The difference between ambition and happiness
We just started a company. To me, ambition and "never being satisfied with where you are" is the natural inclination of those who leave their jobs and venture out on their own, is it not?
I recently read this quote by Bill Watterson, the cartoonist, and creator of Calvin and Hobbes and it stung me a little bit.
“...having an enviable career is one thing, and being a happy person is another. Creating a life that reflects your values and satisfies your soul is a rare achievement. In a culture that relentlessly promotes avarice and excess as the good life, a person happy doing his own work is usually considered an eccentric, if not a subversive. Ambition is only understood if it's to rise to the top of some imaginary ladder of success. Someone who takes an undemanding job because it affords him the time to pursue other interests and activities is considered a flake. A person who abandons a career in order to stay home and raise children is considered not to be living up to his potential-as if a job title and salary are the sole measures of human worth. You'll be told in a hundred ways, some subtle and some not, to keep climbing, and never be satisfied with where you are, who you are, and what you're doing. There are a million ways to sell yourself out, and I guarantee you'll hear about them. To invent your own life's meaning is not easy, but it's still allowed, and I think you'll be happier for the trouble.” - [Read the full speech here](Read the full speech here)
It's an uncomfortable read.
We just started a company. To me, ambition and "never being satisfied with where you are" is the natural inclination of those who leave their jobs and venture out on their own, is it not?
And at the same time, Kevin and I ask ourselves often: How much ambition is enough? How much should we push ourselves? Are we on the right track? Are we enjoying the journey? How many compromises do we need to make in order to get where we want?
I don't have the answer to these questions, but if you also feel rebellion inside yourself when you read the above quote, it might be worth stopping and taking a step back to ask yourself:
How much is my ambition interfering with my happiness?
