The 365 Commitment

Day 114 – True Ambition

As I have really been reflecting on my mental state this last few days as part of my 365 journey, I started to really think about my true ambitions. I think when dealing with the reality of my situation, I also have to deal with what my ambitions are.

An interesting discovery as I thought about this concept. I believe that there are some ambitions that I have that are rooted in some sort of primal instinct, and that is certainly true. There are also some ambitions that I have that are driven by long term goals, and a few by short term objectives. The discovery is that when I really started to analyze some of the things that I do – that there was no clear ambition behind it.

At least not an ambition that I can articulate. This gave me pause, because I realized there are some things that I am doing out of habit, or perhaps because that is what I have grown accustomed to doing. Usually this is in a mannerism, or a process I follow. For example, yesterday I realized that when I have to give a presentation I follow a basic process. There is no ambition behind it, that is just what I do.

I wonder just how much activity that I do each day is driven by this auto-pilot non ambitious self. I am certainly grateful that I have this ability – there is a lot that I do all day that I do not have to think about. Breathing for example! However, I wonder if it is a good idea that I plan, react, and perform many tasks with little consideration for what is driving me to do so. Upon close inspection there is really no formulated thought behind the action at all, which is very interesting.

This blind ambition side of us also does not like to be forced out of the comfort zone of just doing things. It seems when I have tried to really tie an ambition behind the action, there is resistance and i find myself trying all day to avoid the new task that I have created for myself that is rooted in a good or a beneficial ambition.

So today I am going to pick one or two things and focus on altering them to be more in line with my ambitions and see what happens. For example, today I will probably listen to a few people speak. Instead of doing what I normally do – which is to listen, perhaps take a few notes, and let my brain start to wander – I will force myself to actually try to learn something – because one of my ambitions is to grow in knowledge. I will meet a few people today, instead of just nodding my head and being polite, I am actually going to try to remember their names and find out something that they are working on that is important to them.

I am going to change the way I normally react to the situation by creating an ambition behind my automatic actions.

Guy Reams (114)
365 Member

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