On Ambition and Fulfilling Work
A Privilege, Engaging Work, Follow Your Ambition, The Road to Mastery, Perspective
I.
A Privilege
Without labor, nothing prospers.
Attributed to Sophocles
One of life’s greatest privileges is the opportunity to engage in work. Yet, sometimes, we don’t feel like working. This happens when we lose touch with our ambition. Similar to intuition, which we think of as a “gut feeling,” ambition is a subtle sensation deep within us and is accessible to all. However, the decision to act upon our ambition is up to us. To act upon ambition is to use our innate gifts and align with our unique calling. To not act upon ambition is to turn our backs on ourselves and our purpose for being. Without work, nothing prospers. But without ambition, nothing works.
When we exchange our labor for monetary compensation, we call this exchange a career – the means by which we “make a living.” And while a career constitutes roughly one-third of our waking lives, we don’t waste that time. Our chosen careers serve as outlets to unleash our creativity and materialize the depths of our being.
However, recent workplace statistics paint a disheartening picture: most workers are not engaged at work; they lack ambition. When individuals are disinterested in their careers—the thing which they devote a third of their lives to—can we honestly call this “making a living?” While unambitious workers continue to receive compensation for their time and effort, they’re essentially absent for a big chunk of their lives.
II.
Engaging Work
While we’re told we should find work that we love, it’s probably more realistic to find work that’s engaging. When considering what makes up an engaging career, three distinct qualities stand out: craftsmanship, contribution, and control.
Craftsmanship is creativity in action. True craftsmen produce extraordinary things—be it a website, a home, a design, a strategy, a book, or a campaign. Creativity is necessary for engaging work because it enables us to use and sharpen our innate tools. It provides us with the opportunity to bring our ideas to fruition and witness the fruits of our labor.
Contribution means working towards objectives beyond personal gain. As inherently altruistic beings, we aim to ensure our efforts are put towards the benefit, not the detriment, of humanity. We don’t all have to work in NGOs or clean tech to fulfill this criterion. Simply knowing that the product or service we offer can enhance the lives of just a few individuals assures us that our chosen work holds value to others.
Control is about having some choice over how and when we do our job. When workers are given autonomy in their approach to work, they’ll often reciprocate by going above and beyond what is asked because they’re intrinsically motivated to. But, having control over one’s work is not the same as deciding whether or not to work. An engaged worker still does their job; control merely offers flexibility in when and how they do it.
When you find work that’s inherently engaging, you’re much more likely to fall in love with the work you do.
III.
Follow Your Passion Ambition
Have the courage to follow your heart and intuition. They somehow already know what you truly want to become. Everything else is secondary.
Steve Jobs
In his exceptional Stanford Commencement Speech, Steve Jobs encouraged students to follow their heart and intuition in the quest for work they love. Not once in his nearly fifteen-minute address did he use the word “passion.” I believe this is because “passion” is poorly defined these days. Historically, “passion” was used to describe physical suffering. The word likely originated about one thousand years ago to describe Christ’s passion (i.e., dying for the sins of others).
Contrary to popular belief, hobbies and leisurely activities are not “passions.” Passions are the things we’re intuitively called to do. And, to be honest, they kind of suck. Pursuing one’s passion is not for the faint of heart. Our vocation will not be found on the straight and narrow road, nor will it be found in some Get Rich Quick! scheme or leisurely activity.
Instead of “following your passion,” which is a confusing adage to navigate, I suggest following your ambition and intuition. Intuition can be thought of as a “still, small voice,” while ambition is a “burning desire.” And while intuition subtly guides us in the direction of our calling, ambition is the force within that encourages us to act. We are inherently drawn to work that aligns with both the calling we’ve been blessed with and the talents we’ve been given. And when we find work that aligns with who we are, we come alive. And there’s nothing better in life than coming alive.
We often forget that what makes a job the “best job ever” is the rewarding feeling we get from our work after we do it, not while we’re doing it. Work is always going to be work. And the work that aligns with your calling will likely be more difficult than an alternative career path. You’ll feel incredible resistance towards your life’s work because you fear you won’t be able to do it. But you can.
You’ve been given the tools to succeed; whether you choose to use them is up to you.
IV.
The Road to Mastery
Ambition is the path to success. Persistence is the vehicle you arrive in.
Attributed to Bill Bradley
Becoming a master of our craft requires us to make following our ambition a habit. However, just because we feel ambitious doesn’t mean we will always succeed. The Road to Mastery is a winding one, with countless successes and failures along the way. Mastery requires one to be stubborn enough to trust in his journey and persist forward, regardless of where he is along the road.
To attain mastery in your field, you’ll need to know how to deal with every challenge that comes your way. When you fail along the path to your pursuit, the lessons you’ll learn from that failure will equip you with the knowledge to avert similar setbacks in the future.
Masters are frequently recognized once they’ve achieved long-standing success, and they’re overlooked while still driving down the arduous Road to Mastery. But the big secret behind every master of a craft is that she’s not only mastered succeeding, she’s also mastered failing.
V.
Perspective
“My formula for success was very simple: Do whatever is put in front of you with all your heart and soul without regard for personal results. Do the work as though it were given to you by the universe itself – because it was.”
Michael A. Singer, The Surrender Experiment
Let’s set intuition and ambition aside for a moment. To be receptive to the messages from these inner guides, you must first figure out how to be okay inside. If you’re not okay inside and you’re disengaged at work, perhaps it’s because you aren’t happy with life in general. This observation isn’t that far-fetched, given that between 20-25% of adults grapple with mental illness each year.
If you’re depressed or anxious or stressed or inattentive or impulsive or lost, it sounds like there’s a much bigger issue you need to address right now than your chosen career. In fact, your work might even be your lifeline in such circumstances. If you’re dealing with mental health issues and happen to have stumbled into a career that you’re called to do, you might not even realize it because your internal struggles consume your focus. In this case, the best way forward might just be to change your perspective.
Small measures like starting a gratitude journal can yield remarkable benefits. Practices like this one can serve as a starting point in altering your outlook on life. By acknowledging three things you’re grateful for daily over three consecutive months, you’re training yourself to appreciate your current situation. And learning how to want the things that you already have can be your saving grace.
Perhaps you believe that you must find fulfilling work to be okay. But how do you know that your current career isn’t fulfilling if you haven’t tried to demonstrate some ambition? Earlier, I mentioned that the opportunity to engage in work is one of life’s greatest privileges. Have you tried to view your job as a great privilege? Have you considered how grateful you are for the opportunity to make an impact every day in your career? Perhaps this is where your quest to find fulfilling work should begin.
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Lastly, a BIG thank you is due to: Jeffrey, Greg, Cynthia, Susan, and Sarah for your generous support – I’m beyond words!
This was meaningful because all I see around me these days is a call to not care about work at all because capitalism is evil, etc etc. I find this to be silly because it totally disregards that ambition and discipline are valuable traits in themselves regardless of who your labor is serving. I want to do a good job so I can live up to my principles and because I inherently derive satisfaction from increasing level of mastery. It’s not the work I’m passionate about but it does bring me satisfaction like writing does. I also apply what you say to writing - I don’t feel like it much of the time but it’s so satisfying to have produced something with original ideas such that my work performance matters even less to me in terms of self worth. The labor of writing in itself helps me think better, which itself is also valuable because our society has stopped thinking or valuing it, at least. I also found that energy toward labor made me less depressed because it was something to derive satisfaction from and helped me build an identity as a disciplined person. Would love to see something in the future from you about the inherent value of work versus what is in the cultural water ;)
Jen, another piece I'll be returning to, thank you. Your words are gentle but firm, they make me stop and ponder what you have written.