RE: getting what one wants vs. getting what society wants...
I personally believe that most individuals have an inherent desire towards
basic goodness and just need to satisfy a number of personal desires
before developing the capacity to expand their desire and actions to
include universal or societal goals. Maslow's heirarchy is a good example
of this. Those individuals who don't have this desire... or can somehow
transcend it... are considered to be saints. Most of us have a lot of
inner looking and outer work to do first!
Many different philosophical and contemplative traditions encourage the
individual to first work on themselves...and only afterwards, turn their
attention towards the benefit of others. It seems to be a natural,
recognized progression in many cultures.
In the workplace, I think we can see this trend somewhat in an
individual's career development in their profession: older, more
experienced & successfully established individuals reach a stage where
they welcome the opportunity to mentor others.
What if the development of personal mastery were widely seen as the
necessary first step to being able to contribute fully? It would then no
longer be seen as a selfish pastime....
--Learning-org -- Hosted by Rick Karash <rkarash@karash.com> Public Dialog on Learning Organizations -- <http://www.learning-org.com>