Kadampa Precepts 8

"At another time, the three brothers asked Drom, 'Which is more important, to help living beings by means of the Teaching, or to practise in an isolated place?"
"The teacher answered, "A beginner who has no internal realization cannot help living beings with the Teaching. His blessing is like pouring from an empty jar - nothing will come out. His advice is like unfermented beer - it has no essence." 
"The person of admirable deeds who has not yet obtained the Firmness of Warmth' does not have the ability to act for the benefit of living beings. His blessing is like pouring from a full vessel - when it has filled another, it itself is empty. His advice is like a butter lamp held in the hand it may illuminate others, but the holder remains in the shadows.
"However, when a person has entered the stages of the Aryas, whatever he does brings benefit to living beings. His blessing is like a magic vessel - though it fills countless vessels, it does not empty itself. His advice is like a butter lamp held by the base - it illuminates others and the one who holds it as well.
"Therefore, this kaliyuga is not the time for an individual to be of help to living beings unless he has cultivated love, compassion, and Bodhi-mind in isolation. It is the time to guard against fettering passions. It is not the time to cut down the seedling of the magical medicine tree, but the time to cultivate it." 

'The firmness of Warmth is a sort of spiritual energy and vigour which has reached the point of radiation, as it were. It is more like that, it's a sort of natural energy, positive energy which has reached such a pitch of intensity that it starts radiating. So that when you speak it is not just your words, there is a certain radiant energy behind what you say. 
Ability is different from intention. You can cultivate the intention even though [you]
don't have the ability. 
You go on developing the intention, you will have the capacity. But if you are so convinced that you haven't got the capacity you will doubt your ability even to develop the intention 
So when you reach this stage of intense radiant energy, of heat, your stiffness, your rigidity, your solidity - in a negative sense - is melted. You loosen up, you relax, you flow more. 

there is a note at the end,.
Five Paths: To attain either Nirvana or Buddhahood one must progress through five graded paths of realization. These are: 1. The accumulation path (Tibetan, tshogs-lam; Sanskrit Sambhara-marga) 2. The application path (Tibetan, sbyor-lam; Sanskrit, prayoga-marga) 3.The insight path (Tibetan, mthong-lam; Sanskrit, darsanamarga) 4. The cultivation path (Tibetan, sgom-lam Sanskrit, bhavana-marga) 5. The path with no more to learn (Tibetan, mislob-lam; Sanskrit, asaiksamarga). 
One can pass through these five stages either as a Sravaka or a Pratyeka Buddha to attain a final goal of Arhantship, or as a Bodhisattva seeking the final attainment of Buddhahood. 

But certainly it can be said that you shouldn't be reckless or rash even, or over-eager to help others in an external sense, in a very specific way, unless you have achieved a definite measure of experience yourself. It doesn't mean that you should refrain from saying anything and refuse to answer a question, that would be going to the other extreme. But you can't completely divorce helping yourself from helping others, you can help yourself by helping others. It is just a question of respecting the limits of ones own capacities. But one can always do something, even if it is only setting a
good example or even if it is only helping provide facilities for people to help themselves.