Is Greed really our need for a long term successful career?

The Two Pre-requisites for a Successful Career

For a person to be successful in a career there are two pre-requisites: "desire" and "motive". Where either of the two is missing, the person lives a struggling life devoid of leisure, luck and liberty. Where on one hand "desire" refers to one's will to devote his or her entire life to a particular career, "motive" on the other hand refers to the reason or incentive for which a person opts that career. "Motive" is the incentive which gives meaning to one's desire to work.

How to measure one's desire to work?

Although there is no measure to map one's desire to do a specific task but one's approach towards the same can be helpful in determining one's interest in it. For example, your academic score in a particular subject does not reflect your interest in the same, it merely denotes your "discipline" towards the same but the amount of time you can devote to it, irrespective of your caliber, showcases your interest in the subject.

If you scored 95% marks in Mathematics, its your discipline but if you devote significant quantum of your study time to it irrespective of the fact that you are tired, it means that you have an innate desire to study and contribute to the subject. Putting it in a more simpler way if you have natural proclivity towards certain career owing to your interest to work in that field, then its the right career for you!

But its important to note that;

1) the desire to work is "innate" and is not "influenced" by other people's desires and expectations from the person. For example, if you chose a career just because your parents wanted you to chose it or if you chose it owing to peer pressure then it is going to get you into unwarranted hustle and struggle if you chose it against your free will;

2) the desire is to work for "long term". Desire to work for short term is like rowing a ferry to the middle of the lake and then throwing the oars in the water. Short term desire develops a habit of "fickle mindedness" and the person tends to shift again and again to distinct careers without specializing in any one of them; and

3) the desire must not be "forced" on oneself. I have chosen the right career, isn't it the feeling you get reading the aforesaid quint-essentials? Its human tendency to treat oneself right even if subconsciously the person is aware that it isn't the career he or she desired to practice. It is thus necessary that one should not impose one's desire on oneself.

But, how Greed is our Need?

For long we have been disregarding "greed" as an evil emotion but its positive role in a person's life might astonish you! Without greed this world cannot work. Yes, its true because greed is the foundation of both "desire" as well as "motive". Without the greed for incentive people don't work. A worker won't work without the greed for wages, a professional lawyer won't work without the greed for remuneration, no person works without the greed for any consideration.

Even saints who criticize this emotion aren't aloof of its existence. Saints profess their ideas before crowds to increase their followers so that posthumously their ideas and ideals are worshipped by their followers. Some spiritual "gurus" practice renunciation or "sanyasa" to attain "moksha" (liberation from the cycle of death and rebirth), it is also a form of greed. No social activist, no philanthropist, no NGO worker is devoid of this emotion, in fact none of us are!

Greed is an essential emotion which incites a person to work to get an incentive to meet one's ends. Greed can be for anything be it for money, for power, for social service, or for knowledge. However, from a long term perspective it has been observed that there comes a time when monetary incentives or leisure are unable to satisfy the person. It is the time when greediness within the person starts declining steadily. Also, it is the time when growth of the person becomes stagnant and he or she then changes his incentive to achieve the desired goals. It is the major reason why ''motive'' is variable as it is susceptible to changes by the time person ages. In the early 20s the person's motive is to attain financial stability; by the early 40s the person tries to ensure a safe future by making investments and saving funds; by the early 60s when the person is on the verge of retirement he or she tries to insure his or her life, health and property; and by the late 80s the person tries to attain spiritual or devotional maturity by involving oneself with religious norms, visiting religious places etc. Thus, unlike desire, motive changes as the person ages.

It would thus be apt to reiterate that for a person to live a happy and healthy life, "greed" is an essential element provided that it is balanced with one's needs. For keeping the slope of success consistent its important for a person to continuously balance his or her greed with needs. It is important for a successful career that a person maintains equilibrium between his or her greed and need. Disequilibrium between the two may have severe repercussions in the life of the person. Where for one person "greed" may warrant value for his or her career, on the other hand the same may incite a responsible person to commit misdemeanors which may distort the social order or may violate the lex loci (law of the land governing the society).

What about "Luck"? Doesn't it play an important role in one's career?

One of the most successful Indian Lawyers, Advocate Nani Palkhivala once remarked that,

" Luck is an intersection of hard work and opportunity."

I totally agree with this definition of luck. With this definition it can be inferred that good luck is when a person utilizes the right opportunity at right time and strives to achieve his goals and bad luck is when a person voluntarily or involuntarily let go the opportunity even when he or she was capable of utilizing the same. It is true we cannot underestimate luck as the factor which contributes to one's success but for a person to utilize an opportunity and to work harder "greed" is an essential factor.

For an example, if you are a law student then for you a moot court competition could be a right opportunity to foster your advocacy skills but without the right knowledge as to how to prepare for the same; without positive atmosphere around you and without the greed for knowledge and career growth one can not achieve the desired goals.

Sometimes luck does matter, no matter how greedy you are, in a situation when the atmosphere around you is negative. For example, during a family dispute going on in a family it becomes difficult for a person to maintain the calm and strive hard for his or her career. Positive environment does contributes to a successful career. However, due to dynamic nature of human a positive environment can not be assured for long term but one must be aware of the methods to deal with it. Methods of dealing with negative environment vary from person to person. (I will discuss the methods to deal with negative environment in detail in my next article)

Well, my approach towards the word "luck" is a bit different. In my opinion "Luck" stands for "Let yourself chase knowledge" because the more knowledge you have about the right opportunities for your career and how to utilize them, the more consistent the slope of your success becomes. Thus, no matter how greedy you are for money, power or other materialistic leisure but one must be always greedy for knowledge.

Conclusion

Among other factors which contribute to a person's success, desire, motive and greed are quintessential but its important to treat greed as a positive factor. For treating greed as a positive factor one must maintain equilibrium between one's greed and one's needs. Also, it has been already discussed with illustrations that although luck does play an important role in one's career but without greed and positive atmosphere to work it becomes ineffective in long term. Yes, indeed now you may agree with me that for a long term successful career, "Greed is a need"!