Can you add more detail here? What is your prediction? That they will (1) change their mind and not be at peace, because this feeling doesn't last or (2) they will not accomplish much because ambition is not compatible with being satisfied?
(this is my wild guess based on the tone of your post, just trying to understand it)
I get from the text that you can have peace of mind and progress towards your goal. That peace of mind allows you to progress easily, less troubled. It doesn't say your ambitions are invariable once you choose them.
The fact you realize your original ambition is not what you want anymore you still got all the learnings from the path.
You missed my point.
Wrong ambitions that I'm talking about are the ones that make you take actions that have consequences, you chase an ambition that makes you lose other things and you may only realize that once those things are lost forever.
Yes just a few more years of ambition boiling away inside soon to be reduced by half as they realize the average person’s support network for ambition is non-existent.
We all have ambition and a peacefulness to it, but the most successful people have connections to utilize that peace and ambition. When your family or friends barely support your ambitions your network will not have a jump start on everyone else.
> your network will not have a jump start on everyone else
I think this is not the most useful frame. You don't necessarily need to outcompete people for limited spots (I think a lot of people's definition of success or greatness is very narrow, and mostly informed by what others are vying for)
I think the bar for doing something great is shockingly low, most people aren't even trying. That's the impression I get every time I read a patio11 article (most recently the super long but worth it "story of vaccinate CA" [1]. This is not patio but same vibe, "Lies, Damned Lies, and Manometer Readings" [2]). My takeaway from these is that there are big problems in society that nobody is working on.
This is kind of a good thing for ambitious folks: everywhere you look there are problems everywhere, the bar for making something better than what is there is low. I think the network & support is critical but it isn't always given. I think great things happen when we start to move towards what we are capable of fixing, what is within our control, finding others who have that attitude and supporting each other.
I think for me now, the point isn't to outcompete everyone/make it to the top 1% or whatnot, it's to make it as far as is possible with what I have. Those two approaches are identical if you have the support to reach the 1%. But if not, why worry about what is outside of my control? I have plenty within my control in the menatime.
I agree. My point was less “outcompete and recognize network advantage” and more “without support you will burn up your ambition faster and move slower”. A lot of the time people look up to those who have made it and wondering how they can be equivalent; you can be just as successful as Richie Rich if you have people actually supporting your ambitions…which many successful people have but do not acknowledge.
(this is my wild guess based on the tone of your post, just trying to understand it)