I've found that, most often, we doubt our own ambitions because we subconsciously know our opinion to be subjective. Whereas a third party's seems objective, and we sometimes need its affirmation to convince us of our idea's truthfulness.
There is a lot of truth here; I've often been perplexed by this part of human psychology and am also guilty of shying away from pursuing things because of how it may be perceived.
The quote reminds me of a friend of mine who worked as a salesman in London for a printer company. It was a standard office job in London, and he spent most of the day making cold calls (picture The Office). Without fail, he always went to work in a three piece suit and when I asked him why he did that, he said 'dress for the job you want, not the job you have.' I'm not sure what job he wanted, but I admired the attitude.
There is a lot of truth in that concept of 'He was always going to make it.' The person who succeeds is the person who always strived to be the best version of themselves, aimed for excellence, and put effort into their school work or hobbies, and above all, had self discipline. The Concert Hall musician practiced their instrument diligently and therefore improved to become concert-worthy, their lazier fellow musician couldn't be bothered practicing every night and was barely acceptable for the school concert. The later, may have been more naturally talented, but lacked the discipline to make the effort required to make the most of their talent. You can see from childhood that the child who has perseverance and self-discipline is likely to do better in school and in life than the lazy, the one who wants only comfort and the instant reward. I once heard someone say, 'Choose your Hard'. If you choose your Hard by working and studying when you are young, by exercising and keeping fit and healthy, you will reap an easier older life of better income, and fewer health problems. The one who chooses the Easy when young, who doesn't study at school, who doesn't exercise and eats fast food, will get their Hard in older life as they can only get lower paying jobs which are often hard manual labour, they have health issues from poor nutrition and an unfit body. Their old age will be when it is Hard for them.
I've found that, most often, we doubt our own ambitions because we subconsciously know our opinion to be subjective. Whereas a third party's seems objective, and we sometimes need its affirmation to convince us of our idea's truthfulness.
Thank you, Evan, for this optimistic article.
There is a lot of truth here; I've often been perplexed by this part of human psychology and am also guilty of shying away from pursuing things because of how it may be perceived.
The quote reminds me of a friend of mine who worked as a salesman in London for a printer company. It was a standard office job in London, and he spent most of the day making cold calls (picture The Office). Without fail, he always went to work in a three piece suit and when I asked him why he did that, he said 'dress for the job you want, not the job you have.' I'm not sure what job he wanted, but I admired the attitude.
There is a lot of truth in that concept of 'He was always going to make it.' The person who succeeds is the person who always strived to be the best version of themselves, aimed for excellence, and put effort into their school work or hobbies, and above all, had self discipline. The Concert Hall musician practiced their instrument diligently and therefore improved to become concert-worthy, their lazier fellow musician couldn't be bothered practicing every night and was barely acceptable for the school concert. The later, may have been more naturally talented, but lacked the discipline to make the effort required to make the most of their talent. You can see from childhood that the child who has perseverance and self-discipline is likely to do better in school and in life than the lazy, the one who wants only comfort and the instant reward. I once heard someone say, 'Choose your Hard'. If you choose your Hard by working and studying when you are young, by exercising and keeping fit and healthy, you will reap an easier older life of better income, and fewer health problems. The one who chooses the Easy when young, who doesn't study at school, who doesn't exercise and eats fast food, will get their Hard in older life as they can only get lower paying jobs which are often hard manual labour, they have health issues from poor nutrition and an unfit body. Their old age will be when it is Hard for them.