffered another rocket failure. And everywhere I looked, I saw examples of human greed, selfishness, and short-term thinking that had created massive problems for everyone else. I was reading about financial executives who had received massive bonuses while the companies collapsed and needed taxpayer bailouts. I was dealing with suppliers who were breaking contracts
and demanding higher payments because they knew we were desperate. I was watching politicians make decisions based on what would get them reelected rather than what would actually help solve problems. But it was not just the big public examples of selfishness that were getting to me. It was the smaller everyday interactions that seemed to confirm that most people only care about themselves. Employees who would not take responsibility for mistakes. Investors who would promise support and then disappear when things got difficult.
Customers who would demand refunds for products that worked exactly as advertised. family members who only called when they needed something. I found myself becoming increasingly cynical about human motivation. It seemed like everyone was primarily concerned with what they could get rather than what they could give. Kindness felt rare and suspicious, as if people were only nice when they wanted something from you. This cynicism was affecting everything about how I approached relationships and business. I
started assuming that people had selfish motives until proven otherwise. I became more guarded in conversations, more skeptical of offers to help, more protective of my time and resources. I justified this attitude by telling myself that I was being realistic rather than naive. The world was a competitive place where resources were limited and everyone was looking out for their own interests. Being too trusting would just make me vulnerable to people who would take advantage of my good intentions.
But living with this level of cynicism was exhausting. It made every interaction feel transactional. It made me suspicious of genuine gestures of friendship or support. It created a barrier between me and other people that prevented the kind of authentic connections that make life meaningful. I was successful by most external measures, but I felt increasingly isolated and disconnected from the humanity I was supposedly trying to help through my work. The moment that changed everything. On a Tuesday afternoon in
April, I was driving through downtown Los Angeles after a particularly frustrating meeting with investors who had decided not to fund Tesla’s next round. I was stuck in traffic feeling angry about the meeting and cynical about people’s unwillingness to support projects that could actually make a difference in the world. As I sat there feeling sorry for myself, I noticed an elderly man with a walker trying to cross a busy intersection. He was moving very slowly and it was clear that he was
not going to make it across before the light changed. Cars were lined up behind him and I expected to see drivers getting impatient, honking their horns or trying to go around him. Instead, something completely different happened. A young woman who had been walking the opposite direction noticed the elderly man’s situation. She immediately turned around, walked back to where he was struggling, and gently took his arm to help steady him as they crossed together. But that was just the beginning. As soon as other pedestrians
saw what she was doing, they began creating a protective circle around the elderly man, walking at his pace and making sure cars could see that someone needed extra time to cross safely. One of the drivers in the front of the line got out of his car and walked into the intersection to direct traffic, giving the elderly man and his helpers time to cross without feeling rushed. Other drivers, instead of honking or showing impatience, began rolling down their windows to ask if the elderly man needed
any additional help. Someone offered to call a family member. Someone else asked if he needed a ride anywhere. Within minutes, what could have been a dangerous and stressful situation had transformed into a spontaneous community of people taking care of someone who needed help. The most remarkable part was that none of these people knew each other. They were strangers who happened to be in the same place at the same time, but they immediately coordinated to help someone in need without any discussion or organization. It happened
naturally, as if caring for each other was the most normal thing in the world. I watched this entire scene unfold from my car, and I found myself crying. Not just because it was touching, but because it challenged everything I had been believing about human nature. These people had nothing to gain from helping the elderly man. No one was watching or recording them. There was no recognition or reward for their kindness. They helped simply because they saw someone who needed help and helping felt like
the right thing to do. What I realized about human nature. Watching that intersection filled with spontaneous kindness made me realize that my cynicism had been based on a fundamental misunderstanding of human nature. I had been paying attention to the wrong things and drawing conclusions from unrepresentative examples. Yes, there are selfish people in the world. Yes, there are situations where people act primarily out of self-interest. Yes, there are systems and incentives that sometimes bring out the worst in human
behavior. But these are not the norm. They are exceptions that get disproportionate attention because they are unusual and newsworthy. The norm is people who care about each other, who help when they can, who feel genuine satisfaction from making someone else’s day a little better. The problem is that normal human kindness is not dramatic or newsworthy. It does not generate headlines or social media discussions. It happens quietly in small moments between ordinary people who are just trying to do the right thing. I had been
consuming so much news about corruption, greed, and conflict that I had forgotten to notice the everyday kindness that surrounds us constantly. I had been focusing on the minority of people who behave badly while ignoring the majority of people who behave well. That intersection showed me that when people are faced with someone who needs help, their natural instinct is to help. Not because they expect anything in return, not because they are trying to look good, but because caring for each other
is built into who we are as human beings. This realization changed how I saw everything. The Tesla customers who wrote thank you notes after receiving their cars. the SpaceX employees who worked extra hours not because they had to, but because they believed in the mission. The strangers who would approach me at events just to say they appreciated what we were trying to accomplish. I had been interpreting these interactions through the lens of cynicism, assuming that people had ulterior motives or were trying to gain
something from me. But most of them were simply expressing genuine appreciation and support because they wanted to encourage work that they thought was important. How this changed my approach to everything. Seeing that spontaneous kindness at the intersection did not just change my opinion about human nature. It changed how I approached every aspect of my life and work. In business, I started assuming good intentions from employees, customers, and partners until proven otherwise rather than starting from a position of
suspicion. This led to better relationships, more effective collaboration, and more creative solutions to problems. When employees made mistakes, instead of assuming they were careless or uncommitted, I started assuming they were doing their best under difficult circumstances and needed better support or training. This this approach led to much better performance and higher job satisfaction. When customers complained, instead of assuming they were trying to take advantage of us, I started assuming they
had legitimate concerns that we needed to address. This led to product improvements that benefited everyone and stronger customer loyalty. When partners or suppliers faced difficulties that affected our projects instead of assuming they were being unreliable or dishonest, I started assuming they were dealing with genuine challenges and needed help finding solutions. This led to stronger partnerships and more resilient supply chains in personal relationships. I started being more open about my own
struggles and more willing to ask for help when I needed it. This vulnerability led to deeper friendships and more meaningful connections with family members. I also started looking for more opportunities to help others. Not because I felt obligated, but because I remembered how good it feels to make a positive difference in someone’s day. Small acts of kindness became a regular part of how I move through the world. The ripple effects of believing in goodness. When you believe that people are fundamentally good, you start seeing
evidence of goodness everywhere. It becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy where your positive expectations help bring out the best in people around you. When you treat people as if they are trustworthy and well-intentioned, they often rise to meet those expectations. When you approach conflicts with curiosity rather than defensiveness, you often discover that disagreements are based on misunderstandings rather than fundamental differences in values. When you look for opportunities to help others, you start creating a culture of
helpfulness that spreads to everyone around you. When you express gratitude for kindness you receive, you encourage more kindness from others. This does not mean being naive or ignoring legitimate problems with people’s behavior. It means starting from a foundation of assuming good intentions while remaining alert to evidence that might suggest otherwise. It means giving people the benefit of the doubt while also setting appropriate boundaries to protect yourself and others from genuine harm.
It means focusing your attention and energy on the majority of interactions that go well rather than dwelling on the minority that go poorly. The business applications of this mindset believing in human goodness is not just a nice philosophy. It has practical applications that can improve every aspect of how organizations function. When leaders assume that employees want to do good work and contribute to meaningful goals, they create environments where people can thrive. When they focus on removing obstacles
rather than adding oversight, productivity increases naturally. When companies treat customers as intelligent people who deserve respect rather than as targets to be manipulated, they build stronger relationships and more sustainable success. When organizations approach problems with the assumption that everyone involved wants to find good solutions, they discover creative approaches that benefit everyone rather than just protecting narrow interests. When businesses consider their impact on communities and the environment as part
of their core mission rather than as external constraints, they often discover opportunities for innovation and growth that they would have missed otherwise. This approach does not guarantee that everything will always work out perfectly. There will still be difficult people challenging situations and complex problems that require tough decisions. But starting from a foundation of believing in human goodness creates better outcomes more often than starting from cynicism and suspicion. What this means for how you
see the world. If you have become cynical about human nature, I understand why. There is plenty of evidence in the world that people can be selfish, cruel, and short-sighted. The news is full of examples of corruption, violence, and indifference to suffering. But I want to encourage you to start paying attention to the everyday kindness that surrounds you. Notice the people who hold doors open for strangers. Watch how parents care for their children and children show concern for their aging parents.
Observe how communities come together to help during emergencies and crises. Look for the teachers who stay late to help struggling students. The health care workers who provide comfort along with medical care. The employees who go beyond their job descriptions to solve problems for customers. The neighbors who check on each other during difficult times. These examples of goodness are not rare exceptions. They are the normal pattern of human behavior that we often overlook because we are focused on more
dramatic examples of conflict and selfishness. When you start looking for kindness, you will find it everywhere. And when you start expecting the best from people, you will often be pleasantly surprised by how they respond to your expectations. This does not mean ignoring real problems or being unprepared for situations where people might behave badly. It means approaching each interaction with openness rather than defensiveness, with curiosity rather than judgment, with hope rather than cynicism. The challenge and the
opportunity. The world faces enormous challenges that require cooperation, compassion, and collective action. Climate change, poverty, disease, conflict, and inequality are all problems that cannot be solved by individuals acting alone. If you believe that people are fundamentally selfish and that cooperation is impossible, these challenges feel overwhelming and hopeless. If you believe that people are fundamentally good and that cooperation is natural, these challenges feel difficult but solvable. Your belief
about human nature affects not just how you feel about the world, but how you contribute to addressing its problems. When you believe in goodness, you are more likely to look for ways to help. When you look for ways to help, you discover that there are millions of other people who are also looking for ways to help. When you work together with others who share your desire to make things better, you accomplish things that seemed impossible when you were thinking about them alone. The intersection where I witnessed
spontaneous kindness taught me that the instinct to help each other is stronger than the instinct to compete with each other. It taught me that most people want to be part of solutions rather than part of problems. It taught me that cynicism is not realism. Cynicism is a choice to focus on the worst examples of human behavior while ignoring the best examples. Realism includes both the potential for selfishness and the potential for goodness and recognizes that which potential becomes reality depends largely on what we expect and
encourage from each other. I stopped believing in human goodness until I saw it with my own eyes in that intersection. But once I started looking for it, I realized it had been there all along. I had just been paying attention to the wrong things. Now, I believe that the most important work any of us can do is to help create conditions where human goodness can flourish. Whether that is in our families, our workplaces, our communities, or our world, we all have opportunities to encourage the best in
each other. Share this with someone who might um need a reminder that most people are good and that kindness is more common than cruelty. Subscribe if these conversations help you see possibilities for cooperation and compassion in a world that often seems divided and hostile. And remember what you look for in other people, you tend to find if you look for goodness, you will discover that it surrounds you every day just waiting to be noticed and encouraged. What act of unexpected kindness have you witnessed that
restored your faith in humanity? [Music]
