Be Big - Greed and Success

"Greed is good." Promotional photo from the movie Wallstreet

"Greed is right. Greed works. Greed clarifies, cuts through, and captures the essence of the evolutionary spirit. Greed, in all of its forms—greed for life, for money, for love, knowledge—has marked the upward surge of mankind." - Gordon Gekko - Wallstreet

During this economic super recession, depression... what ever the hell it is, I am reflecting on the greed that got us into this mess.  Many still want the old life and forget that our greed is what got us into this mess.  The big investment bankers still deny they were the engine that brought this on.  We still feel greed and need as our primary source of self worth.  How does this play into the definition of the modern man?  For me, it actually goes to the most basic instinct of men, to survive and do better.  The challenge for the modern man is to determine what true success is.  Is it just having the most  awesome stuff?




The commercial with Anthony Hopkins was made in the mid-2000's when big was everything.  It reminds me of the character Gorden Gekko's speech on greed from the movie Wall Street.  Both sum up our motivations then... and now.




I was caught up in that mentality.  I wanted more, more, more.  I have a garage full of stuff that I uselessly accumulated over those years because I felt it reflected my success.  I am currently going through the stuff to figure out what to do with it.  Some of it I do enjoy, but most are gathering dust.  What lessons can I learn from the stuff I bought?

Most of the stuff I bought I used once or twice and then set aside.  The flash and wonder of it wore off fast.  I have a really cool tent that I knew would make camping perfect.  I used it once and haven't since.  There are many other things like that.  The idea of them was better than the actual product.  I got seduced ( or suckered) by the allure of what that product could do for me. 

Some of the stuff I used quite a bit on special projects or interests, for example all the tools I bought while restoring my truck and all the darkroom equipment I used back when I shot black and white film.  That stuff is gathering dust, but I enjoyed their use when I needed them.

The last bits of stuff are things I use constantly and really enjoy.  My digital camera, the new iMac, my cross country skis.  These are things that truly bring me joy to have.  So, what makes these things different than the other stuff listed above, especially the things that I only used once and forgot about?

It all comes down to the intent of my purchase.  The stuff I got that is gathering the most dust came from my need to show my success.  I wanted those things as status symbols, not what they were actually to be used for.  Once I found that I didn't really like tennis, the expensive tennis racket that was the best on the court was useless.  Why didn't I get a cheap one and learn on it first?  I wanted people to see I was serious about tennis and I had the best equipment for it.

The camera was something I didn't buy because everyone else had one and I needed it as a status symbol.  I bought it to make art, not just art, but MY art. The same is true for my iMac.  I got the cross country skis because I've done that since childhood and it is one of the simplest pleasures I know.  It brings me peace.

As a man (and probably as a human) I want success.  I want recognition.  I want people to say, "Wow Karl, that is really something special."  What I have learned from sorting out all my stuff is that I need to change what success is.  It no longer is, "Wow Karl, that tennis racket is something special."  I don't want to be remembered as having a special toy.  I want to people to say, "Wow Karl, that photo is important, beautiful (insert adjective of choice here)."  I want what I do to be what I am judged by, not what I have.

With all that grandiose, self-actualized bull shit I just wrote out there, I have to add one caveat that I have to throw into the mix.  In a hundred years, there will be all new people.  None of them are going to remember or care who I was.  After recognizing that, true success for me then is not what I own, but that I enjoy doing right now and get the most meaning from.   I hope more men realize that by having a cool toy, they are not cooler.  It is the enjoyment and purpose for the toy that makes it worth anything.