In no particular order.
It’s not enough to shoot high. If you put a goal out there and complete that goal, great! But a big piece of my identity is a burning ambition - wherever I am at the moment, my goal is always 10 or 100 times higher.
People often times see this and ask how I can live without that euphoric sense of accomplishment. Without ever being completely satisfied with the goal I’ve achieved. In reality, the penultimate moment of achieving the goal has never been a sustainable source of happiness for anyone.
<aside> 💡 You can see this in Olympians. When they win gold in their sport or finish their star-studded career, they then ask themselves “What’s next? I thought I’d be happy with this gold medal?” They realize that the moment of achievement is never actually a source of sustained fulfillment.
You can read more about this phenominon in Atomic Habits, when James Clear talks about dopamine driven feedback loop.
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Instead, I enjoy the process. I like doing what I do. I like continuously working toward something I find interesting. I like learning every day. I like surrounding myself with people I respect, get along with, and make me a better person. Because I’ve been able to find fulfillment in the process, I’m able to set insanely high goals and give them my best shot. Even if they fail, it’s ok - I don’t tie my fulfillment to the completion of said goals.
Important distinction here - you can be ambitious for progress or for money. NYC has a bunch of really ambitious people that want to be wealthy, SF are people that want to have impact.
Finding the right people to surround myself with is crucial. There’s more to write here, but I haven’t figured out what yet.
The importance that I place on curiosity may just be an extension of burning ambition. The best lever I can see to achieve big things is learning. For me, curiosity comes from ambition. My need to do big things means I have to learn many things, quickly.
Not all ambition is pointed in the right direction. I think it’s important to be aware of the affect your goals may have on the world, and whether that helps you accomplish your personal mission. For me, that’s the concept of progress. For you that might be something different, but just make sure that whatever it is you’re working toward is something you are proud to leave in the world.
These are more philosophical beliefs that help govern how I operate.
Nobody has really figured out why we’re here or what were supposed to be doing. I see many people look at this fact and say: “Well, if nobody knows, I’ll just optimize for my enjoyment in life and that’ll be that”. And there’s nothing wrong with that. But I would rather help our civilization figure out why we’re here faster, even if we don’t know while I’m around. Essentially, I’d like to make progress.
Ways I can think of to do this: