Ambition: Leading with Gratitude by Seth Buechley 

“Great ambition is the passion of a great character. Those endowed with it may perform very good or very bad acts. All depends on the principles which direct them.” Napoleon Bonaparte

Seth Buechley is a serial entrepreneur and found ambition very early in life, in his own unique way. Having grown up in a commune he learnt the art of work early on in life. While there are certain negatives of such an upbringing, as he explains, life in the commune developed within him a strong work ethic.

When it comes to ambition and self-motivation I believe that those who are grow up with a solid work ethic benefit greatly. When the reward of the work we do does not directly benefit us it can sometimes be more difficult to take action. However, if we are taught that the work we do rewards the collective and in doing so benefits us more indirectly we develop less resistance to work in general later in life.

Those who are conditioned to work regardless of the result will usually benefit in many other ways. It is important that even for the jobs or tasks that we don’t like that we put in our best effort. From reading Seth’s brief story of his time in the commune I feel that it is this value that has impacted his life greatly. And certainly his ambition.

Ambition is a strong desire to do and/or achieve something. Having a strong work ethic can only help create ambition.

At the age of 17 his parents decided to leave the commune and his father went into business building cellular towers. Seth went to work for his dad digging trenches. They grew the company from the ground up and eventually sold it making Seth a very young and ambitious millionaire.

In the opening chapter of this book Seth shares the roots of ambition. For each of us the characteristics of our upbringings are unique. This is where ambition in life is formed. For Seth his evolved in the commune. The story of our past will share elements of pain and pleasure and this will indicate the level and intensity of our individual ambition that we carry throughout life. The areas we experienced great pain are the same areas we will likely and ambitiously seek to avoid later in life.

Ambition for success is driven by our why. It shapes what we value and it forms what we become. While ambition is great for progress, achievement, getting things done and success it can also be shadowed by a level of dissatisfaction in life.

As a young ambitious millionaire Seth battled with this balance of ambition and satisfaction and in this short book shares the lessons he had learnt.

Ambition pushes us towards achieving what we believe will solve our greatest pains or fears. It drives us to avoid such things. Those that accomplish what they set out to achieve often find themselves no more fulfilled and so quickly begin chasing the very next thing.

Here are a few questions we could ask ourselves. When does the chase end? Does it need to end? Is the satisfaction of life actually found in the chase? Is what we chase actually the thing that we most desire? Is what we desire actually going to fill our deepest needs? How will we know?

Seth discovered many lessons in his successes and failures. He shares many great insights that are important for all of us to reflect on and even develop practices around regardless of our current position in life.

He talks on how leading with gratitude allows us to appreciate more greatly the moments in life without missing out on everything in an ambitious chase. He discusses how to go about finding motivation and purpose. Why purpose in what we do is key to taking great action and how by connecting with what’s important develops self-motivation.

He closes the book with chapters on reaching our full potential, having impact on the world and leaving a legacy.

If you have been wondering about why some people have ambition and others don’t, you’ll enjoy this read. Maybe you wish to understand better about where ambition come from or like me searching for the balance between ambition and satisfaction in life.

Be ambitious towards living the life you love but don’t lose sight on how to love the life you live.

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If this book sounds of interest you can purchase Ambition: Leading with Gratitude here.

Please leave your thoughts, comments & questions below.

Peace, passion and purpose…

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