Dear Self; we need to talk about ambition — LessWrong

Ambitious: I’m not talking about prestige-seeking (awards, accolades) but about wanting to embody one’s values at the highest possible level, whatever that means for the person. Gives a shit. Wants to keep giving a shit, and to and to continually give more of a shit over an extended period of time, perhaps an entire lifetime. There are a couple of ... See more

What should you do if you're young and ambitious but don't know what to work on? What you should not do is drift along passively, assuming the problem will solve itself. You need to take action. But there is no systematic procedure you can follow. When you read biographies of people who've done great work, it's remarkable how much luck is involved.... See more

The popular narrative of ambition defines it as coming from a place of scarcity, and that leads to guilt over seeming thankless or wanting more than we have. True ambition ideally comes from a place of abundance, which means being ambitious in ‘doing’ and ‘being’ but being content in ‘having’.