How ambitious are you?

[iff]

so on a scale of 1 - 5, how ambitious are you?

 

i have also put an age thing in to give a little bit more perspective on those voting here.

 

i think i lack a little bit of ambition (which has been the impulse to do this poll)

[iff]

apologies had to close and reopen the poll as it hadn't saved the first question

reopened now and with question 2 and 3 rather than 1 and 2

[Elftober Country]

I'm very unambitious, probably because I have no idea what I want.

[Urishir]

I like to describe my life choices as "a leaf adrift in an ocean" 

[Homer]

Meh. Just leave me alone and let me live my life.

[WinterWanderer]

I used to be very ambitious. My parents had drilled into me that being happy with your career = being happy with your life. And to an extent, that is true. But I've since decided that I don't want my life to revolve around my career. So I'm less ambitious than I used to be. I'm not going to fight for a perfect career anymore. I'll just take whatever jobs I can find in my field. And as for other areas of my life, I'm mostly unambitious in them. Just trying to live from day to day.

[J. van Deijck]

too ambitious and often fail hard.

[Guest Deus Ex Infinity]

Used to be quite ambitious in the past but life changed...and so did I. Lost and fallen.

[Guest]

0

[Elden]

I wanna be the very best, like no one ever was.  It doesn't even matter that much what I'd be the best at. Failing hard at my first big ambition made me feel lost and hopeless until I found a new one, and I tend to only put effort into things I feel I have a chance of significant achievement in.

[Polygon]

I feel like I do good/productive work, but only in the things I care about, so I'm not too ambitious. It's much less about chasing success and more just doing the things I want to do to the extent that I want to do them. 

 

I sure as shit am not ambitious in the "kiss the boss's ass, go the extra mile, climb the greasy ladder and kick down at everyone below you" sense.

[Gloomy]

I guess it depends. I'm abitious when it comes to staying healthy, so I exercise almost every day and have given up a lot of types of food that I used to like. Although I have a high metabolism, living on junk food and a having a sedentary lifestyle still isn't something I want. At school I was always getting A's and B's until I got lazy during my last couple years of college. When it comes to career, I just work to make money, because there's something in it for me. However I'm not focusing on my career so much that my life revolves around it and I can't enjoy anything else.

[Diamond Ace of Hearts]

It's interesting seeing everyone's slightly different interpretations of the meaning of ambition and how nearly everyone jumped straight to talking about work.

 

I'm nearly 30 now so my relationship with my ambitions is somewhat analogous to George from Of Mice And Men's relationship to Lenny about four-fifths of the way through the book: I love them but I know I cant really look after them anymore and they're becoming more trouble than they're worth so I'm having to come to terms with the fact that they're going to need a mercy tap pretty soon.

 

[AnarchistTactician]

I'm pretty unambitious, since I'm not completely sure with what I want to do in life. On the other hand, you could call it ambition me wanting to make it to university, but I just want to do that for the funsies and the subjects,

[banoffeepie]

I think loads of things can impact on your ambition. It seems that in order to push yourself and be ambitious there have to be no real crises going on in your life.

Also, I think competitiveness is a factor and I have never had any. I feel sorry for people if I beat them at something and would rather they won so they would be happy!  .. mad huh?

I've always had a problem with authority figures too. In order to let someone wield authority over me I have to respect them and follow them. Well my bosses always seemed like this to me at the start, and then I would quickly realise they were plonkers just trying to use me to keep them afloat.

Then your ambition goes along with your motivation.

They're not the same though now I have bags of motivation and no ambition.

[banoffeepie]

59 minutes ago, AnarchistTactician said:

I'm pretty unambitious, since I'm not completely sure with what I want to do in life. On the other hand, you could call it ambition me wanting to make it to university, but I just want to do that for the funsies and the subjects,

Love the avatar btw .. all started with the anarchists .. everything 'Alternative'

[Snao Cone]

It comes and goes. If I've had enough caffeine I get an abstract sense of wanting to do something with my life, but usually I want to climb under a rock.

[Antihero.]

Too ambitious and perfectionist for my own good. 

[Anomaly Q3Xr]

I used to be very ambitious, working 90-hour weeks for several years.  But I was miserable, I had loads of money, but nothing else.  I am much happier now that I have zero ambition, and my only goals in life are to be happy, and to do my best to make others happy.  Because a smile (or a cuddle) is worth more than any amount of money to me.  That is not to say I have no passion in life.  I have been creating my own sci fi universe since I was 8 years old, and it is still going very strong now.  It gives my life a little purpose.

[A shard of glass]

I want to be ambitious, but then I realised that I'm not special, nor do I have any talents... So I just gave up. Thought "what's the point if there's always going to be someone who's better than me in every single way" :/

[Yatogami]

I'm ambitious about certain things, give no fucks about others. I just lack motivation, and opportunity. 

[Skycaptain]

When it comes to career and personal development not at all. When it comes to how much can I fit in a day, sometimes over-ambitious 

[NerotheReaper]

I am pretty ambitious, and it is both a blessing and a curse. Being stubborn and determined has helped me through rough times, but sometimes I push myself past my limits 

[everywhere and nowhere]

It's not such a simple question. I'm quite ambitious about things I personally consider worthwhile, but very inambitious about things others would want me to achieve if I have no emotional attachment whatsoever to such achievements.

[Guest Jetsun Milarepa]

Used to be very ambitious when in my twenties and thirties, not so now, in my 50s.

[TopHatCat]

My ambition grew slowly until high school, at which point it grew exponentially. I knew what skills I had for certain at that point, and was able to perform any subject easily. This was important because it helped me feel like I could take on the high level physics class at my school, I kind of took a leap of faith joining that class. It's one thing to like something but another thing to be good at it. By performing well in that class, I became more confident I could and should pursue physics as a career.

 

Last year I did some research into the UC colleges here in California and decided to work on getting into Berkeley. I want to get a PhD and dedicate to my life to physics, and learning about asexuality has helped me recognize that I don't have to feel like I'm giving up the potential for a family since I never really wanted one in the first place.

 

There's so much emphasis on relationships as being a fulfilling and important part of life, but not having that wiring in my brain has allowed me to feel that way about being an academic. Everyday I feel warm inside going to class with all my notes, even if I just stayed up half the night working on homework.

 

I love doing what I love.

[LadyFie]

I am quite ambitious, but also very lazy, which is not a good combination of traits.

[Hayley]

Not especially ambitious. I like to do well and push myself, but mostly I like to be the very best at things within my comfort zone. I don't often push beyond that. 

 

Nobody is better than me at doing just enough to be considered capable and valuable in my career. 

[Hermit Advocate]

Not that ambitious, I just kind of float through space and daydream about sleeping. 

[artzcat]

I'm quite unambitious. Mostly because I am too laid back. I don't know what I want and when I do it is always something I put off for the next day (and never end up accomplishing). It almost feels like I get enough satisfaction from daydreaming about things than actually pursuing them. I remember in school, I was the kind of student who did just enough to get a 90 so it would be considered an A, but I rarely strove to do my very best.