This article is written by Ramanuj Mukherjee, CEO, LawSikho

What do you do?

Are you just doing a job?

Are you pursuing a career?

Or are you on a mission?

Are you merely carrying out orders, doing enough to meet expectations and quality standards and save your job? Or maybe you are just trying to get to the next paycheck?

As a student, do you or did you only think of getting a job and a good salary? Or did you fall in love with an organisation, with a profession or a cause and wanted to contribute?

As CEO of iPleaders and LawSikho.com, I am responsible for about a team of 20 people at present. In the last 10 years, I have hired at least 100 people who have worked in various positions and left.

There is a stark difference in the level of success of the people who just wanted a job, who wanted to make a career, and in some very rare cases, people who were on a mission.

People who just want to get a job, struggle the most to get one.

They take no pride, feel no joy, and do their job as a necessary burden. What a disempowering situation, full of suffering and frustration.

The people who are pursuing a career are far better. They see the job as a step up in their career, as an opportunity. They want to seize the moment.

I want to avoid hiring people who just want to do a job. There is nothing wrong with them, it’s just that they are likely to achieve far lesser than someone whose heart and soul is aligned with my line of work.

That’s the third kind of people, people who are on a mission. Truth be told, it’s hard to find missionaries to hire. Most of them are on a mission of their own and they are not going to sell out and do my work.

Unless the mission matches. If someone is looking to create awareness about children’s rights in India and I have a platform that can help them to spread the word, then I must go out of my way to do it. That mission and my mission perfectly coincide.

People with a mission are not doing a job. They are not pursuing something for personal gain. They have found a cause that is bigger than themselves. They are driven. They are inspiring to work with.

They have fallen in love with their customers and are looking to make a difference.

I am a missionary too. My ambition is not a personal ambition to make a lot of money or accumulate power. I dream of being at the vanguard of a change that will make justice more accessible and feasible for all people in India. The first step I have identified in my path is to redefine the standards of legal education.

It didn’t seem very possible to do it within the usual academic set up, and hence my last 10 years has been spent exploring the alternative ways.

We have done some amazing things along the way, but we are not here to sit on our laurels, nor are we to be stopped by any obstacles, because miles to go before I sleep.

What are you upto? The mindset determines where you get in life.

People who are building a career are more likely to be successful than the two other categories. The people who are on a mission are more likely to become great.

Before I finish, I must tell you this story.

Michelangelo was taking a walk. He saw two men toiling at a construction site. One seemed very happy, involved and engaged. The other one was clearly taking a toll. He asked the man who was suffering: “what are you doing?” the man said irritably “can’t you see, I am laying bricks for a wall.”

Then the second person, who was visibly happier, and dedicated, was asked the same question. “What are you doing?”

I am making a house of God.

There is a big difference in the motivation and dedication of a person who is just laying bricks for a wall, and one who is building a house for God himself.

I am an atheist, but the story drives home a very important point. Which of these two people are you in your life right now?

It’s very important to tell the truth to yourself.

If you are just doing a job, or just looking to bag one, please upgrade your mindset. You will realise that this mindset is a serious handicap.

People who are pursuing a career or pursuing a mission will always beat you!

The critical thing about pursuing a career or delivering on a mission is you must be continuously developing and training yourself. We have some fantastic courses that make amazing and immediate difference in the careers of hundreds of lawyers, law students and executives every month. They can strengthen you for your mission too.

Here are the courses coming up in February: