What does success looks like to you?
Close your eyes.
Imagine that you are as successful as your imagination allows you to be.
What do you see?
I see respect and admiration from my peers. Love and affection from my family members and friends. High status on the social group where I belong. Financial success.
For all some of us, our main primary ambitions are to be able to feed ourselves, to have a roof over hour heads, and (for some of us) to be able to procreate.
Once we get there, some people stop. We get distracted with all the noise life has to offer, from TV and video games to drinking alcohol and doing drugs, or becoming afraid and intimidated to go further. And thus we create a middle class of personal goals.
But some people want more than to eat, sleep, and procreate. Some of us have something called “ambition.” The problem is that anything worthy of admiration and recognition requires effort and sacrifice. Many of us want recognition without effort (me included).
Let’s be clear, we are in a privileged society. Our middle class of ambitions and goals, that place where we are stuck with inertial and distractions, is the top of the pyramid for many other people in other countries. For millions of people just having food to eat and a safe place to sleep is the biggest ambition of their lives. So don’t beat yourself up if you don’t have many ambitions. If you are happy watching Netflix, smoking pot, and you can pay the rent, you have it made.
How to be more ambitious
Assuming that you want more out of life than just to pay your rent, here are some steps that can help you along the way.
The right environment is essential.
Everyone who has an ambition they have it because someone inspired them. You saw someone who inspired you and you decided that it would be nice to be like them. Then you figured out a series of steps to take and you started to execute.
So, a nice thing to do is to avoid the people who don’t inspire you and try to get closer to those who are one step ahead of you.
Sometimes this is not easy, so you have to create an alternative reality by submerging yourself in books and podcasts that inspire you. The repeating massages slowly slip into your subconscious and eventually, you get that inner motivation that propels you forward.
Eliminate the things that are pulling you down
We are all aware that there are many things in our lives that are dragging us down.
Take for example cigarettes. Every cigarette smoker knows that their lives could be much better if they quit.
In the same category, we can include TV watching, using drugs, gambling, pornography, and the list goes on and on.
I don’t have the solution to eliminate those bad habits, but if you are conscious about it and you make a mental commitment to get rid of them, one way or another you will find a way. It took me about two years to eliminate eating sugars. I wasn’t able to do it overnight, but I succeeded. I also got rid of my TV. One bad habit I have right now is that I spend too much time on social media. I am working on eliminating or reducing that habit.
How to find success while being lazy
Success is found in the journey, not on the destination. If you are doing what you love, you are already a success.
Sometimes our dreams collide with the reality of having to make a living in order to pay the bills.
If you are not financially independent, the trick is to keep your costs low. Don’t be swayed by the media and advertisers that would tempt you to spend your money on one thing or another.
If keep your cost low, you will be able to finance your life while you follow your dream.
What would you do if money was no object
The next step could take seconds or it could take years to accomplish. Find the one thing you would do even if you were not paid for it.
When I was an Uber driver, I only worked four hours because I wanted to spend time with friends, but also I wanted to read and write. My low living expenses allowed me to follow my dream.
Today I like to podcast. I have been podcasting for three years and I don’t earn any money doing it (not yet). English is not my first language and I don’t consider myself to be a good communicator nor to be smart, but every week I produce a podcast. I follow my dream even if I don’t make much money doing it.
To be able to do a podcast every week is already a success. But by doing often, I know that eventually, I will also earn the praise and recognition of my peers.
Imagine that you get to do the thing that you love. In that case, you don’t have to make an effort to do it. You do it because you love to do it. Just by doing the thing, you are a success. Now, if you do it long enough, you may get esteem and recognition from your peers which will feed your ego, increase your self-esteem, and the feeling that you are a success without even trying.
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