#31: The Cult of Ambition

#DecisionMaking #SelfDiscovery #Goals #Success #Ambition

Aug 11, 2023

👋 Welcome to this week's Pursuit. My name is Amir, and each week I go over 10 hours of content in pursuit of living a meaningful, fulfilling and balanced life. I'm grateful to share my findings with you and hope I can have a tiny impact on your life. Subscribe now if you haven't already!

This week’s discovery:

🏆 Maximizers vs. Satisficers
🐣 Thrown Out of the Nest
😌 On the Value of Not Reaching Your Goals
♣️ Positioning Yourself for Success
🏛️ The Cult of Ambition
🗒️ A Quote I'm Pondering On
🎵 Music I'm Listening To

🏆 Maximizers vs. Satisficers

The part of this podcast that resonated with me the most was the idea that it is more important to know whether the topic for which you are trying to make the perfect choice matters to you, rather than simply striving to make the BEST decision every time. Lately, I've been focusing on finding what's satisfactory for most aspects of my life instead of striving for perfection.

If you're constantly searching for the "perfect" option, you're a maximizer. But if you're content with a choice that meets your criteria, you're a satisficer. Research shows that satisficers tend to be happier than maximizers. So, instead of always striving for the best, set your own standard for what's "good enough." Of course, that doesn't mean settling for subpar options. Rather, it means knowing what you want and recognizing it when you find it. This approach can lead to greater happiness and work-life balance. And while it's important to push yourself to excel in certain areas of life, it's equally important to know when to stop and appreciate what you have. So, strive for greatness when you can, but understand that work is only part of who you are and that there's more to life than constantly chasing the next best thing.

🎧 6-min

🐣 Thrown Out of the Nest

I can rest into the version of myself that’s here now and let that be enough. I can soften into the fact that I don’t need to have a tight grip upon myself in order to trust I’ll grow and change when I’m ready to — I don’t need to read another perfect list about how to put myself first — I don’t need to consume healing anymore. To be fully alive, fully human, and completely awake is to be continually thrown out of the nest. To live fully is to be always in no-man's-land, to experience each moment as completely new and fresh. To live is to be willing to die over and over again.

📖 5-min

😌 On the Value of Not Reaching Your Goals

One of the best things that can happen to you is to achieve professional success when you’re young. That way you can learn that it does little to change your happiness. For better or worse, achieving your goals shows you that no material accomplishment will fundamentally alter who you are. Whatever you worship will eventually eat you alive. If you worship money and things…then you will never feel you have enough. Worship your own body and beauty and sexual allure and you will always feel ugly, and when time and age start showing, you will die a million deaths before they finally plant you.

📖 4-min

♣️ Positioning Yourself for Success

When making important decisions, it's crucial to operate from a position of strength. This means identifying your areas of expertise and playing to your strengths. Nearly every move you make will be good when operating from a solid foundation. Conversely, when you're in a poor position, things are more likely to go from bad to worse. To make better decisions, pay attention to your intuition and feeling states. If you're confused, tired, or stressed, it's not the right time to make a decision. Instead, wait until you're in a clearer state of mind. Trust your gut feelings and don't ignore the information that your body is giving you. If something seems even slightly off, it's probably really off. Don't wait to assess the situation; remove yourself from it immediately. Ultimately, being a good decision-maker is about understanding the skills required in different situations, just like in chess and poker. By knowing your strengths and weaknesses, you'll be able to position yourself for success and make better decisions that lead to your desired outcomes.

🎧 5-min

🏛️ The Cult of Ambition

The cult of ambition can be suffocating. It's that mindset that every time you achieve something, the very next thought is, "Okay, what's next?". But what about taking a step back and enjoying what you've achieved so far? Give yourself permission to explore other aspects of your portfolio for growth or opportunity. Maybe it's time to focus on your health, your family, or your hobbies. And when you do think about your work, take a cue from finance and diversify yourself. Create multiple income streams so that you're not reliant on one job, boss, or industry. And don't just diversify your income, but also your network and how you see yourself. If you're too linear in your career path, you might find yourself stuck when the industry changes. Instead, be open-minded and see yourself as an investigator, a storyteller, or a writer, for example, and find ways to apply those skills in different contexts. By embracing a portfolio life, you can reject the work-life balance myth and design a life that's both productive and fulfilling.

🎧 5-min