Do You Need Ambition?

Recently, I was speaking to a very successful blogger and online entrepreneur who shared that one of their concerns with meditation was that whenever they meditated they felt satisfied.

While satisfaction felt good, it was almost as if it would hold them back from achieving all they wanted to achieve.

I’ve heard this kind of thinking from clients before. I’ll ask them,”What would happen if you just knew what you did was good right now? What if you were just really happy to be where you are at in this phase of growth?”

Invariably they respond by saying, “Well if I did that, then I’m afraid that I would stop improving or even worse that I would fall into laziness and apathy like so many other people I see around me.”

People who are passionate about what they do are often frightened of not giving it their all. They’re afraid that they can be the best but only if they work really hard. They’re afraid that without the guilt, the fear, and the worry that they won’t have the energy they need to keep going.

Is this really true? Does the best motivation really come from a fear of failure or a desire to be successful?

It’s certainly what marketers want us to believe. Maybe this kind of motivation is enough to persuade us to buy makeup and iPhones, but is it enough to make us do our life’s work, to sacrifice day in and day out for what we love and want to create?

Think about being a parent.

“Success” could mean scarring them as little as possible until they become adults, but that’s a pretty low barrier of success. Raising a so-called-”perfect” child also leads to its own problems.

So why is it that so many of people pour out their hearts and souls into being parents? Why reproduce and then spend all of your free time trying to give your kids the best life possible?

The parents I see, who seem to enjoy parenting the most, do it out of an appreciation of the process, out of a love of the moments of growth, out of the deep love that was poured into them by their parents, teachers, or mentors.

Ambition may be enough to help you find work, but ambition alone isn’t enough to help you create something truly amazing and that flows from the core of who you are with all of your insecurities and humiliations, to create from that place takes real heart, real love, and an abiding passion.

Ambition finds no home in this place of deep creation. So why are we so afraid to let go of ambition? Why are we worried we won’t create without that fear?


Tweet, Creation is not an exception. It’s our default.Tweet: Creation is not an exception. It’s our default. @mindfitmove http://ctt.ec/fZaAd+


Service is not an act of sacrifice. It’s an act of humanity.

If anything your desire to get ahead will be the only thing that will stop you from helping others, from creating something amazing, and from sharing your love with the world.