I don't want to go over the heads

"End justifies the means". Almost every more or less educated person knows this famous phrase. This adage belongs to the Jesuit Eekobar and is the motto of the Order of the Jesuits.

We are also familiar with the fact that today more and more people successfully practice the implementation of these terrible words in real life. “Head-to-head walking” has long been possible to record in Olympic sports and to gather a considerable television audience during their showing. A lot of modern books literally shout on each page to us that “all means are good on the way to the goal,” that, they say, “winners are not judged” and, in general, “the strongest wins”.



Issues of a moral plan fade into the background, giving way to PROFIT. This is not surprising, because if success is obvious, if the goal is achievable, then why torment yourself, especially since torment does not bring any actual dividends. So it turns out that once having set a goal, even the most noble one, we risk absolutely wrong choice of a route to achieve it. Games with a conscience are dangerous games where a person may not even notice how his decency is deformed and disappears. It is scary to sacrifice principles only the first few times, then it already becomes familiar.

Today we will talk with you about how to avoid a conflict with ourselves and not go over the heads, even if the goal seems to be worth it. We will try to understand why “successful” and “rich” are two different concepts. Finally, we simply once again protect ourselves from future errors.

The first figure. Rich

We assume that someone N has set himself a pretty decent goal - to achieve the position of deputy director over the next ten years. Is the goal good? The goal is wonderful! Another thing is that N is somewhat deprived of talents, and therefore in fair play with other candidates he does not shine. But where it is impossible to win cleanly, you can always act stealthily or simply bribe the chief referee. What, in fact, is what our N does during the entire time that remains before the deadline. Flattery to the bosses, slander of employees, misappropriation of other people's merits - all this does not present any special difficulty for N. They initially decided that the end would justify any means.



Ten years have passed and N has already achieved what I have dreamed about for all recent years. That, for the sake of which he made a deal with conscience and cruelly deceived her. He is the deputy director and, it would seem, in life everything is now wonderful. There is plenty, there are prospects for further growth and many, many more. It is time to already return everything as it was, and again become a decent person. But no ... The law has no retroactive force! Having once decided to "go over their heads", N signed a sentence. All that now awaits him is inner lack of freedom, the fear that one day he will be dismissed in the same way, and many, many more fears. This man is rich, but he is not successful. He is a slave to his goal, and she, frankly, will one day become a terrible curse for him. The goal has been achieved, but it would be better not to achieve it.

The second figure. Successful

For the purity of the experiment, we assume that the arena is the same. N and the target. Of course, one could endow N in this scenario with numerous talents and let him win the battle “for a clear advantage”. No, we will not do this, we will assume that N has mediocre abilities, but nevertheless breaks into battle for the same goal as before. The only discrepancy in the scenarios is that now he decides to play fair. No: intrigue and guile. Yes: hard work and a long journey up the career ladder.



What happens to our hero over time? And what happens is that N is not limited by anything. He is not tormented by moral issues, internally he is free and relies only on his knowledge. He does not take handouts, he is improving. Even if, after ten years, the respected N does not reach the goal, he ... will still achieve it. Why? Everything is quite simple: by this time he will be a successful specialist who knows how to work hard. N will be free internally, and life will not seem to him a series of dirty tricks. Oddly enough, but it is precisely such people who are truly successful.

The third figure. Reflections

Naturally, everyone makes their choice. Going around in the head is profitable, but sad. Hard work is not always a worthy reward, but it is stable, calm and reliable. Chasing the goal, you can forget about morality and become its slave. This is scary.

On the other hand, constant control of yourself, work on actions is a guarantee that the goal will become your ally. Making the right choice is always very important, because life does not forgive mistakes, and conscience never forgives betrayal.

Upd. With this article we want to raise the sensitive issue - “Are all the tools good?” and what is the extent of this problem in the IT industry.

SmartProgress - Achieving Goals