O'Brien spoke about his desire after he vied for best-on-ground honours in Collingwood's 36-point win over the Western Bulldogs at Etihad Stadium on Sunday.
Although he claimed 25 disposals - his second best effort at AFL level - it was his spoiling, dash out of defence and ability to put his body on the line that was even more eye-catching.
And for O'Brien, that's what it's all about.
"All I want to do is play my role for the team and I've erased all of my personal goals - I want to be as selfless as I can for the team and I don't judge my game on possessions," he said.
"It's just selfless acts and I set out to do that today and I did that, so I was happy with that."
O'Brien said "praise and acceptance" within the club is all that matters to him. His only personal goal is to spread the selfless message among his teammates.
"I think you go through three different phases through your football career," he said.
"At the start, you'll do anything just to play and you're happy just to play. Once you've cemented your spot, you just want to play well individually. And then the next phase, you just throw out all of those personal goals, where you just want to win a premiership.
"We've got a lot of players at that stage now."
On the back of personal tragedy last year, O'Brien says he now has the belief to overcome hurdles thrown his way.
"I had a really difficult year last year - it was the toughest year of my life and I managed to get through and play the best football of my career," he said.
"I have the belief that 2010 is a brand new start for me and I got as fit as I had ever been and that gives you a lot of confidence."
