Why criminals are self motivated individuals

By Kauzi Mtaani

The perception out there is that criminals are a bunch of idling and lazy characters who do nothing except to wait and pounce on unsuspecting citizens.

To everyone, crime seems to be the easy way out, but that assumption couldn’t be further from the truth.

The environment that we operate in is a highly demanding and dynamic one where you are directly responsible for your own job.

It is the kind of work where non-performance is obvious to everyone and this could get you off the market. Daily I have to look for business, that means where to strike and also the manner in which I am going to execute it. That is just one part of the deal. The next phase is the most crucial one. This is where I formulate the strategy through which I can access whatever I have set my eyes on. There are no guarantees that the plan is going to work and one has to have a plan B in the event that things go wrong, as they often do.

After this, I have to look for customers for whatever I have as soon as I can. The more you hold on to stolen merchandise, the riskier it gets. If you thought a sales jobs is tough, try selling for the black market and you would change your perception.Things could take a turn for the worse any time. You wake up one day and realise that your most reliable contact has gone underground or has been compromised. Or the security guy you relied on for protection is no longer around. Contingency measures have to be put in place immediately.

In the unfortunate event that you get sick, that means your income stream has been disturbed. You really have no options but to continue in the job or you will go hungry. This is where the pain of not having a payslip is really felt.

With no boss to set you targets and no corporate vision and mission to go by, a criminal has to set all this for himself. No one will tell you to wake up at 5am or prevent you from sleeping at 7pm.

To cut the long story short, a typical criminal is usually a self motivated and highly independent individual who thrives in a very dynamic and challenging environment with no guarantees.

If you can’t make it in such conditions, forget about crime.