Mercenaries Of Purpose

I don't know what's the correct way, mercenary turned visionary or mercenary turned missionary?

In my books, there isn't much of a difference between a vision and a mission other than the latter is usually a child of the former.

I don't think a mission can exist without a vision.

What am I doing here if there's no future to build?

Of course, one could say that many lives are lived, and tasks completed, without any grand vision, driven purely by immediate necessity.

Such circumstances include being on a "mission" to pay rent, feed a family, or simply survive, with no higher purpose explicitly articulated.

Even in these primal acts, I think there's an implicit vision of a sustained future through a better tomorrow, however rudimentary.

Power Of The Payout

At its core, the mercenary operates on transaction. Their allegiance is to the highest bidder and purpose is usually defined by external reward.

The word "mercenary" comes from the Latin mercenarius, meaning "hired for wages."

Historically, they were soldiers of fortune fighting for coin rather than country or creed.

But somewhere along the way, "mercenary" became tainted with implications of moral flexibility, such as loyalty that could be bought and sold like any other commodity.

In a modern context, individuals like Erik Prince, founder of Blackwater is a textbook version mercenary who built a private military empire (worth billions) through following the money trail and not just any particular flag or creed.

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One could argue that the mercenary archetype has taken a front seat in our current world partly due to the rise of hyper-individualism.

Another part is definitely the lack of compelling collective narratives that once bound communities together.

Without shared myths or common purposes, we default to the most reliable motivator: self-interest.

Zeal Of The Believer

The missionary, by contrast, is fueled by conviction.

From the Latin missio (a sending), they carry purpose derived from a belief, a cause, or a singular, non-negotiable truth they feel compelled to spread.

How many people are like that nowadays, even if it's remotely??

What I always admire about pseudo-missionaries of our times like Elon Musk, is their ability to transform personal obsession into collective movement.

All of us now believe that humanity's future depends on becoming a multiplanetary species.

Missionaries also tend to have this obvious perception that their "pay" isn't monetary.

The non-obvious dilemma with missionaries is when the destination is less clearly defined than the fervor of the journey itself.

What comes after the mission is accomplished, or if the underlying vision proves flawed?

Architect Of Tomorrow

And then there's the visionary. The type of individual who sees what isn't yet and conceives the horizon that others will later chase.

They create the purpose and their drive stems from an almost obsessive-foresight-compulsion to manifest futures that exist first in their imagination.

As much of a product guy he was, Steve Jobs sold the idea that technology could be intuitive, beautiful, and democratically accessible. Computers were merely a manifestation of that idea.

I must say if there's a god complex anywhere, then visionaries are ideal candidates.

There's definitely a thin line between prophetic insight and outright delusion, and one can dip their toes in both waters without necessarily drowning in either.

Common Ground

Now, how does one jump from mercenary to missionary or visionary?

First, let's see what all three share in common.

Whether chasing profit, spreading gospel, or manifesting dreams, all three archetypes possess an almost pathological commitment to getting things done.

So, the common thread is an irrational drive that ensures they'll venture into hostile territories and persist despite danger and discomfort.

They are all, in their own ways, forces of will.

Individuals who can see the promised land, possess the conviction to pursue it, and retain the practical skills to actually get there are a very rare breed in terms of their ability to synthesize seemingly contradictory traits into a coherent whole.

Consider someone like Steve Jobs again: visionary enough to imagine the personal computer revolution, missionary-like in his evangelical fervor for design perfection, yet mercenary strapped to build Apple into one of the world's most valuable companies.

Usually, the transformation often happens in reverse order of what we might expect.

On a usual path, many start as mercenaries, maybe, motivated by immediate rewards and practical necessities.

Through repeated exposure to problems that money alone cannot solve, they develop missionary-like convictions.

And from those convictions, paired with their hard-earned practical skills, emerges the visionary capacity to see beyond current limitations.

Of course, it's a long journey spanning decades of failure, adaptation, and gradual(and intense) awakening that's condensed into a couple of hundred words.

Purpose itself is evolutionary.


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