At a random hour on a random day, as I was daydreaming and lost in my thoughts, I typed the question on Quora, looking to find interesting answers.
Someone says “You can’t want too much in life”; another says “Life has an interesting way of balancing things”. This answer caught my eye: “There is no such thing as wanting too much, but there is a line between greed and ambition.”
Both are goal-driven, and sometimes the line can be laser thin. But the key difference is: Ambition serves a purpose, while greed is self-serving.
Ambition drives you to have an impact on our society, while greed drives you to fill a hole of your own desires.
When you are driven by greed, you know you want too much, in the wrong direction.
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The following 3 questions can help you gain clarity when you are in doubt or feel lost:
To what end do I want these things in my life?
“We cannot solve our problems with the same thinking we used when we created them.” Albert Einstein.
If you are lost in the hustling and doing, the first thing you do is to jump out of this quagmire by chunking up with higher-level questions.
What purpose do they serve? Are the things in alignment with your life purpose? If not, what are you doing them for?
Taking a pause to think about these questions is crucial. When you answer these questions, forget productivity, forget time management, just be completely honest.
If you can’t be honest with yourself, if you are hiding, chances are: some of the things you do are to serve your ego — serve the parts of you that you do not accept.
If that’s the case, start building relationships with yourself first. Work with a coach and embark on an inward journey.
Find out which parts of yourself you are evading, bring them to the daylight, and see them as they are.
When you know YOU are enough and there is nothing to prove, you can go towards your purpose, instead of running away from your wounds.
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Setting Boundaries for Healthy Ambitions
Let’s face it: Ambitions may not always be without costs. You are the centerpiece of your ambitions, and you also get to decide how you’d like them to be.
Healthy ambitions are about desiring good, giving freely, nourishing, and refreshing people. “Feeling good” is an important indicator for yourself to know if your ambitions are healthy.
If you are not feeling great, if you think you might be carried away by your ambitions, ask yourself these two questions:
1. Are they affecting my health?
Are your ambitions affecting your mental and physical health? Are they causing you stress and anxiety? Are you losing/gaining weight while you have no intention to do so?
If your answer is yes, it’s time to reevaluate your ambitions by going back to the very first question of this article. To what end are you doing these things? How would you like your health to be? How would you like to feel about your health condition?
You will realize that your health and your ambitions actually serve the same purpose — to live a meaningful, fulfilling life. They should be allies, not enemies.
2. Are they affecting my relationships?
“All relationship is a reflection of your relationship with yourself. — Deepak Chopra”
Are your ambitions cutting back on your family time and your leisure time? Are your ambitions causing dissonance in your relationships? If the answer is yes, it’s time to reevaluate your ambitions, as well as your relationship with yourself.
If you are an entrepreneur, you probably have already heard of the quote below:
“You don’t build a business. You build people, and then people build the business.” — Zig Ziglar
Again, healthy, thriving relationships are key to live a meaningful life. If you let your ambitions get in the way, then they are not serving the purpose they need to be serving.
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Summary:
Desires for betterment are the propellers of progress — to that end, there is no such thing as “wanting too much”. However, if you get too myopic about your ambitions and forget the big picture, they can work against you.
Let your ambitions work for you, go out into the world, and live the life you want.
For more inspirations and nourishment, let’s stay in touch.
