1. This site uses cookies. By continuing to use this site, you are agreeing to our use of cookies. Learn More.

Ambition and Money

Discussion in 'Chit Chat' started by chrisyboy, Sep 22, 2014.

  1. chrisyboy

    Regular Member

    Joined:
    Mar 16, 2013
    Messages:
    294
    Likes Received:
    0
    Location:
    Glasgow-ish
    Gender:
    Male
    Sexual Orientation:
    Gay
    They're is a programme on at the moment on UK TV called "John Richardson Grows Up" where he basically explores our relationship with money and whether it really brings you happiness.

    The question is not so much about those links, but got me thinking how ambitious we are, how "successful" do we want to be and how wealthy in life do we want to be?
    (Success is very relative I'll concede, we all have our own definition of it)

    In all honesty, although I don't have the simply ridiculous ego I did - admittedly - have, I still have this huge drive to be fantastically wealthy, fantastically successful and all this obviously comes from having huge ambition; I want to be my own boss, I want my own business(es), a fleet of cars, a chauffeur to drive me about in a Rolls Royce, to fly 1st Class everywhere, explore the world. I think this is brilliant. You need ambition otherwise we'd never achieve anything but how far does your ambition go guys?

    Literally everybody I know has obviously seen people who have this, but nobody (even I wont admit it to be fair because it sounds big headed) seems interested in having this sort of huge ambition, they want nice jobs, nice car, a good house, and to go abroad in Summer, but that's really as far as it goes.

    You guys
     
  2. PGuy

    Regular Member

    Joined:
    Sep 3, 2014
    Messages:
    35
    Likes Received:
    0
    Gender:
    Male
    Sexual Orientation:
    Gay
    Out Status:
    Some people
    I just want to have another source of income, so I don't depend on my current job to live day to day. Gonna take some time, but I'm working on that. You unfortunately never know when you might get fired.

    Sure, it'd be nice to be ridiculously rich, but I don't care about it. I just want for my other projects to let me keep my current lifestyle, but without having to work for someone else.
     
  3. LibertyValance

    Regular Member

    Joined:
    Sep 16, 2014
    Messages:
    133
    Likes Received:
    0
    Location:
    Canada
    Gender:
    Male
    Sexual Orientation:
    Gay
    I want a space yacht, and a private space island in the form of a Stanford Torus (Stanford torus - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia) to dock my space yacht at. But I mean, that's barely anything beyond the olden standard house with a white picket fence, so I wouldn't say I am that ambitious....

    :lol:
     
  4. Kaiser

    Kaiser Guest

    Joined:
    May 10, 2014
    Messages:
    2,867
    Likes Received:
    0
    Location:
    кєηтυ¢ку
    The first thing that came to mind, when I read the title of this thread:

    [​IMG]




    If you aren't born into wealth, you have to make it. How you make it depends, not only on ambition, but either a strong will or a lack of morals. You can desire anything under the sun, but if you can't bring yourself to move, to do what is necessary, then you're practically screwed into immobility. You can't go anywhere, because you won't risk crossing someone, or getting your reputation a little muddy, yet you want the fancy cars, the nice clothes, and the money to indulge yourself -- be it amusement, curiosity, or entertainment. You won't risk being embarrassed, yet you crave to eat out at splendid restaurants, you won't risk failing, yet you crave those fashionable shoes, you won't risk being the laughingstock/oddball/fool, yet you crave the admiration and respect, of those you allow to judge and guide you.


    I could bring up some quirky quote about working hard, or find some uplifting comment on persistence, and these are nice and cozy. But that's the problem. If you want to actually make what you aspire an actuality, you need something a little more realistic, a bit more... hustler status.

    Cash Rules Everything Around Me. Also known as the C.R.E.A.M. principle, was made famous by such individuals as... ahem... the Wu-Tang Clan and the Notorious B.I.G., who spoke of, and practiced C.R.E.A.M. in their lives.


    If you want to be rich, you have to spend money. The problem is, folks often times, spend too much, or without wisdom. My grandfather (RIP), the little we actually spent time together, told me something that, to this day, has left an impression on me. I once asked him, what he did to make his own business flourish, and his response:

    " Only spend money on what makes you money. "​

    Only spend money, on what will give you, obviously, more money, but also on your health, to guarantee you'll be around, and able, to generate that profit. Spend it on expanding, to accumulate more to get more.


    Find what everybody is too lazy/too proud/too uneducated to do, and provide a means for them to accomplish this, without having to give remarkable effort. Compensate their vices with their virtues, too. People don't want to walk? Segway scooter. Appeal to their laziness. People don't want to be educated? Reality television. Appeal to their wanting to see others, worse off than them, so they can feel good about themselves. Since they rarely, if at all fix this, you're guaranteed ratings. Throw on product placement, to drill at other insecurities or flaws, between programming. People don't want to work out? Pseudo-work out regiments. Appeal to their rewards-for-little-to-no-effort mentality, that sense of entitlement.

    I could go on and on, but the point was made (I hope).


    You have to be willing to take a risk, to experience temporary vulnerability, to obtain success, and seal up that vulnerability with a patch of confidence. It ultimately comes down to your thinking less of yourself vs wanting more for yourself -- and the victor of that battle, will be one of the most important experiences in your life.


    In the words of Tony Montana:

    The World Is Your's



    Just don't let it consume you.
     
  5. biAnnika

    Full Member

    Joined:
    Nov 20, 2011
    Messages:
    1,839
    Likes Received:
    8
    Location:
    Northeastern US
    Gender:
    Female
    Gender Pronoun:
    She
    Sexual Orientation:
    Bisexual
    Out Status:
    Out to everyone
    Pursuit of wealth only makes sense if you enjoy the pursuit. But if you enjoy your pursuit, you have no need for the wealth. Because all the wealth does is enable you to *stop* your pursuit...which you enjoy...and if you truly enjoy it, then why should you want to stop?

    I'm thrilled with anything I love doing that gives me enough money to continue living while I continue doing it. If it has job-security, so much the better...but only kinda...'cause what we love changes. So maybe even job-security is over-rated. Of course I speak from a step on Maslow's ladder where my basic needs and my needs for love are largely met, so I have the luxury to pursue self-actualization. Ok. Hate me.

    But I also gotta say that when you're starving, it feels like your need for food is 9/10; when you're fed but not housed, it feels like your need for a roof is 9/10; when you're housed and fed, it feels like your need for love and acceptance is 9/10; when you have all of that, it feels like your need for self-actualization is 9/10. Life requires striving...it's what keeps life alive...life without striving is stagnation, and pointless (hmmm, I'm starting to think I should be posting on the "point of life" thread).

    So I suppose the point is that ambition is innate to life. Money is not. But if you drop money as an ambition, you'll just replace it with another ambition. 'Cause that's the ride we're on.
     
  6. asdfghjk

    asdfghjk Guest

    i want to be a robot, so i would like a lot of money
     
  7. Miles16

    Miles16 Guest

    I could live in a tiny studio apartment downtown and dress in pajamas all the time and be perfectly fine with that. But I want to be able to have enough money in case something fucked up happens that will result in skyrocketing medical expenses or a sudden shutoff of income. A safety net. I don't know what I'm gonna do when I get older, but I know my parents are going to get up there a lot sooner than I am - I've already noticed the start of it and the thought is sobering. I want to be able to take care of them like they took care of me, because no one else but me and my brother are going to.

    That's why a good, secure, decent-paying job with potential for advancement is looking pretty damn appealing right now - not for anything involving status or how people view me and my "success." My success will be doing right by the people who matter and have done right by me. (While also being able to pursue my passion, which is music - and the unfortunate but unsurprising truth is that making music recordings of the quality that I want to make them at is going to cost some serious money - don't accuse me of selflessness before you hear the selfishness :stuck_out_tongue_closed_eyes:).

    Really I am not ambitious. I just like to do just enough until I'm satisfied and then sleep for a billion years. If I achieve the above two goals, that's where my ambition stops. That will be good enough for me.
     
    #7 Miles16, Sep 22, 2014
    Last edited by a moderator: Sep 22, 2014
  8. Argentwing

    Full Member

    Joined:
    Dec 13, 2012
    Messages:
    6,696
    Likes Received:
    3
    Location:
    New England
    Gender:
    Male
    Gender Pronoun:
    He
    Sexual Orientation:
    Bisexual
    Out Status:
    Out to everyone
    I have no desire to pursue money that intensely. However, I do wish to be stupid rich beyond any illusion that I'd be able to spend it all. Not quite so much to have a space yacht or a hundred cars, but more that I wouldn't have to go through the time and energy-consuming crap that stifles all hope for creativity. The biggest measure of wealth is being able to go all day without having to look at the clock-- just doing whatever you want, when you want to do it.

    But of course if I ever did come into some sort of income where I wouldn't have to work, I'd donate a sizable chunk to a good cause. I resent anyone who buys themselves lavish things without thinking of honest people who go without necessities.
     
    #8 Argentwing, Sep 23, 2014
    Last edited: Sep 23, 2014
  9. Hel

    Hel
    Full Member

    Joined:
    Aug 16, 2014
    Messages:
    126
    Likes Received:
    0
    I want to be able to spend money when I want to do so. Without having to check if I have enough on my spending account or having to wait for my paycheck. That would be my goal.

    I do want to own a (medium) house and a (cheap but working) car but I don't wish to have a chauffeur or a team to clean my house. To me, that would be wasting money (except maybe one cleaning lady to help me because I am not very good at cleaning regularly). I don't see the point at having too much luxury, I would prefer to invest that money in a building I can then rent than to have a swimming pool in my garden.
     
  10. White Knight

    Full Member

    Joined:
    Mar 18, 2014
    Messages:
    1,816
    Likes Received:
    0
    Location:
    Istanbul, TR
    As long as I am not going bed hungry and a roof on top of my head, I am happy.

    I hate how people started to measure everything with money. Greed is one of the reasons why I dislike humans. Ambition, especially meant for wealth, just prettied up name for greed for me.
     
  11. Hexagon

    Full Member

    Joined:
    May 1, 2011
    Messages:
    8,558
    Likes Received:
    1
    Location:
    Earth
    I don't care about money. If success is defined as achieving one's goals in life, then I fully intend to be successful. My goals are to make the world a better place.
     
  12. Ryujin

    Full Member

    Joined:
    Aug 13, 2014
    Messages:
    1,561
    Likes Received:
    0
    Location:
    Location Location
    I would say I was ambitious but I don't desire money as such. I'm fine with a small house, no car etc. I simply want to have enough to do what I enjoy and support myself. But I would say I'm ambitious still, I want to get a PhD and do research and stuff so yeah.
     
  13. BreezyB

    Full Member

    Joined:
    Jun 9, 2014
    Messages:
    93
    Likes Received:
    0
    Location:
    St.Louis
    I don't really believe in people having an outrageous amount of money (guess im a little communist).
    That being said i do want to make large amounts of money so that while im making sure that im not struggling i can also donate large sums of money.
     
  14. acciocarrie

    Regular Member

    Joined:
    May 27, 2014
    Messages:
    471
    Likes Received:
    0
    Location:
    Netherlands
    Gender:
    Female
    Sexual Orientation:
    Lesbian
    ~I wanna big house, big cars & big rings but actually, I don't have any big dreams~

    Honestly, I'm definitely one of those people who's not all that ambitious because it just doesn't seem realistic. So yeah, I'm one of those people who just wants a nice job, a nice house, a nice car and to go abroad during the summer...

    ... and a girlfriend ... and a cat! ^^
     
  15. Dan91

    Regular Member

    Joined:
    Sep 8, 2014
    Messages:
    11
    Likes Received:
    0
    Location:
    Cardiff
    Gender:
    Male
    Sexual Orientation:
    Questioning
    Out Status:
    A few people
    Always thought I wanted to be rich as possible didn't know how I was going to do it but I wanted it!! But the more I think about it it doesn't make sence anymore after all i don't think it would make me happy! Yeah I'd love to not have to worry about paying bills and buying what I wanted but what do you do once you reach your goal is that the point that greed takes over and before you know it you've spent all your time getting rich and not enjoying it ?? Having the ambition and drive is great but have the power not to loose site of the real point of having the wealth is the greater challenge I reckon!!
     
  16. Ouzo

    Ouzo Guest

    I don't feel you need money to be happy, but media says otherwise.
     
  17. biAnnika

    Full Member

    Joined:
    Nov 20, 2011
    Messages:
    1,839
    Likes Received:
    8
    Location:
    Northeastern US
    Gender:
    Female
    Gender Pronoun:
    She
    Sexual Orientation:
    Bisexual
    Out Status:
    Out to everyone
    I recommend the programmer who created me. But yeah...the good ones are expensive.
     
  18. alwaysforever

    Full Member

    Joined:
    May 28, 2014
    Messages:
    1,158
    Likes Received:
    176
    Location:
    Maine
    Gender:
    Female (trans*)
    Gender Pronoun:
    She
    Sexual Orientation:
    Lesbian
    Out Status:
    Out to everyone
    I have pretty much accepted the fact that I will probably never have a lot of money. I would be happy if I had enough to live comfortably without going hungry. I don't have a lot of needs, and I live a pretty simple life. I am pretty content.
     
  19. Tokumei

    Regular Member

    Joined:
    Jul 10, 2013
    Messages:
    125
    Likes Received:
    0
    Location:
    Quebec
    Gender:
    Female
    Gender Pronoun:
    She
    Sexual Orientation:
    Lesbian
    Out Status:
    Some people
    I have never considered myself very ambitious, but I still want to be my own boss and own my business. Not really care if it is successfull or not, I just want to be my own boss to be able to do whatever I want lol
     
  20. twosoups

    Full Member

    Joined:
    Jun 2, 2014
    Messages:
    99
    Likes Received:
    0
    Location:
    Kuwait
    While ambition is important, even more important than that for becoming fantastically wealthy in my opinion is insight. Everyone says if they could go back in time they would buy lots of google, amazon, or even wal-mart if you go way back. However hindsight isn't helpful in the financial world. Insight. That is what makes people wealthy.