How ambitious are you?

[Deleted]

I have ambition, but not in the "at all costs" type of way.  To me, making an extra $30K/year but adding a lot of stress and hours wouldn't be something I'd be interested in at this point.  

Realistically, I don't think the hours would be that bad but I don't think I handle stress very well.  I think I appear to be very calm, but I over think things quite a bit.  So what holds me back probably isn't a lack of ambition, but maybe some insecurity or something.

But I had enough ambition to start a web-business from scratch and now it's doing close to 1M/year in revenues.  So I guess that balances each other out.

[Deleted]

May 7, 2013 15:09:47 GMT -5 Phoenix84 said:

May 7, 2013 14:47:55 GMT -5 @craftysarah said:

I guess I'm medium ambitious.  I want tenure.  I want to make full professor.  I don't think I need to be the dean.  I don't think I need to work at the most elite university around.  Really, once I can change my screen name to drcrafty, I'll probably coast on that for a while.

Don't forget the arm patches!

Maybe you could take up pipe smoking too . 

Maybe even grow a beard so you can run your fingers through it while you're deep in thought. 

Sadly, that last one seems to be a function of being a woman over 30.  You get eyebrows in new and exciting places...

[Sum Dum Gai]

I want to earn a decent living on my own terms through a business that I create.  That's pretty much the limit of my ambition currently.  I also want to amass a few million dollars over my working life to give me a decent retirement.  I'm taking a huge gamble currently to shoot for the on my own terms thing, so I guess in that regard I'm very ambitious.  I think most people in my position would have gotten a prescription for Prozac and kept the boring six figure job.  However, the business I'm building is very unlikely to ever make me piles and piles of money so I'm not ambitious enough to shoot for the moon.  At least not right now.  I don't know where that would put me on the slacker to ambitious spectrum.  Somewhere in the middle I guess.

[Deleted]

May 7, 2013 15:38:50 GMT -5 Sum Dum Gai said:

I want to earn a decent living on my own terms through a business that I create.  That's pretty much the limit of my ambition currently.  I also want to amass a few million dollars over my working life to give me a decent retirement.  I'm taking a huge gamble currently to shoot for the on my own terms thing, so I guess in that regard I'm very ambitious.  I think most people in my position would have gotten a prescription for Prozac and kept the boring six figure job.  However, the business I'm building is very unlikely to ever make me piles and piles of money so I'm not ambitious enough to shoot for the moon.  At least not right now.  I don't know where that would put me on the slacker to ambitious spectrum.  Somewhere in the middle I guess.

or picked up running and drink extra beers

[Bob Ross]

May 7, 2013 15:42:07 GMT -5 ArchietheDragon said:

May 7, 2013 15:38:50 GMT -5 Sum Dum Gai said:

I want to earn a decent living on my own terms through a business that I create.  That's pretty much the limit of my ambition currently.  I also want to amass a few million dollars over my working life to give me a decent retirement.  I'm taking a huge gamble currently to shoot for the on my own terms thing, so I guess in that regard I'm very ambitious.  I think most people in my position would have gotten a prescription for Prozac and kept the boring six figure job.  However, the business I'm building is very unlikely to ever make me piles and piles of money so I'm not ambitious enough to shoot for the moon.  At least not right now.  I don't know where that would put me on the slacker to ambitious spectrum.  Somewhere in the middle I guess.

or picked up running and drink extra beers

or write furry fan fiction and...wait.

What Archie said.

[Deleted]

May 7, 2013 15:38:50 GMT -5 Sum Dum Gai said:

I want to earn a decent living on my own terms through a business that I create.  That's pretty much the limit of my ambition currently.  I also want to amass a few million dollars over my working life to give me a decent retirement.  I'm taking a huge gamble currently to shoot for the on my own terms thing, so I guess in that regard I'm very ambitious.  I think most people in my position would have gotten a prescription for Prozac and kept the boring six figure job.  However, the business I'm building is very unlikely to ever make me piles and piles of money so I'm not ambitious enough to shoot for the moon.  At least not right now.  I don't know where that would put me on the slacker to ambitious spectrum.  Somewhere in the middle I guess.

Dark,

I don't think not many of people can able to do what you are doing right now!

That reason alone you are a risk taker and I would call  it you are very ambitious. Whatever happens with your business venture this time around you will learn great deal more about yourself and I have a high regard person like you.

 Good luck to you! And don't ever stop believing yourself. 

[telephus44]

Eh.. I'm not sure.  When I was younger I was a lot more ambitious.  I started out as customer service with some floor experience, and wanted to go into the production side of things.  I realized eventually that my only potential leap from here is into the sales side, which I don't want.

I've learned a lot and almost doubled my salary.  I finally have enough experience that people come to me with questions.  While my title is still technically customer service, in actuality I perform a lot more duties and have access to a lot of things that many people in my department with my title don't have.  I've never been hung up on title, mostly on money and power.    So I'm the only one in my department than can quote on one of our machines, everyone else has to go through me or a manager.  Stuff like that is what I mean by power. 

I guess having a family though has made me less ambitious.  I also see that some of what I want just takes time, its not something I can work harder for and get sooner.  So I'm choosing to step back for now.

I guess I expect people to be ambitious enough to make it past entry level, but I don't expect everyone to bust their ass to make partner/CEO/etc.

[Regis]

Most people say I have my foot on the gas all the time and I'm highly competitive.  I'd agree with that assessment.  However, I wouldn't say that I'm a big risk-taker.  I prefer to play the percentages all the time.

[mmhmm]

I don't know that I was ever particularly ambitious for fortune, or fame, or the corner office.  That sort of thing never meant anything to me.  I love people, and I love learning.  I wanted to do what I loved, and I was fortunate enough to be able to do that.

There is, to my mind, no "suitable" degree of ambition.  It's just not a one-size-fits-all kinda thing.  Different strokes for different folks, and that just sounds right to me. 

[Knee Deep in Water Chloe]

hhhmmm...
Yes, I am.

By age 40, I will have raised--hopefully well--two children.

After having giving birth to both of my babies, I finished a BS, MA, and a 26-credit post-graduate certificate.

I became a high school principal at age 33.

I'm a Type-Triple A personality. I'm insanely competitive.

I plan to complete my doctorate by age 40 while working full time.

[Knee Deep in Water Chloe]

Oh, and I divorced my XH partially because he has no ambition.

[tskeeter]

May 7, 2013 15:26:45 GMT -5 @craftysarah said:

May 7, 2013 15:09:47 GMT -5 Phoenix84 said:

Don't forget the arm patches!

Maybe you could take up pipe smoking too . 

Maybe even grow a beard so you can run your fingers through it while you're deep in thought. 

Sadly, that last one seems to be a function of being a woman over 30.  You get eyebrows in new and exciting places...

Happens to guys, too.

I didn't lose my hair.  It migrated.  To my ears, my nose, the back of my neck.

[Deleted]

I'm not ambitious as far as a career. I like being able put in my 40 hours of work and be done with it. My willingness to chase more money depends on how much more stressful it will make my life and for how long. I'm not anxious to hold a powerful position because of the responsibilities. 

Successfully moving through the ranks of management where I am now requires some qualities that I'm glad I don't have. I'd have to move into something completely different and probably relocate to actually have what's considered a career. I'm exploring both of those options, but it's not because of money or power or really even to advance my "career".

For now, I'm a worker bee earning a decent income. I'm ok with that.