Rand sort of exaggerated the selfishness aspect of her view, especially in her fiction, because she was making a point. She was contrasting her view as starkly as possible against the predominant ethics of her era. She celebrated selfishness because it needed celebrating. Fact is, Rand cared deeply about others, and about humanity and the world in general. And self-interest as objectivists understand it heavily involves concern for others. If your interests and mine are rational, they are mutually beneficial. The better you do, the better I do and vice-versa. Which makes both of us invested each other's success. That is, self-interest implies other-interest - not altruism in the self-sacrificial sense, but benevolence and concern for others. Enlightened self-interest might even entail a mostly outward-looking focus in life. The key is to think more deeply about what self-interest actually means. What will actually make your life go well? Being a narcissistic jackass probably ain't it.